Pistachio Lemon Snowball Cookies are buttery, tender cookies packed with pure, nutty pistachio flavor and a light lemony glaze! A fun twist on a classic snowball cookie you can enjoy any time of year!
Okay, how GORGEOUS are these cookies!?
The pretty spring green color! The pop of yellow! The little flecks of brown! They’re simply perfect – the ultimate springtime cookie.
Even though we’re in the midst of spring, I was thinking about snowball cookies because Hallmark has been airing Christmas movies on Fridays, lol. Not sure why but I kinda love it and it got me thinking about snowball cookies, which is one of my fave holiday cookies! But why do they have to be exclusive to wintertime? They’re so good, they should be a year-round occurrence!
But I wanted to jazz them up a little bit for spring and I got the brilliant idea to use pistachios instead of the usual pecans. Pistachios are naturally a little sweeter, have a unique and signature flavor and a buttery nuttiness that’s so perfect for these cookies. And of course, their natural color gives these cookies a beautiful minty green hue.
Pistachios also go great with lemon flavors and naturally, a lemony glaze sounded perfect and refreshing – the perfect accessory to these beautiful cookies.
The Pistachio Cookies
Snowball cookies consist of butter, granulated sugar for sweetness, a little brown sugar for flavor and a lovely texture, a splash of vanilla, all-purpose flour to hold it together, and ground nuts – in this case, we’re using ground pistachios. You want them to be finely ground – not to a powder or meal consistency, but not super crunchy either. We’re also going to add in some instant pistachio pudding mix which will give these cookies lovely pistachio flavor and an amazing soft, chewy and tender texture. Trust me, you do not want to skip on this ingredient!
The Glaze
The glaze consists of some freshly grated lemon zest, lemon juice, and confectioners’ sugar whisked together until it is the perfect glazing consistency. You’ll dip the baked and cooled cookies into the glaze and let the excess drip off before returning them to a wire rack to set the glaze. The glaze hardens and creates this irresistible soft shell over the cookie with a kiss of lemon.
Buttery, ultra tender, melt-in-your-mouth Pistachio Lemon Snowball Cookies… you’re going to love these!
Pistachio Lemon Snowball Cookies
These Pistachio Lemon Snowball Cookies are ultra buttery, tender, melt-in-your-mouth cookies with pure pistachio flavor and a kiss of lemony glaze. The perfect springtime cookie!
Ingredients
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 1/4 cup granulated white sugar
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups finely ground pistachios I used roasted and salted
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup instant pistachio pudding mix just the dry powder, do not prepare the pudding
For the Glaze:
- 1½ cups confectioners’ sugar
- 2-3 Tbsp lemon juice
- Zest of half a lemon
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375° degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone liners; set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and both sugars until fluffy and smooth, about 1 minute. Beat in the vanilla extract until combined. Lastly, beat in the ground pistachios, flour, and instant pistachio pudding mix powder until combined. Dough may be crumbly; this is normal and perfectly okay.
Using a Tablespoon-size cookie dough scoop, scoop out Tablespoon-size balls of dough into your hand and roll into a ball. The heat of your palm will help hold the crumbly dough together into a cohesive ball. Place 1″ apart on the baking sheets.
Bake for 10-13 minutes or until light golden brown and set. Cool completely on the baking sheets as the cookies are very tender and delicate while they cool.
After the cookies cool, make your glaze. In a small bowl, whisk together the confectioners’ sugar, lemon zest and lemon juice until combined. Dip the tops of the cookies into the glaze and allow the excess to drip off. Return the glazed cookies to a wire rack and allow glaze to set before storing or serving.
Notes
The perfect consistency for the pistachios is finely ground. It shouldn’t be super milled like a flour but not super crunchy or chunky, either. I used roasted and salted shelled pistachios since that was easiest to find.
You guys are going to love these tender, nutty cookies! Not only are they gorgeous, they’re so tasty, too!
Have a super sweet day!
xo, Hayley
