Old-Fashioned Walnut Balls Recipe

By
Diana Rattray
Diana Rattray
Diana Rattray
Southern-cuisine expert and cookbook author Diana Rattray has created more than 5,000 recipes and articles in her 20 years as a food writer.
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Updated on 05/22/22
Old fashioned walnut balls recipe

The Spruce / Julia Hartbeck

Prep: 15 mins
Cook: 15 mins
Total: 30 mins
Servings: 48 servings

Variations of easy-to-make walnut balls can be found in cuisines around the world. Often a holiday or wedding treat, these brown sugar-sweetened confections go by many names: Russian tea cakes, Mexican wedding cookies, Hungarian nut bites, snowballs, butterballs, or nut balls.

This classic recipe uses a few tried-and-true ingredients, but if you feel adventurous, you can substitute a different finely chopped nut for the walnuts or vary the flavor with the addition of a teaspoon of cinnamon, cardamom, or ginger powder. You could also dust the balls with sweetened cocoa powder instead of the powdered sugar.

With a dry and crumbly texture similar to shortbread, the cookies freeze well for make-ahead convenience. Theoretically, you can store them in an airtight container on the counter for up to a week, but good luck getting them to last that long so you can test it.

Ingredients

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.

    Ingredients for old fashioned walnut balls
    The Spruce / Julia Hartbeck

  2. Preheat oven to 375 F. Cream butter, sugar, and vanilla in a stand mixer or with an electric hand beater at medium speed until fluffy; the butter should approximately double in size and turn pale yellow.

    Cream butter, sugar
    The Spruce / Julia Hartbeck

  3. Sift flour and salt together.

    Sift flour and salt
    The Spruce / Julia Hartbeck

  4. Add it in two or three batches to the creamed mixture; mix gently to incorporate it between each addition. Stir in walnuts.

    Mix gently
    The Spruce / Julia Hartbeck

  5. Pinch a walnut-size chunk of dough off, roll it into a ball, and place it on an ungreased cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining dough, leaving about 1 inch of space between each ball.

    dough balls on baking tray
    The Spruce / Julia Hartbeck

  6. Bake cookies for 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer walnut balls from cookie sheet to a wire rack using ​a spatula. Cool for 10 to 15 minutes.

    Bake the cookies
    The Spruce / Julia Hartbeck 

  7. Roll cooled cookies in sifted confectioners sugar.

    Roll in sugar
    The Spruce / Julia Hartbeck

Tips

  • Let the butter soften at room temperature for at least an hour before you begin baking. It should be malleable, but hold its shape. If you forget to take it out of the refrigerator, you can quicken the process by cutting the butter into small chunks or using a rolling pin to flatten it between two pieces of parchment paper. Use the microwave cautiously; if the butter starts to melt, it will negatively affect the texture of your cookies.
  • You can freeze the walnut balls before or after you bake them. In either case, stack them in layers separated with wax paper so they do not stick together. Thaw the cookies in the refrigerator, then bring them to room temperature on the counter. Freshen them with another roll in powdered sugar. To bake them from frozen, just add two or three minutes to the timer.
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
91 Calories
7g Fat
7g Carbs
1g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 48
Amount per serving
Calories 91
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 7g 9%
Saturated Fat 3g 14%
Cholesterol 10mg 3%
Sodium 44mg 2%
Total Carbohydrate 7g 3%
Dietary Fiber 0g 2%
Total Sugars 2g
Protein 1g
Vitamin C 0mg 0%
Calcium 7mg 1%
Iron 0mg 2%
Potassium 28mg 1%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)