Get your ovens ready, because I’ve joined a bunch of my gluten-free bloggers friends for a little Virtual Gluten-free Cookie Exchange.ย
The cookie I am sharing today is an allergy-friendly twist on a family recipe, Snowball Cookies. My family loves these and I love that it’s a reminder of my childhood.ย
Growing up in Canada, we use to have BIG family get-togethers during the holidays. Both set of grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins would gather to celebrate ย Christmas. My mom’s side of the family was the loud & crazy, fun side and my dad’s side was more of the reserved & proper side (although my Dad brought the crazy, fun to both sides).
Although specifics are cloudy such as the toys I opened or the meals we ate, I do remember the shortbread cookies my Grandfather made. Sweet, buttery delights! Grandma would make sure to send us home with the extras. In fact, when we moved to Phoenix AZ, my Grandma would mail us these cookies all the way from Ontario. We looked forward to package every year!
Since then, shortbread cookies have always been a part of my Christmas tradition.
Of course, after Xander was diagnosed with food allergies, I wasn’t sure if we’d ever be able to have them in our home again, but after a few little changes to the recipe, we get to keep the tradition going and still enjoy our family’s shortbread Snowball Cookies. Trust me when I say that these Gluten-free cookies are just as amazing as the regular version! They are not only perfect for our family Christmas, they are also an amazing little treat to give as a gift, bring to the next holiday party or make at your next cookie exchanges.
Speaking of cookie exchange, remember I mentioned earlier that I’ve joined with a bunch of my gluten-free blogger friends for a Virtual Gluten-free Cookie Exchange? Well here’s the details you don’t want to miss!
Here’s the full, delicious round-up from our Virtual Gluten-free Cookie Swap! I hope you check out all these amazing ladies and their yummy blogs…..I honestly cannot wait to add these treats to our holiday baking list as well.
Check out all 12 recipes, listed in the order they appear in the photo, left to right, row by row:
Gluten-free Oatmeal Cranberry Chocolate Chip Cookies by My Gluten-Free Kitchen
Gluten-free Gingerbread Kiss Cookies by Gluten Free Palate
Snowball Cookies by Allergylicious
Gluten-Free Double Chocolate Mint Cookies by Meaningful Eats
Cinnamon Stars by Life After Wheat
Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies in Jar by This Vivacious Life
Crock Pot Bark with Salted Peanuts by What the Fork
Candy Cane Cookies by gfJules
Coffee Flour Cookies by Flippin’ Delicious
Snickerdoodle Cookies by Veggie Balance
Lemon Cranberry Cookies by Vegetarian Mamma
Gluten Free Vegan Rasberry Pinwheel Cookies by Sarah Bakes Gluten Free
Watch how easy it is to make Gluten-free Snowball Cookies
Your house will smell amazing when you make these Shortbread Snowball Cookies and I hope love them as much as our family does. Happy baking!
Shortbread Snowballs
Shortbread cookies with bites of chocolate chips and lightly dusted in powdered sugar. Gluten free, Vegan, dairy, egg, soy & nut free.
Ingredients
- 3/4 C. vegan butter (we use Earth Balance Soy free)
- 1 1/2 C. Gluten-Free 1-to-1 Flour (Bob's Red Mill)*
- 1/2 C. powdered sugar, plus extra for dusting
- 1/2 tsp. Xanthan Gum
- 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
- pinch of Himalayan sea salt
- 1 C. vegan chocolate chips (Enjoy Life mini chips)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 (325 if using convection oven).
- Prepare 2 baking sheets with parchment or Silpat.
- Using a stand mixer, beat butter until fluffy. Add in flour, powdered sugar, xanthan gum and salt (omit xanthan gum if using regular flour). Blend until incorporated then add in vanilla and chocolate chips.
- Scoop 1 rounded TB of dough (a mini ice-cream scoop works perfect for this) and drop 1 inch apart. Bake 12-15 minutes or until lightly golden on the edges, be careful not to burn.
- Remove from oven and dust with powdered sugar while still warm. Lightly dust once cooled for more of a snowball effect.
Notes
*You may need to add Xanthan Gum if you use a different Gluten-free Flour (check manufacturer's notes)**Omit Xanthan Gum altogether if you do not wish to make Gluten-free, and use a regular All-purpose Flour
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 30 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 92Total Fat: 6gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 12mgSodium: 41mgCarbohydrates: 9gFiber: 0gSugar: 5gProtein: 1g
Nutritional information is only an estimate based off of using an online calculator. Numbers will change depending on brands used.
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Here’s a few more cookies you’ll want to try….
These were one of my favorite cookies growing up!
So glad it’s a childhood favorite…its one of my too.
