Description
Festive holiday cherry pistachio snowballs melt with sweet nostalgia and delicate charm. Delightful cookies crumble like winter’s gentle whisper, inviting you to savor each buttery, nutty bite.
Ingredients
Scale
Main Ingredients:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened (226 grams)
- ½ cup chopped maraschino cherries, drained and patted dry
- ½ cup finely chopped pistachios
Sweeteners and Flavoring:
- ½ cup powdered sugar (plus more for rolling)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
Seasoning:
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Finely dice the dried cherries into uniform, small pieces to ensure even distribution throughout the dough and enhance the overall flavor profile.
- Roughly chop the pistachios, keeping some larger fragments to create textural contrast in the final confection, which will provide delightful crunch and visual interest.
- In a spacious mixing vessel, amalgamate the chopped cherries, pistachios, shredded coconut, and vanilla extract, thoroughly blending until ingredients are evenly dispersed.
- Gradually introduce sweetened condensed milk into the mixture, stirring meticulously until a cohesive, malleable dough forms that maintains structural integrity when shaped.
- Utilizing clean hands, craft compact spheres approximately one inch in diameter, moistening fingertips slightly if the mixture proves excessively adhesive to prevent sticking.
- Delicately envelop each formed orb in a generous coating of powdered sugar, ensuring complete coverage to achieve a pristine, frost-like exterior reminiscent of freshly fallen snow.
- Arrange the sugar-dusted confections on a parchment-lined tray, then refrigerate for a minimum of 30 minutes to solidify their shape and enhance flavor melding.
- Once chilled, transfer the Cherry Pistachio Snowballs to an hermetic container, where they will remain delectable for up to seven days, perfect for advance preparation and impromptu indulgence.
Notes
- Prep the cherries and pistachios carefully to ensure even distribution of flavors throughout the snowballs.
- Use a light touch when rolling the balls to keep them delicate and prevent them from becoming too dense.
- For a gluten-free version, double-check that all ingredients are certified gluten-free, especially the sweetened condensed milk.
- Experiment with alternative coatings like finely ground coconut or crushed nuts for a unique twist on the classic powdered sugar coating.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Desserts, Snacks
- Method: None
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 24
- Calories: 130
- Sugar: 2 g
- Sodium: 40 mg
- Fat: 10 g
- Saturated Fat: 6 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 4 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 11 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 2 g
- Cholesterol: 30 mg