Some cookies seem to be so intrinsically nutty and buttery that it would seem impossible to make them friendly (which is what i call recipes without milk, egg and nuts). And snowball cookies are right up there with their nutty buttery shortbread characteristics, but fear not, i've found a way to keep the essence of this cookie without any of the nuts!
Mexican wedding cakes, Russian tea cake or snowball cookies, whatever you call them these little sugar coated cookies feature in many different cultures, and if variations are found all over the gobe then there must be something to their deliciousness. These sounded like just the kind of recipe that needed a friendly incarnation.
The other day i was reading about the 25 things in 2025 idea and it really resonated with me, and i started my list straightaway! One thing that i've wanted to do for a long time is make better use of my library of cookbook.
I have a couple of hundred cookbooks which are my pride and joy, but so often i reach for one of my favourites and the other go un-noticed and unloved. So, for 2025 i have challenged myself to cooked from 25 cookbooks (at least 25) in 2025.
Just some of my cookbooks!
I have to admit that I'm starting with a favourite book, Ottolenghi's Sweet, but i've had a few recipes i've wanted to friendly-ify so it felt like a good place to start. Besides it's the first book on the top shelf (favourite books shelf) and so it doubly made sense to start here. Over the years I've got a far bit of inspiration from this fabulous cookbook and I really do recommend it highly, and for week 1 of my 2025CookbookChallenge I have started strong with two recipes.
One recipe, the mini chocolate and Guniness cakes with Irish creme filling I will post nearer St Patrick's day due to the strong Irish theme, and it's really worth waiting for because they're divine decadent little cakes.
The other recipe I made friendly is the pecan snowball cookies. I've long wanted to make a nut-free version of these little worldwide favourites but the idea didn't join up until this week. It just suddenly made sense - the way i've recreated pecan pie using pretzels, why not use a similar idea for pecan snowballs? It turns out that pretzels are the perfect addition - they give the nutty, crunchy vibe that is so reminiscent of nuts. So welcome to the nut-free snowball cookie, or if you prefer Mexican wedding cake, or even Russian teacake!
My recipe is loosely based around Yotam's Pecan Snowball cookie recipe but with pretzels and a few other tweaks. I hope you give them a go because they're super tasty and i feel a real winner for recipe 1 of my 2025CookbookChallenge 🙂
Nut-free Snowball Cookies
a dairy and nut-free version of Pecan snowballs, Mexican wedding cakes or Russian teacakes
dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, soya-free, sesame-free, vegetarian and vegan
- 45 g pretzels
- 60 6 dairy-free butter
- 35 g icing sugar
- 1/2 vanilla pod (seeds scraped out)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- pinch salt
- 80 g plain flour
- 1-2 tsp dairy-free milk
- 4 tbsp icing sugar
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In a food processor or in a plastic bag and using a rolling pin, crush the pretzels until you have a fine, sandy mixture
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Whisk together the butter and icing sugar until light and fluffy
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whisk in the vanillas
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stir in the crushed pretzels, salt and flour, plus the milk. Add 1 tsp milk to start and if the mixture is too dry add the second tsp
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Once you have a nice dough, wrap and place in the fridge for half an hour
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Preheat the oven to 190℃ and line a baking sheet with parchment
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Roll the dough into ten even sized pieces and place onto the baking sheet
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Bake for 16 minutes, or until the bottoms have started to turn golden
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Meanwhile, sift the 4 tbsp icing sugar into a shallow bowl.
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As soon as the cookies come out of the oven roll in the sugar and place back onto the hot baking sheet for the sugar to crisp up
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Once they've cooled a little, roll them for a second time in the sugar then place onto a wire rack to cool fully.
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