Cookies Archives - A Beautiful Mess

Snowball Cookies

Emma Chapman — Sun, 21 Dec 2025 14:00:00 +0000

Snowball cookies are such a fun and delicious seasonal baking project. If you’ve never had them before, here’s what you need to know: They look like snowballs, they have a nutty buttery flavor, and they are melt-in-your-mouth amazing!

Snowball cookies go great with coffee, tea, or hot chocolate. But look out, as they are shockingly addictive.

All-purpose flour
Pecans (or other nuts)
Butter
Salt
Vanilla extract
Powdered sugar (confectioner’s sugar)

Directions:

Snowball cookies have three main steps for success. First, toast the nuts for maximum flavor. Then, make and bake the cookies.

Last, roll the still-warm cookies in powdered sugar for that snowball effect and melt-in-your-mouth flavor. I like to roll them once, and after I’ve rolled them all, I will roll each one more time for maximum snow effect!

Tips for Making:

Nuts – I like pecans, but sometimes snowball cookies are made with walnuts or other nuts. It’s up to your preference (or if allergies are an issue). Whatever nut you use, give them a good toasting before chopping them well.
Roll each dough ball so it’s a 2-3 bite cookie. These don’t bake for long, so you don’t necessarily want oversized cookies.
Roll the snowball cookies in powdered sugar while they are still warm, and then once more. The first layer will melt some (a good thing!), but for that snowy look, you’ll want a second layer.

Serving Suggestion – Coffee!

Snowball cookies go great with a hot beverage like coffee or tea (see our favorite herbal tea-it’s tastes like red hots candy!).

Here’s how to take your at-home coffee game to the next level:

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Why did my snowball cookies turn out flat?

Homemade Cookie Butter

Laura Gummerman — Tue, 26 Aug 2025 13:56:00 +0000

Yes. Yes, it’s true. All your problems are solved now that this information has come into your life.

Homemade cookie butter from any cookie! I hope you appreciate the hours I’ve spent with cookies over the last couple of days—all the tasting and sampling of cookie after cookie. It was all for you guys!

But seriously, we wanted to bring you a recipe that would work for any cookie. So we searched until we found the perfect base for our cookie butter, and I think we found it!

You can either make one of our many delish cookie recipes to use for this, or you can buy some at the store to get started.

Cookie Butter (with any cookie!), makes 1 1/2 cups

2 cups cookie crumbs
1/2 stick butter
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup evaporated milk
water as needed
jars with lids for gifting/storage

First, you’ll want to make your cookie crumbs. If you have a cookie with no creamy middle filling (like a chocolate chip or sugar cookie), then you can put them straight into the food processor.

If you do have a filling (like an Oreo or Nutter Butter would), then you’ll want to open the cookie and scrape out the filling with a butter knife first. You want a dry crumb to work with, so the filling has to be removed.

Some cookies have a solid middle that you can’t open and get to (like a Milano cookie), but I think that would be OK since the chocolate chip cookies have some chocolate bits mixed in and they turned out fine.

Place your cookies into a food processor and blend until it forms a very fine powder.

You’ll need 2 cups, so just keep blending cookies until you get there (since all the cookies are different sizes or have two sides per cookie, the number of cookies needed won’t be the same).

In a small saucepan, heat the butter over low heat until melted, and then stir in your sweetened condensed milk and evaporated milk until it’s all melted together.

Starting with 1/2 cup of the liquid, pour it into your cookie crumbs and mix together with a spoon. Keep adding small amounts of the liquid until the cookie butter is just wet enough to stay together.

Depending on how dry the cookie is to begin with, you’ll need more or less liquid. Really buttery cookies (like the sugar cookies) didn’t need nearly as much as the drier Oreo cookies, so just keep checking and stirring as you add the liquid.

Once your cookie butter is blended, allow it to cool in the fridge for an hour or two. If you want to, you can actually stop at this point, and it will taste delicious.

But if you want to make the cookie butter smoother and easier to dip things in, then remove the cookie butter from the fridge and stir very small amounts of water (start with 1/8 teaspoon) into the dough.

At first it will look like the water is separating from the dough, but just keep stirring and mashing.

You should start to notice that the cookie butter loosens up a bit as you stir in more water. Keep adding and stirring until you get to a consistency you like and refrigerate the mixture again.

Store your cookie butter in the fridge and it should be good for at least a week or two. It may be good for even longer but it usually doesn’t last long enough to find out! And here’s a quick video tutorial of the process:

I love all my cookie butter children equally, buuuut, the Oreo is my secret favorite. I am addicted to chocolate-covered pretzels, so you can imagine how good dipping pretzels into the Oreo cookie butter is. Elsie ate it with apples one morning for breakfast!

And of course, spooning the cookie butter into jars (these small jars with wooden lids are really cute for gifting) and adding a simple paper label makes your homemade treat the perfect gift!

If you’d rather just skip to the eating part, you can also just buy some already made cookie butter and get to the good part faster.

