Have you ever tried Italian wedding cookies? If not, you’re missing out! These delectable treats are a cookie lover's dream. Italian wedding cookies, also known as Snowball cookies are a ball of powdered sugar and gooey goodness. It’s very similar to a crumbly shortbread type dough made of sugar, flour, butter, and nuts.

These European treats are very popular for weddings and make wonderful dessert options for weddings or any dessert spread. They can also be the perfect wedding gift! 

Learn how easy they are to make for your wedding. 

Today, I’m sharing an Italian wedding cookie recipe that you can easily make at home (and enjoy year round or at other holidays and celebrations).

Italian Wedding Cookies Recipe

You don’t have to be Italian to appreciate how awesome these cookies are no matter the time of year. This unique dessert is sure to be a crowd pleaser because of how simple and tasty they are to make. You can’t have just one.

Want to know what makes a great Italian wedding cookie? It’s all in the dough. Although crumbly to make, these Italian cookies turn out so moist they melt in your mouth!

What Are Italian Wedding Cookies 

Italian Wedding Cookies are very similar to Mexican Wedding Cookies, but food historians actually trace this popular dessert back to Medieval Arab. 

Italian wedding cookies are an easy powdered sugar cookie that’s light, sweet, moist, and delicious. They’re very popular in Europe and make their appearance at many other special occasions including Christmas. 

At weddings, Italian Wedding Cookies are often set on the wedding cake table with the wedding cake or piled up on top of one another. Like many other wedding desserts, Italian wedding cookies are traditionally served after the wedding ceremony and dinner. 

Italian wedding cookies can be made in less than an hour with very few ingredients. They’re usually made up of a blend of ground nuts (usually walnuts and hazelnuts), flour, cinnamon, powdered sugar, butter and flavored extract (vanilla and almond).

Italian Wedding Cookie Recipe 

We’re loving this easy traditional Italian wedding cookie recipe. 

Ingredients

• Unsalted Butter (1 ½ cups)

• Powdered Sugar (¾ cup)

• Salt (¾ tsp)

• Ground Almonds, finely (1 ½ cups)

• Vanilla Extract (4 ½ tsp)

• All-Purpose Flour, sifted (3 cups)

• Powdered Sugar, for rolling (1/3 cup)

Instructions 

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Step 2

Place butter, 3/4 cup powdered or confectioners sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl; beat the butter, sugar, and salt with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Mix in ground almonds and vanilla extract. You can also use almond flavor extract. Gradually add in flour to the blend until well-combined.

Step 3

Shape into dough balls (or crescents) using about 1 teaspoon for each cookie; place 1 inch apart on an ungreased baking sheet. It’s better to use parchment paper, although that’s optional.

Step 4

Bake in the preheated oven until just browned, 15 to 20 minutes.

Step 5

Let sit until slightly cooled to room temperature, about 15 minutes. Roll cookies in remaining powdered sugar.

If you need to make any substitutions, feel free to swap out the ingredients for these close seconds.

Unsalted Butter

1 cup butter but reduce the salt called for in the recipe by 1/2 teaspoon

All-Purpose Flour

1/2 tablespoon cornstarch, potato starch, rice starch, or arrowroot starch or 1 tablespoon granular tapioca or 2 teaspoon quick-cooking tapioca

Additional tips to make the perfect batch

• The dough will be crumbly at first, but that’s expected and how it’s supposed to be. 

• When “rolling” the dough, it’s not necessarily a roll. It’s more like a smoosh. The point is to make them into about a 1 inch ball… think bite-sized!

• The creaminess is all in the butter. Be sure to mix the butter and sugar together until it’s smooth. This will determine how moist the dough (and cookies) turn out in the end.

• You can make these cookies with pretty much any nut. While these are traditionally made with hazelnut and walnuts, finely crushed almonds are a great sub, so are pecans or other preferred nuts

• Wait until the cookies are brought to room temperature before rolling them in the powdered sugar in the last step.

Hopefully this gives you the boost you need to try your hand at making these Italian wedding cookies yourself! As you can see, it’s pretty easy and worth the labor… and it can be ready made in big batches all in about an hour. 

If you like shortbread cookies, you and your guests will love having these popular dessert options at your wedding dessert table. Are you ready to give it a try? You’ve got this!

Do you have a special way you love making these popular treats for weddings that we missed? Would love to hear your tips in the comments down below!

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