Italian Wedding Cookies are an easy 6 ingredient nutty, buttery holiday cookie with ground almonds, chopped almonds and vanilla rolled in powdered sugar.
Italian Wedding Cookies are light, airy and melt in your mouth delicious, much like a Meringue Cookie. But no need to reserve these just for the holidays, they’d be perfect for Baby Showers, Bridal parties and any other excuse to eat a yummy cookie. In fact, there are over 50 different Cookie Recipes for you to choose from to fit any occasion.
ITALIAN WEDDING COOKIES
These little powdery cookies go by a few names, butterballs, snowballs or Italian Wedding Cookies. They’re much like Mexican Wedding Cookies and Russian Tea Cakes but instead of pecans, they’re made with chopped almonds and ground almonds.
Christmas is almost here but that doesn’t mean you can’t add one more cookie to your cookie tray for Santa. They have the perfect delicate balance of sweet from the powdered sugar and nuttiness from the ground almonds.
You won’t believe how easy these Italian Cookies are to make. They only require a handful of ingredients and take about 15 minutes of prep time, perfect for even a beginning baker. Another great thing about these Christmas cookies is that the recipe doesn’t require you to chill the dough. You can just make, bake and enjoy!
This recipe calls for ground almonds which you can get from the store but it’s also very easy to grind your own. All you need are almonds and a food processor. Make sure to pulse the nuts in short bursts and not allow the food processor to run continuously otherwise it’ll release the nuts oils. You’ll know when you’re done when the almonds are ground but still have a bit of texture to them.
Are powdered sugar and confectioners sugar the same thing?
Yes, they are exactly the same thing. You might also see it called 10x sugar. Basically, it’s sugar that has been ground so fine that it’s now a powder and then cornstarch gets mixed in to prevent clumping.
MORE HOLIDAY COOKIE CLASSICS:
Award Winning Gingerbread Cookies Recipe
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ginger Cookies
Brown Sugar Cookies Recipe
HOW TO MAKE ITALIAN WEDDING COOKIES
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees f.
- Cream butter in a mixing bowl.
- Gradually mix in ¾ cup powdered sugar and salt into the butter.
- Add almonds and vanilla.
- Mix in flour gradually.
- Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Form the dough into small balls and place them on the cookie sheets.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes, watching carefully to make sure they don’t brown.
- After the cookies cool for about 5 minutes, roll them in the remaining powdered sugar to coat.
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VARIATIONS ON ITALIAN WEDDING COOKIES
- Nuts: Substitute the almonds with walnuts, hazelnuts or pistachios.
- Extract: If you want a stronger almond flavor, substitute the vanilla extract with almond extract or keep both the vanilla and almond extract in the cookie dough.
- Vegan: Swap out the butter and use Vegan butter. Super easy!
MORE DELICIOUS COOKIE CLASSICS:
Black and White Cookies
Coconut Macaroons
Peanut Butter Blossoms
Hershey’s Kiss Cookies
BAKING TIPS
- Use an ice cream scoop or cookie scoop to scoop out the cookie dough and then roll into balls with your hands. It’ll keep them all around the same size.
- Because of the amount of butter in these cookies (yay!), you can use ungreased cookie sheets to bake them on or line baking sheets with parchment paper. Cookies can be placed close together but make sure they’re not touching.
- Make sure that the butter is at room temperature before starting this recipe. It’ll make the creaming process much easier. I suggest letting it sit out on the counter for about 30 minutes prior to using it.
HOW TO STORE AND SERVE
- Serve: Enjoy these cookies fresh from the oven or out at room temperature.
- Store: You can store these cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week. Make sure to place a piece of parchment paper in between each layer to keep the cookies from sticking together.
- Freeze: For best results, I wouldn’t recommend freezing them with the powdered sugar coating on them. Freeze the cookie dough balls and flash freeze on a baking sheet for about an hour. Then move the balls to a freezer-safe storage bag or container. No need to thaw them before baking, just add an additional minute to the bake time then roll in the powdered sugar per the recipe.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter
- 2 cups powdered sugar , divided
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 1/2 cups almonds , divided
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups flour
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- Add 1 ½ cups of the almonds to a food processor and pulse until the almonds are ground into a sand-like texture.
