Orange Snowball Cookies

4.60 from 10 votes

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This Orange Snowball Cookies Recipe is a fresh new spin on a holiday classic that is sure to make Santa extra happy this Christmas Eve.

Orange Snowball Cookies Recipe from Platter Talk.
Fresh orange juice and orange zest bring new life to a timeless holiday classic.

Orange Snowball Cookies Recipe

Oranges have long been connected with Christmas, thanks to St. Nicholas who is credited by many for starting the tradition of leaving these as gifts in stockings that were hung above the fireplace.

Back in the days of the Great Depression when money was scarce, oranges were commonly passed along as a gift of a rare luxury and nutritious food.

The holiday season is often associated with falling snow, special cookies and a time of gift giving. This Orange Snowball Cookies Recipe combines all of these elements into a delicious holiday cookie.

a close up of snowball cookies
Our Snowball Christmas Cookies & Video

Our Snowball Christmas Cookies that we put together with Scott’s mom a while back have been getting a lot of attention all over the Internet, lately.

There’s a very good reason for this: They’re mouthwatering and delicious. Recently when our friends from The Daily Meal asked us to come up with snow-themed recipe, we used these cookies as a base and jazzed them up a notch or two.

orange snowball cookie dough mixing
These orange-laced beauties go together in minutes.

Using our handy kitchen

microplane

, we gave these snowball cookies a whole new flavor, using the zest of a fresh orange.

A group of cookies
Candy canes are optional of course but they pair very nicely with these holiday cookies!

Ingredients

  • Butter
  • Powdered Sugar
  • Flour
  • Orange Zest
  • Orange Juice
  • Granulated Sugar

This Orange Snowball Cookies Recipe could hardly be any easier or more delicious and we hope you give them a try this holiday season. Santa will thank you for these and its very possible that Rudolph will fall for these as well, who could blame him?

a bunch of round cookies on a cutting board
Give Santa something to remember this year, with a plate of these Orange Snowball Cookies.

 

Orange Snowball Cookies

4.60 from 10 votes
A fast, simple, and delicious holiday cookie
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 20 minutes
Total: 30 minutes
Yield: 30 servings

Ingredients 

  • 1 cup butter, softened to room temperature
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 2 tablespoons juice from 1/2 of a small orange
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 tablespoons Edible glitter , (yellow or white.) Optional.
  • 2 tbsp Orange zest

Instructions 

  • Preheat oven to 325 °F.
  • Using bowl mixer, combine butter and powdered sugar until creamed together.
  • Next, add 1 tablespoon of orange peel, reserving the remaining.
  • Mix in orange juice, then gradually add flour and mix until well incorporated.
  • Roll dough into small (golf ball size) rounds and place on non-greased baking sheet, about 2 inches apart.
  • Bake for 20 minutes or until firm.
  • While cookies are baking, combine granulated sugar and remaining orange peel, place in small food processor and incorporate fully. If you don’t have a food processor, mix the two together in a small bowl.
  • When the cookies are finished baking, allow to cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet. While cookies are still warm, roll them in the sugar and orange peel mixture.
  • Garnish with optional edible glitter and/or some orange zest.

Notes

If sugar coating does not adhere to cookies, created a sweet glue by mixing about a half cup of powdered sugar with a tablespoon or so of fresh orange juice. Roll the warm cookies in this bath and then coat with the sugar and orange peel mixture. You may have to press the sugar into the cookies, but don’t give up as these are delicious!

Nutrition

Calories: 141kcal, Carbohydrates: 20g, Protein: 1g, Fat: 6g, Saturated Fat: 3g, Cholesterol: 16mg, Sodium: 54mg, Potassium: 18mg, Fiber: 0g, Sugar: 10g, Vitamin A: 190IU, Vitamin C: 0.8mg, Calcium: 4mg, Iron: 0.6mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Holiday
Tried this recipe?Mention @plattertalk or tag #plattertalk!

Meet the Platter Talk Guys

Dan & Scott split their time between Wisconsin and Southwest Florida and are dads to six boys. Good food runs through their veins, and they love showing others how to cook easy recipes.

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22 Comments

  1. Can’t wait to try these but a question on the Orange Zest? Recipe calls for 1 Tablespoon but cookies use 1 Tablespoon and it says to use remaining zest in the coating. How much goes into cookie and how much goes into coating? Also how many tablespoons orange juice? Is that 2? Thanks!

    1. Hi Maria, it should be a total of 2 tbsp. zest (1 for the dough and 1 for the coating,) and 2 tbsp OJ. Thanks for the question!

  2. 5 stars
    Dan, we love lemon, but using Orange in these snowball cookies is a great idea, and I ( anna ) will definitely try this recipe using orange – a nice change from all the other flavors. Thanks for sharing.

  3. Snowball cookies are so fun! I LOVE the orange addition, that’s one of my favorite flavors this time of year.

  4. 5 stars
    Such an unusual cookie recipe – I bet it tastes absolutely amazing! I don’t have a microplane, but I’m sure a small grater would work well too?

  5. 5 stars
    I remember my favorite aunt making a similar cookie in lemon and they were so good. I love how easy these are and they look like they are full of flavor!

  6. I love snowball cookies so much but I’ve never thought to add other flavors. I bet they amazing with orange!!

  7. Zest is like a “thing” for me — I love the color and sparkle of these cookies, but I think I’d love that citrus aroma that’s sure to hit you when using fresh zest — even more!