Mexican Wedding Cookies | Barefeet in the Kitchen

Mexican Wedding Cookies, Russian Tea Cakes, Sugar Butter Balls, Polvorones, Snowball Cookies, Egyptian Feast Cookies, Nut Butter Balls, Norwegian Snowballs, Kourambie, Walnut Delights, Pecan Petites, Holiday Nuggets, Swedish Heirloom Cookies

…these melt-in-your-mouth cookies are known by many different names around the world. My grandmother called them Sugar Butter Balls.

Wedding Cookies

Every time I bite into a Mexican Wedding Cookie, I’m transported to a time when I watched my grandmother roll them between her hands. She was the source of so many delicious foods in my childhood.

She would set the finished cookies on a platter and everything looked so elegant to my young eyes. More than any other holiday treat, these cookies taste like Christmas to me.

I’d try sneaking them from the tray before it was time but the powdered sugar always left a ring of evidence around my mouth. No matter, my grandmother always had plenty of these cookies to go around.

How to Make Mexican Wedding Cookies

The first time I tried making these cookies on my own, I was 18 years old and living in my first apartment. I had my grandmother’s recipe for them, but I figured I knew best.

Instead of rolling the warm cookies gently through the powdered sugar, I placed them in a Ziploc bag and poured sugar over them. When I shook the bag to coat them with sugar, at least half the cookies broke apart.

The cookies were still delicious, but they were a mess to eat. In the years since I’ve learned that Grandmother knew best. If you follow her directions for rolling the cookies in the sugar, yours will turn out every bit as perfect as hers always did.

The easiest method I’ve found for coating the cookies in powdered sugar is to put about a cup of powdered sugar in a bowl and roll the warm cookies, a few at a time, through the sugar.

Yes, rolling each ball in powdered sugar might take a little more time  but the results are so very worth it. Mexican Wedding Cookies are crisp when you bite into them then melt in your mouth.

That first bite delivers sweetness from the powdered sugar on both the inside and outside. This light buttery cookie always brings a smile to my face as I think about my grandmother and all those childhood holidays.

Mexican Wedding Cookies

If you’ve never made Mexican Wedding Cookies before, I’m happy to report that as long as you follow my grandmother’s directions, they’re fairly easy to make in your own kitchen.

After creaming together soft butter with powdered sugar and vanilla, gradually add flour to make a dough. I also use chopped pecans and walnuts in my Mexican Wedding Cookies. They add the perfect amount of crunch and a light nutty taste to each cookie.

Measure the dough into 1 inch scoops and roll each scoop into a ball with your hands. Get them as smooth and round as possible before baking them in the oven until just set. (Be sure not to let them brown!)

I cool my cookies for just a couple of minutes to make them easy to handle. Then, roll each cookie in powdered sugar and let cool completely before rolling them twice more in the leftover powdered sugar.

These cookies are delicious all on their own and look so pretty on a holiday cookie tray. I also love to arrange these in tins with tissue paper to give as gifts throughout the holiday season. 

While I always associate them with Christmas, Grandmother’s Sugar Butter Balls, Snowballs, or Mexican Wedding Cookies make for a delightful treat all year long.

Enjoy them with a cup of tea or coffee, at a party or cozied up at home, and make your own fond memories with the ones you love.

Holiday Cookie Recipes

Looking for more great holiday treats? You’ve come to the right place.

Sugared Shortbread Cookies are a classic cookie that everyone loves. Around Christmas time we also love to make Chocolate Dipped Candy Cane Shortbread to nibble by the Christmas tree or give as gifts.

You can never go wrong with a traditional simple sugar cookie this time of year. Iced and decorated and put on a plate for Santa or saved for yourself, nothing says “Christmas” quite like a cut out sugar cookie!

If you’ve spent any amount of time here for a while you may have gathered that I can’t get enough of 5-Minute Fudge Recipes when it’s time for holiday baking. Add White Chocolate Caramel Fudge and Peppermint Marshmallow Fudge to your list to try this season.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Ritz Cookies are a super simple no-bake cookie recipe that everyone finds irresistible. I love to make a big batch to keep in the freezer and have ready any time company comes over or I need a last minute dish to take to a party.

If you’re looking for a sugar free version of Mexican Wedding Cookies, Brenda over at Sugar Free Baker shared this Sugar-Free Paleo Pecan Snowball Cookie Recipe. That sounds like a great option to try along with the traditional cookie recipe so that everyone at your party can enjoy Wedding Cookies, whether or not they’re avoiding sugar.

Kitchen Tip: I use this baking sheet pan to make this recipe.

Mexican Wedding Cookies Recipe

{originally published 11/21/13 – notes and photos updated 12/16/20}