russian tea balls

These Russian tea cakes are everything you want in a Christmas cookie — buttery, melt-in-your-mouth tender, packed with walnuts, and rolled in a generous coat of powdered sugar. They go by a lot of names (snowball cookies, Mexican wedding cookies, butterballs), but whatever you call them, they disappear fast. Make a double batch. You’ll be glad you did.

Why You’ll Love It

They literally melt in your mouth — the butter-to-flour ratio is what makes these unlike any other cookie on the holiday tray
Not overly sweet — the dough is barely sweetened, so the powdered sugar coating does all the work without tipping into dessert overload
That walnut crunch — finely chopped walnuts in every bite give just the right contrast to the tender, delicate dough
Makes a huge batch — this recipe yields a lot of cookies, perfect for gifting, sharing, or filling a tin that you guard with your life
They keep beautifully — up to a week in a tin at room temperature, which means you can make them ahead and actually enjoy December

A Note on the Ingredients

Two cups of butter. Yes, that’s correct. Yes, it’s a lot. No, you cannot reduce it significantly and have the same cookie — I’ve tried, and what you get is a drier, less tender thing that’s perfectly fine but not this. Use real butter, softened properly. Not melted. Not just slightly cool. Actually soft.
The walnuts should be chopped fairly fine — not dusty, but not big chunks either. You want them evenly distributed through the dough so every bite has a little crunch. I’ve made these with pecans when I was out of walnuts and they’re wonderful that way, maybe even a little richer. But walnuts are the original and I always come back to them.
Granulated sugar — just one cup, which sounds like nothing for the amount of dough this makes, but that’s correct. The sweetness in these cookies comes almost entirely from the powdered sugar coating. The dough itself is barely sweet, which is why the rolling step matters so much. Don’t rush it, don’t be conservative with the sugar. Roll them while they’re warm so it sticks, and then roll them again once they’ve cooled. Both times. Every time.
Vanilla — four teaspoons. I remember the first time I made this recipe I squinted at that amount because it seemed like a lot, and then I made them and understood immediately. You need it. Don’t cut it.

Ingredients

2 cups butter, actually softened — leave it out for a good hour at least
4 cups all-purpose flour
4 cups walnuts, chopped fairly fine (pecans work beautifully too, if that’s what you have)
1 cup granulated sugar
4 teaspoons vanilla extract — yes, all of it
1 teaspoon salt
Powdered sugar for rolling — have more than you think you’ll need

How to Make Them

Cream the butter and sugar together until it’s light and fluffy. This takes longer than you think — a good three or four minutes with a hand mixer, maybe more. Don’t rush this part. The creaminess of the butter base is what gives these their texture, and if you start with butter that’s not soft enough, you’ll be fighting it the whole way.
Add the vanilla and mix it in. Then add the flour and salt, and mix until just combined. The dough will be soft and a little crumbly-looking at first — keep going, it comes together. Fold in the walnuts.
Here’s where I’d tell you to refrigerate the dough for about an hour, though I’ll admit there have been years when I skipped this step because I was running behind and needed them done before someone arrived. The chilled dough is definitely easier to roll into balls and holds its shape better in the oven. The unchilled version spreads a little more and comes out slightly flatter but still tastes exactly the same. I leave the decision to you and your schedule.
Roll the dough into balls — roughly one inch, maybe a little bigger. I don’t measure. I just try to keep them consistent so they bake evenly. Place them on an ungreased baking sheet with a little space between them; they don’t spread dramatically.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 12 to 15 minutes, until the bottoms are just barely golden. The tops won’t look done — they’ll still look pale and a little underbaked, and that’s correct. If they look fully cooked on top, you’ve gone too far. Take them out when the bottoms have color.
Let them cool for just a couple of minutes — not long, you want them still warm — and then roll them in powdered sugar. Do this gently because they’re fragile at this stage and will crumble if you’re too aggressive. I’ve broken more than a few this way over the years, which is fine because broken ones go directly into my mouth and nobody has to know.
Once they’re fully cooled, roll them again. This second coat is what gives them that proper snowy look and makes sure the sweetness is actually there in every bite. Don’t skip it.

Variations

Pecans instead of walnuts — I already mentioned this, but it bears repeating because the result is genuinely excellent. A little sweeter, a little richer.
Some people add a pinch of cinnamon to the dough and I don’t hate that idea, especially for a holiday version. I’ve also seen recipes that use almond extract in place of some of the vanilla, which gives them a slightly different character — more marzipan-adjacent. I tried it once and it wasn’t bad, just different. Not what I think of when I think of these.
I don’t recommend making them without nuts. You can, technically, and they’ll still be a decent butter cookie, but they lose something essential. The walnuts aren’t just texture — they cut through the richness in a way that makes the whole thing work.

Storage

They keep remarkably well in a tin at room temperature — up to a week, easily, maybe longer, though in my house they’ve never had the opportunity to test that limit. Layer them between sheets of parchment or wax paper so the powdered sugar doesn’t stick and clump. Don’t refrigerate them; it dries them out.
If you’re making them to give away, they travel well. A tin or a box lined with a little tissue paper and they look like something you bought somewhere nice, which is most of the point.
You can freeze the unbaked dough balls and just bake them from frozen, adding a few extra minutes. I’ve done this when December got away from me — which is most Decembers, honestly — and it works just fine. The rolling in powdered sugar still happens fresh out of the oven either way.