Easy Chocolate Chip Snowball Cookies Recipe for Cozy Holiday Baking and Cookie Trays
Buttery chocolate chip snowball cookies packed with mini chocolate chips in every bite, rolled twice in powdered sugar for that soft, snowy holiday look. Ready in about 30 minutes, makes 4 dozen, and the dough comes together in one bowl with no chilling required.
There’s a cookie in every holiday tray that disappears first, and in my house it’s always the one covered in powdered sugar. These chocolate chip snowball cookies take the classic buttery snowball and tuck mini chocolate chips into every single one, so you get that melt-in-your-mouth texture plus a little chocolate in every bite.
They’re the kind of cookie you can mix up on a weeknight without thinking twice. No chilling, no fancy equipment, just butter, flour, sugar, and chocolate chips rolled into little balls and baked until the bottoms barely turn gold.
I like making a double batch of these around the holidays because they freeze so well and they’re the first thing people ask for by name.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Chocolate chips in every single bite, not just scattered through the batch
- One bowl, no fancy equipment, no chilling time
- Only 7 to 10 minutes in the oven per batch
- Freezer-friendly, so you can bake a double batch ahead of the holidays
- Soft, buttery texture that melts in your mouth
- A cookie tray favorite that looks fancy but takes almost no effort
Ingredients
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened — real butter matters here; imitation or melted butter makes the cookies spread instead of holding their shape
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled (not scooped or packed)
- 1/2 tsp salt (use 1/4 tsp if your butter is salted)
- 1 cup mini chocolate chips — mini chips spread more evenly through the dough so every cookie gets chocolate
- About 1 cup powdered sugar, for rolling
Step 1: Cream the Butter and Sugar
Beat the softened butter, 1/2 cup powdered sugar, and vanilla together until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. This takes a little longer with a hand mixer than a stand mixer, so don’t stop early — the mixture should look pale and smooth, not grainy.
Step 2: Mix in the Flour and Salt
Add the flour and salt and mix until a dough forms. The dough will look crumbly and dry at first — keep mixing. It comes together into a soft dough after another minute or so. If you measured the flour by scooping the cup straight into the bag instead of spooning it in, you’ll end up with too much flour and a dough that stays dry and crumbly no matter how long you mix. Spoon the flour into the measuring cup and level it off with a knife instead.
Step 3: Fold in the Chocolate Chips
Stir in the mini chocolate chips until evenly distributed. If the dough feels too soft to scoop, pop the bowl in the fridge for 10 to 15 minutes before shaping.
Step 4: Shape the Cookies
Scoop rounded tablespoon portions of dough and roll into balls. Place them on parchment-lined baking sheets about 1 inch apart — these cookies barely spread, so you don’t need much room between them.
Step 5: Bake
Bake at 375°F for 7 to 10 minutes, until the bottoms are just barely golden and the tops have lost their glossy look. These cookies should only puff slightly, not spread flat. If yours spread more than expected, the butter was likely too soft or started to melt before baking.
Step 6: Cool Slightly
Let the cookies cool on the pan for about 5 minutes before moving them. This matters more than it sounds — if you roll them in powdered sugar while they’re still hot, the sugar melts into a wet, see-through coating instead of staying snowy white.
Step 7: Roll in Powdered Sugar
Once the cookies are cool enough to handle but still a little warm, roll each one in powdered sugar. Let them cool completely, then roll a second time for that classic thick, snow-white coating.
Chocolate Chip Snowball Cookies
Ingredients
Method
- Beat the softened butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla together until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Add the flour and salt and mix until a dough forms, scraping the bowl as needed. The dough will look crumbly at first but comes together after another minute of mixing.
- Stir in the mini chocolate chips until evenly distributed. Chill the dough 10-15 minutes if it feels too soft to scoop.
- Scoop rounded tablespoon portions and roll into balls. Place on parchment-lined baking sheets about 1 inch apart.
- Bake at 375°F for 7 to 10 minutes, until the bottoms are just barely golden and the tops have lost their glossy look.
- Let the cookies cool on the pan for about 5 minutes before moving them.
- Once cool enough to handle but still a little warm, roll each cookie in powdered sugar. Let cool completely, then roll a second time for a thick, snow-white coating.
Notes
- Store airtight at room temperature up to a week, or freeze baked cookies or shaped dough balls up to 3 months. Re-roll in powdered sugar after thawing if needed.
- If the dough looks crumbly after adding the flour, keep mixing instead of adding extra flour — it comes together after another minute. Spoon and level your flour rather than scooping it to avoid dry, crumbly dough.
- Nutrition is an estimate calculated from the ingredients and will vary with brands and portion size.
Keep a Batch in the Freezer All Season
These chocolate chip snowball cookies are one of those recipes worth doubling. Shape the dough into balls, freeze them on a tray, then transfer to a bag — you can bake a few straight from frozen anytime a cookie craving hits.
If you make these for a cookie exchange or a holiday tray, they’re the kind that disappear fastest, chocolate chips and all.
Made a batch? Leave a star rating below and let me know how they turned out — it helps other bakers know what to expect.
For more holiday cookie recipes you will love:
