Description
Filled Almond Snowball Cookies are delicate, buttery treats with a tender crumb, toasted ground almonds, and a sweet raspberry jam center. Perfectly dusted with powdered sugar, these cookies offer a delightful combination of nutty flavors and fruity sweetness, ideal for holiday baking or any special occasion.
Ingredients
Scale
Dry Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 3/4 cup toasted ground almonds
- pinch of salt
Wet Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- 1/4 cup seedless raspberry jam
To Finish
- powdered sugar for rolling
Instructions
- Combine dry ingredients: In a bowl, stir together the all purpose flour, toasted ground almonds, and a pinch of salt until evenly mixed.
- Cream butter and sugar: Using an electric hand mixer, beat the unsalted butter and powdered sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add almond extract: Mix in the almond extract thoroughly into the creamed butter and sugar mixture.
- Incorporate dry ingredients: Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat on low speed just until combined, being careful not to overmix.
- Shape cookies with jam filling: Take two 1-inch pieces of dough and roll each into balls. Create a hollow in each ball with your fingers, place about half a teaspoon of seedless raspberry jam in the hollow, then join the two dough pieces together enclosing the jam. Pinch edges tightly and reshape into balls.
- Chill cookies: Place the shaped cookies on parchment-lined baking sheets and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours to firm up the dough.
- Preheat oven: Heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (175 degrees Celsius).
- Bake cookies: Bake the chilled cookies on the prepared sheets for 12 minutes or until the bottoms start to turn light brown.
- Roll in powdered sugar: When slightly warm, roll the cookies in powdered sugar. After cooling completely, roll them again for a snowy finish.
- Store cookies: Keep the cookies stored in an airtight container to maintain freshness.
Notes
- Toast almonds beforehand to enhance their nutty flavor and allow them to cool before grinding.
- You can substitute raspberry jam with other seedless fruit jams like strawberry or apricot.
- Chilling the dough is crucial for easy handling and shape retention during baking.
- Be careful not to overbake; cookies should be just lightly browned on the bottoms.
- Use room temperature butter to ensure proper creaming with sugar for a light texture.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 120 kcal
- Sugar: 6 g
- Sodium: 35 mg
- Fat: 8 g
- Saturated Fat: 5 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 3 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 12 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 2 g
- Cholesterol: 25 mg