- To your stand mixer add the butter and cream on medium speed for 1 minute until light and fluffy.
- Add in ¾ cup powdered sugar and salt.
- Add ground almonds and vanilla extract.
- On low speed add in the flour until just combined.
- Add in the chopped almonds for just 5 seconds until mixed in.
- Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or a silpat.
- Scoop 1 tablespoon sized scoops of dough onto the cookie sheets.
- Bake for 13-15 minutes, watching carefully to make sure they don't brown.
- After the cookies cool for about 5 minutes, roll them in the remaining powdered sugar to coat, let them sit one minute then roll a second time to get a nice powdery coating.
Nutrition
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Why did my cookies spread? They didn’t stay in balls.
Did you take them out before they browned on the bottom and then cool before rolling in powdered sugar? Did you allow the butter to come to room temperature first? Did you add oil to the cooking sheet? No need as there is a lot of butter in this recipe.
You don’t state which type of flour- self-rising or all purpose??
All Purpose! You commented a few days ago and I’m just seeing this during this busy season. How did your cookies turn out?
Mine were a total failure! They literally crumbled when I picked them up to roll in the powdered sugar; what did I do wrong?
Maureen, would love to help troubleshoot. Did you measure the flour by spooning it in and leveling or by dipping the cup in the flour. Sometimes when people dip the cup it it compacts the flour and can add too much. That’s not normally the worst when there are leavening agents in the recipe, but when there isn’t, like in this recipe, it can make it fragile/dry. The second issue could be (and is more likely) the nuts. If there’s too much then they will create a crumbly cookie as there isn’t enough of the cookie dough to adhere the cookie together. Happy to troubleshoot more with you if these are not the issues you faced.
Thank you for the recipe. My italian grandmother made these for christmas each year and I will recreate that starting this year!
Hey, Sabrina.
Can you substitute gluten-free flour???
Trying to make for a wedding and needing a gluten-free option ?
Thanks, Jane
Hi Sabrina.
In the instructions it calls for cream but the ingredients
list doesn’t list cream. Can you say how much cream, please.
Thank you. Going to try them.
Hi Kristi, in this instance I meant ‘cream” as in mix together. Hope you enjoy!
Oh gosh… my bad. Thank you so much for clarifying!!
No worries at all! Hope you enjoy!
I’m confused. The recipe calls for 2 1/2 cups almonds. You grind up 1 1/2 cups to add to dough but I don’t see what you do with the extra cup of almonds.
Hi! I see its a little confusing. on step 7 you would chop the remaining almonds and add to mixture until just mixed.
Tasted delicious and looked just like the picture! It would be helpful to give an estimate of how many cups ground almonds to use if you don’t grind your own. I used about a cup but it was just a guess, assuming that the 1.5 cups of whole almonds was reduced a little by grinding them.
Sounds perfect! I’m so glad you enjoyed them.
Can you use Almond Flour rather than what sounds like making it yourself?
No, the almond is for flavoring.
We enjoy baking the cookies for the holidays. They’re always a sweet treat for family and friends.
Thank you so much for the kind review! I am so glad you enjoy them. Happy Thanksgiving!
Hello – I am going to make these for a party. Should I use the almonds that are white (skin removed)?
It is more for aesthetics so you definitely can. I didn’t for this recipe when I made it though.
Hello! I’m making these for a wedding and need to know: by 36 servings do you mean 36 cookies???
Yes 🙂
Thank you for the recipe. My italian grandmother made these for christmas each year and I will recreate that starting this year!
these are such good cookies!
So glad you enjoyed them! Thanks for the 5 stars.
Talk about a blast from the past, my grandma used to make these and your recipe is spot on. Absolutely perfect and such a dang tasty treat! Thank you!
So glad to have brought back a piece of your childhood. They’re such a classic!
The best cookies around! So easy to put together and grinding my own almonds was just as easy!
So glad you decided to give it a try!
This is one of my favorite cookies to make during the holidays. They are so light and delicious and sure to please anyone.
Definitely great to add to the holiday cookie collection.