These Hershey's Kiss chocolate snowball cookies are a real holiday treat! Covered in powdered sugar, with a surprise chocolate kiss in every cookie, these little nut free cookies are irresistible.
'Tis the season for delicious holiday cookies! Yes, I'm one of those people. But I bet you could have guessed that, right? 😉 I absolutely love baking lots and lots of cookies around Christmastime (my red velvet cookies, buttery spritz cookies, and white chocolate cranberry cookies are always on that Christmas cookie list). I've got lots of fun gluten free cookie recipes up my sleeve, and it only felt right to kick off the season with these chocolate snowball cookies.
I kind of developed this gluten free snowball cookie recipe accidentally. What I mean by that is, I wanted to create deliciously simple, classic cookies... and then coat them in a whoooole lot of powdered sugar. To make little snowballs! Get it?
But then I thought, what else can I add to these gluten free holiday cookies to really take them over the top? And the answer was simple. Hershey's Kisses, of course! Because everyone loves those, right? So I present, chocolate snowball cookies filled with Hershey's Kisses.
I've always loved Hershey's Kisses, and while it's fun to try the different varieties and seasonal flavors, I'll always come back to two flavors: classic milk chocolate and dark chocolate. But feel free to use whichever one you love or have on hand for this nut free snowball cookie recipe! Anything goes here.
What Are Snowball Cookies?
First things first, let's talk about where snowball cookies came from. Snowball cookies can also be known as Russian tea cakes or Mexican wedding cakes. Apparently, we don't actually know where these Christmas cookies actually originated. But whatever you want to call them, I know this: they're delicious.
Snowball cookies are basically round and buttery little cookies, traditionally made with nuts (although mine are completely nut free snowball cookies... and Just As Tasty!) and rolled in powdered sugar while they're still warm.
Why You'll Love These Chocolate Snowball Cookies...
- Because all it takes is 7 ingredients. This might be one of the quickest Christmas cookie recipes out there. These are similar to my shortbread cookies in that they are buttery and don't require any leavening agents or eggs.
- That powdered sugar coating. These cookies pretty much melt in your mouth. What's not to love about that?
- The Hershey's Kiss is such a fun little surprise in the center. It gives these snowball cookies just a little hint of chocolate flavor.
What You'll Need...
- The dry ingredients: flour + salt.
- The fat: unsalted butter.
- The flavor: sugar + vanilla extract.
- The surprise: Hershey's Kisses! Choose any flavor you like.
- Top it off with: powdered sugar. This one is my favorite, because it's corn-free.
How To Make Nut Free Chocolate Snowball Cookies...
To make my gluten free snowball cookies, you will start by creaming the butter with the sugar until smooth. Add in the vanilla extract and beat to combine.
Then just add your dry ingredients right in and mix on low speed until your dough forms. You'll want to chill the dough for at least 1 hour. This will help keep your cookies nice and round, and keep them from spreading.
When your dough is ready, unwrap all of your Hershey's Kisses. Grab a tablespoonful of dough and mold it around each Kiss. Bake on 375ºF for about 12 minutes.
You will want to roll the Hershey's Kiss snowball cookies in powdered sugar while they are still warm -- wait about 10 minutes, so that they're just cool enough to handle, then coat in as much powdered sugar as you'd like!
Pro tip: my favorite way to do this is to pour the powdered sugar in a plastic zip-top bag, then drop each cookie into the bag, close the top, and SHAKE! 🙂
📖 Recipe
Chocolate Snowball Cookies - Gluten Free, Nut Free
Ingredients
- ½ cup (113g) unsalted butter room temperature
- ¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup (148g) gluten free flour blend
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 12 Hershey's Kisses
- powdered sugar
Instructions
- Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter with the sugar. Add vanilla and beat until combined.
- Add the flour and salt and mix on low speed until dough forms. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 375°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside. Unwrap Kisses.
- For each cookie, scoop a tablespoonful of dough and form around each Hershey's Kiss. Place on baking sheet, a few inches apart. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until bottoms of cookies are golden brown.
- Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet about 10 minutes before coating in powdered sugar.
Notes
- After chilling the dough, you may have to allow it to sit at room temperature for 20-30 minutes to soften. This will make it easier to handle.
Did you make my chocolate snowball cookies? Leave me a comment below or tag me on Instagram @justastastyblog and #justastastyblog!
Karen Drago-Felts says
Flavors were incredible but two negative comments. I apologize! First, despite having refrigerated both the dough and then the dough balls after preparing them with the kisses, the shape after baking was not round, but flat with a mound in the middle. Secondly, these cookies are extremely crumbly, falling apart even before they get to your mouth. I opted not to make a second batch of these despite the wonderful taste.
Taleen Benson says
Thank you for letting me know, Karen, and sorry these didn't work for you! The spreading can happen if the butter was too warm when you started. In terms of the cookies being too crumbly, I'm wondering if you used too much flour. Did you weigh the flour, by any chance? I always toss the baked cookies in a zip-top bag to coat them in the powdered sugar and never have a problem with them falling apart even after tossing them around like that, so that is really strange!