If you are gifting these, they would be a great gift with a cute apron or some pretty kitchen utensils, too. What cookies would you use to make yours? xo. Laura

Homemade Cookie Butter

an easy homemade cookie butter recipe (using any cookie!)

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword cookie butter

Servings cups

Calories 1307kcal

Ingredients

2 cups cookie crumbs
½ stick butter
½ cup condensed milk sweetened
¼ cup milk evaporated
water as needed

US Customary – Metric

Instructions

First you’ll want to make your cookie crumbs. If you have a cookie with no creamy middle filling (like a chocolate chip or sugar cookie), then you can put them straight into the food processor.
If you do have a filling (like an Oreo or Nutter Butter would), then you’ll want to open the cookie and scrape out the filling with a butter knife first.
You want a dry crumb to work with, so the filling has to be removed. Some cookies have a solid middle that you can’t open and get to (like a Milano cookie), but I think that would be OK since the chocolate chip cookies have some chocolate bits mixed in and they turned out fine.
Place your cookies into the food processor and blend until it forms a very fine powder.
You’ll need 2 cups, so just keep blending cookies until you get there (since all the cookies are different sizes or have two sides per cookie, the number of cookies needed won’t be the same).
In a small saucepan, heat the butter over low heat until melted, and then stir in your sweetened condensed milk and evaporated milk until it’s all melted together.
Starting with 1/2 cup of the liquid, pour it into your cookie crumbs and mix together with a spoon.
Keep adding small amounts of the liquid until the cookie butter is just wet enough to stay together. Depending on how dry the cookie is to begin with, you’ll need more or less liquid.
Really buttery cookies (like the sugar cookies) didn’t need nearly as much as the drier Oreo cookies, so just keep checking and stirring as you add the liquid.
Once your cookie butter is blended, allow it to cool in the fridge for an hour or two. If you want to, you can actually stop at this point, and it will taste delicious.
But if you want to make the cookie butter smoother and easier to dip things in, then remove the cookie butter from the fridge and stir very small amounts of water (start with 1/8 teaspoon) into the dough.
At first it will look like the water is separating from the dough, but just keep stirring and mashing.
You should start to notice that the cookie butter loosens up a bit as you stir in more water. Keep adding and stirring until you get to a consistency you like and refrigerate the mixture again.
Store your cookie butter in the fridge and it should be good for at least a week or two. It may be good for even longer but it usually doesn’t last long enough to find out! And here’s a quick video tutorial of the process:

Nutrition

Butter Cookies

Emma Chapman — Fri, 13 Dec 2024 14:00:00 +0000

Butter cookies are a classic cookie that always make me think of the store-bought kind that come in seasonal tins.

While those are yummy, this butter cookie recipe is less crispy. These are soft butter cookies. Think of butter cookies as the perfect cross between a sugar cookie and shortbread.

Butter, softened
Granulated White Sugar
Egg Yolks
Vanilla Extract
All-Purpose Flour
Salt

The dough for these is very straightforward to make; mixing the dry ingredients separate from the wet and then combining them. But, the real “trick” to these is freezing the dough before baking. You can do this a few different ways.

If you want simple/plain looking butter cookies, then I recommend freezing the dough in a log shape. This way you simply slice the cookies from the log before baking.

If you’d like to shape or press the butter cookies, like I have in these photos, then do so before freezing. You can freeze for 30 minutes or up to overnight before baking with this method.

Tips for Making Butter Cookies:

The dough will be soft before freezing, so if you are rolling it out to make cutout shapes (like I have in these photos), be sure to use more flour than the recipe card calls for. This will be for dusting the surface and the rolling pin.
I used cookie stamps to create designs.
You could also use a cookie press gun or cookie stamp roller to create designs.
Another traditional method is to pipe dough using large pastry tips. I don’t recommend this method. Even if your dough is very soft, it takes a lot of hand strength to do this method. Maybe for some it works great, but I’ve never had success with it.

Other Holiday Baking Recipes

If you are looking for more recipes to bake this season, try these!

Frequently Asked Questions

Are butter cookies the same as shortbread?

Grinch Cookies (With Cake Mix!)

Laura Gummerman — Sun, 10 Nov 2024 14:00:00 +0000

The holiday season is the best time for cookie making and these soft and chewy sugar cookies make the perfect companion to a glass of milk by the fireside. The bright green color and red heart sprinkle bring a touch of the Grinch spirit to the recipe and the crinkle pattern made by the powdered sugar looks snowy and delicious.

To make your Christmas cookies a snap, we use a cake mix so you can get to the baking (and eating!) part of your cookie experience even faster and easier. Maybe, like the movie, these festive crinkle cookies will make your heart grow three sizes too!