Snowball cookies were one of my childhood favorites!
Ours too! Looks like Christmas and tastes like Christmas
We love gf vegan snickerdoodles but these look like the perfect addition to our Christmas cookie list! Thank you.
Oh ya, vegan snickerdoodles are a fav of ours also.
These look delicious!
Thanks Christy! Always have you in mind when making my GF desserts. Guess that’s often ๐
It’s just my mom and I but we love macaroons!
Oh yum! Do you both like to bake?
We love homemade gingerbread! So festive and tasty
Gingerbread cookies are festive for sure! I don’t make these enough.
White chocolate chip cookies. =)
Do you have a favorite white chocolate you like to use?
Our favorite Christmas cookie is the cutout cookie or sugar butter cookie.
Classics!
We love frosted sugar cookies.
Christmas wouldn’t be the same without.
I love all kinds of cookies so at Christmas I have a hard time deciding which ones to make. My family always loves Chocolate Chip, but I like shortbread and sugar cookies best.
It is hard to choose just 1. At least these snowball cookies are like little shortbread balls with chocolate chips mixed in. You get 2 of your favorites all in 1 place.
Ours is White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies.
That sounds yummy. I always loved macadamia nuts in cookies.
That might be the easiest GF recipe I’ve ever seen. I can’t wait to make them!
Oh goodness, its so easy which is perfect when you’re running out of time and need a quick dessert recipe.
A family favorite is peppermint bark, patties, brownies. Oh! Pretty much anything peppermint.
Peppermint is pretty yummy, especially when added to chocolate. You’ll have to check out my Chocolate Mint Crinkle Cookies if you’re a mint fan.
Those cookies look so good! My family likes decorated, cut-out sugar cookies.
Those are always fun & festive!
I love ginger snaps – the traditional Swedish ones, which are crispy and thin and smooth and spicy!
Ooooh, those sound delightful!
This is totally up my alley! Looks delicious!
I usually make chocolate chip cookies but enjoy sugar/gingerbread cookies for the holidays, and this recipe seems like another great holiday option.
Thanks Kayley! You have some yummy cookies to pick from. Please let me know if you end up making these.
Making gluten-free snowball cookies is Christmas tradition in our house, too!! So excited to be doing this giveaway with you!
Thanks Jules! Yes, it’s been a fun giveaway for sure. The only thing that would make it better was if we all could physically do a cookie exchange! Wouldn’t that be tasty?
Yum! These look delicious. Just what I need to make on a Snowy day.
Come back and tell me what you thought of them….Id love to hear.
Hands down gingerbread!
Do you make homemade gingerbread houses too?
I !miss eating these cookies since I went GF. They look Delicious!
Then you must try this recipe so you can enjoy them again.
We’re always pleased when mom makes Nut Butter Thumbprints. Old standby, Snickerdoodles.
I love that you made this classic cookie allergy friendly!
Thanks Celeste. If my everyone in the family can enjoy them, then I’m happy.
I love anything with chocolate CHUNKS!
These are such a great Christmas classic cookie! I want a few right now!
Thankfully they are easy to make and don’t take long at all!
It just wouldn’t be Christmas without snowball cookies!
I’ve never had a snowball cookie with chocolate chips, but it sounds like a perfect cookie for both chocolate chip and snowball cookie lovers.
I love how simple they are to make! That’s the best kind of cookie recipe. Plus they are super cute ๐
Chocolate Chip
Chocolate chip cookies are my kryptonite! Come back next week, I have a fun twist on chocolate chip cookies coming to the blog.
You’ve been killing it with the gluten-free recipes lately Nicole! Those snowballs look perfect.
I love shortbread, and these are SO pretty!
These look so delicious!
They are one of my favorite cookies
Stained Glass sugar cookies are our fave!
Haven’t mastered that one yet, but I’m trying.
I love shortbread! I just found another cookie to add to my holiday baking list.
I am partial to sugar cookies.
Our family’s favourite Christmas cookie is either sugar cookies or gingerbread as the kids love to decorate them.
Fun for sure. 1 have 1 child that still likes to decorate but usually by the 2nd or 3rd one, he’s done. ๐
We love molasses cookies, but I just made these snowballs and they’re delicious!
Oh great Lisa! SO glad you all loved them. Thanks for sharing.
The powdered sugar looks like beautifully fallen snow. What a fun winter cookie!
we like the gingerbread cookies
How wonderful that you’re able to carry on a special childhood memory in a way that’s safe for your family today. Great recipe! Especially love how they really look like they’ve been dusted with fresh snow.
These look amazing, so glad you were able to keep the tradition going and allergy friendly! I find shortbread lends itself very well to being GF, but never tried them DF- I donโt need to eat DF but less dairy in my diet, and more cookies, is always a good thing!!
HAHA! Shortbread does work well being GF for sure and yes, less dairy is a good thing especially when you make more room for cookies. ๐
A Russian Teacake rolled out cookie
3 ingridient peanut butter cookies
Snickerdoodles or plain old sugar cookies are my favorites!
I really like frosted sugar cookies!
me too
We like gingerbread cookies.
Classic!
We absolutely love to frost and decorate sugar cookies over the holidays.
How fun! Makes for a great family activity.
We love the sugar cookies my mother-in-law bakes and decorates!
Lucky you! I bet those are delicious.
We like ginger snaps.,
YUM
We like Peanut Butter Cookies.
We missed having PB cookies around since we have a nut allergy, so now I make them with SunButter. So good too.
Anything with cinnamon like a snickerdoodle โค๏ธโค๏ธโค๏ธ
Can’t go wrong with Snickerdoodles.
Cut out sugar cookies! My husband loves them!
Gotta keep the hubby happy ๐
Spritz cookies!
Great choice
My family’s favorite is sugar cookies. They enjoy decorating them! Your recipe for Shortbread Snowballs sounds delicious! I will try it.
Oh please do and I’d love if you come back to let me know what your family thought. No decorating required but they’ll enjoy eating all those chocolate chips.
My family’s favorite cookie is my grandma’s Lee bars. No idea how they got name but they are basically peanut buttery rice krispy treats covered with melted chocolate – amazing!!
Those do sound amazing! I may have to try making that one Top 8 free for my family.
We love date bars and sugar cookies
Yumm! Date bars sound good right about now. Do you make them GF?
We love sugar cookies!
Me to!
These look so yummy! Our favorite is Peppernuts but I have yet to figure out a good GF substitute. :-/
One of my close friends makes the most amazing Peppernuts but they aren’t GF. Have you used Bob’s 1-to-1 before? That’s been the easiest GF substitute I’ve worked with. Ryze also makes a 1-to-1 sub that a friend uses all the time in her GF cookies.
My family loves snickerdoodles and sugar cookies.
Those are two classic and yummy choices!
The family fave cookie? Thatโs tough. The kids like anything sweet, I like simple cardamom butter cookies, and everyone else likes chocolate snowballs, I think. Your recipe might be something to try to see if we can all agree on a new fave, though!
Sounds like you have some amazing cookies to choose from. I’d love to hear what the family thinks of these snowball cookies.
We love florentine and 7 layer cookies.
YUM
It seems everyone has a different favorite cookie & a consensus canโt be reached! :-/ Lol! For me, I love most of them & canโt pick just one favorite! I love snickerdoodles, and almond crescents or basically any cookie with marzipan or almond paste orrrr almond extract (can you see a theme? lol).
Love your response! My favorite is based on my mood. Some days I just want a simple cookie like shortbread, and other days I want a big ‘ol chocolate chip cookie.
We love jam thumbprint cookies with walnuts.
I haven’t had one of those in such a long time…..I remember those being so yummy. Good choice.
These cookies are so festive. I come from a tiny family and always wondered what it would be like to celebrate with a familial “crowd”. Merry Christmas!
Hey Hanne, celebrating with our family just included us 5, until my parents moved here. Now we have 7 or 8 depending on if my brother drives in. Still lots of cooking and baking, but so less stress! Hope you have a great Christmas.
Great cookies! One question…in used regular butter and the cookies didn’t stay like a ball in the pics. They spread more. Is it maybe because of the regular butter I used?
It may be because of the type of butter used, or it was already too soft to start with. You can always make the balls then refrigerate 30 minutes before baking to see if that helps hold its shape better. I have several recipes that I need to do that with, like the new compost cookies I just shared.
I have to post again! We have been eating these cookies like crazy. They are delicious! My husband can’t believe they are gluten free!
Thanks for coming back Teri and for commenting again. I’m so glad to hear that your husband is enjoying the Snowball cookies as well.
Hi-
Do you think it’d be possible to use organic fine sugar in place of the powdered sugar in the recipe? For some reason powdered sugar doesn’t agree with me.
Thanks!
Spring
You could try blending it into a powdery form. It’s really the consistency that you need. There is vegan powder sugar though.
I didn’t know about vegan powdered sugar! I’ll try that! Thanks so much!
You can use whatever fits in your diet, but there’s a few vegan brands available which is nice!
I’m not sure if other commerntors addressed this already, but your instructions don’t tell you to add the vanilla. I have these in the oven now, and had I not dropped some dough on the counter (and used that as an excuse to taste the dough) I wouldn’t have known.
It has been fixed. Vanilla is listed in the ingredients, but was missed in the steps…thank you.