Looking for more holiday recipes? Try our:

Ingredients for Grinch Cookies:

White cake mix: These cake mix cookies use your favorite brand of white or vanilla cake mix that comes in a 15.25-ounce size.
Eggs: You’ll want two eggs as the binder for this recipe.
Vegetable oil: You can use any vegetable or canola oil.
Vanilla extract: I’m using vanilla extract in my cookies, but you can choose to omit it if you choose a vanilla flavored box mix. Use a pure vanilla extract rather than an artificial vanilla for the best cookie taste.
Powered sugar: Rolling the cookie dough in powdered sugar gives it that snowy look with an extra touch of sweetness.
Cornstarch: Adding cornstarch to the powdered sugar helps it lay on top of the cookie rather than soak right in. You can also use arrowroot powder or tapioca starch as well.
Green food coloring: You’ll want to add a few drops at a time until you get the perfect green that you’re looking for! Green gel food coloring is a little more intense in color but liquid food coloring will work as well.
Heart sprinkle: To represent the Grinch’s heart, add a heart shaped sprinkle or red hot candy after baking.

Looking for heart shaped sprinkles? Check out these options!

Mix your dough: Add your cake mix, eggs, oil, and vanilla extract to a large mixing bowl. Mix on medium speed with a hand mixer or stand mixer until combined.

Add your green food coloring one drop at a time until you reach your perfect shade of green and mix on low until just combined (I used 5 drops of gel food coloring).

Cover cookie dough and let chill in fridge for 30-60 minutes so it’s easier to scoop.

Roll your cookies: Whisk together powdered sugar and cornstarch in a bowl.

Using a cookie scoop or a spoon, scoop 1-2 tablespoon size cookie dough balls and plop them into your powdered sugar and cornstarch mixture. Dough will be really sticky but once it lands in the powdered sugar it’s easier to handle.

Roll it around until covered and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

Bake your cookies: Bake cookies at 375°F in the oven for 8-10 minutes or until the center is just set but the cookies haven’t started to brown on top yet.

Add heart and cool: While still warm, add your red heart sprinkle and after 3-5 minutes transfer to a wire rack to completely cool. Once cool, enjoy your holiday treats!

Tips for Making Grinch Cookies:

Try adding flavored extracts like peppermint, pistachio, or almond to your dough for a fun twist!

Make sure to mix the dough fully once you add your green food coloring so you don’t have any white streaks in your dough.

If you don’t have cornstarch, you can just roll the cookies in powdered sugar—some will sink into the cookie but you should still get a dusted effect.

Make sure to keep an eye on your cookies so they don’t start to brown, as that will affect the pretty green color of the cookie. These cookies should be soft and chewy.

If you don’t have heart sprinkles on hand, you could also use pink royal icing to pipe on the shape of a heart once the cookies are cool or stick on a few red and green M&Ms for some added chocolate flavor.

These cookies are so soft and chewy and they are a fun one to make with kids and do some Christmas crafts or games by the fire. Enjoy!

Frequently Asked Questions

How long will Grinch cookies keep for?

Soft & Chewy Gingerbread Cookies

Elsie Larson — Thu, 19 Sep 2024 13:00:00 +0000

This classic gingerbread cookie recipe is soft and delicious. While I love crisp gingerbread for a gingerbread house, my preference for cookies is soft and chewy.

This recipe delivers perfect dough for cutout shapes (similar to sugar cookies) with all the cinnamon and spice flavor you love from gingerbread.

Gingerbread cookies are my husband’s favorite cookie, and I make this recipe multiple times each holiday season. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Related recipes: Snowball Cookies, Pinwheel Cookies, Peanut Butter Blossoms.

1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated white sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1 cup dark molasses
5 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon ground cloves

How to Make Gingerbread Cookies:

Mix the flour, baking soda, salt and all spices. Set mixture aside.
In your stand mixer bowl, combine butter and sugar and beat until mixture is fully combined—about 3 minutes. Scrape down sides if needed.
Slowly add the molasses, egg and vinegar until fully combined. It’s normal for the mixture to appear curdled.
Add the flour mixture slowly, scraping sides as needed. Be sure the bottom and top of your bowl are both fully combined. If the dough is crumbly, it is not fully mixed.
Divide the dough into 3-5 flattened balls and cover in plastic wrap.
Chill the dough for at least 30 minutes before rolling. Chilling is an essential step to create cutout shapes with nice edges. If you skip this step, your cookies may lose some shape while baking.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Roll dough using as small amount of flour as necessary. I use parchment paper to roll if my dough is sticky at all. Dough should be about half an inch thick for a nice, soft cookie.
Place cutout shapes on a parchment lined baking sheet. Gather and re-roll shapes as needed. You do not need to chill your dough again unless it becomes very soft.
Bake cookies at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Allow cookies to cool on pan for 5 minutes before transferring.
Decorate your cookies as you like. I used this royal icing recipe. We also have a vegan royal icing recipe.

Tips for Making Gingerbread Cookies:

If you prefer crispy gingerbread, simply roll the dough thinner (1/4 inch) and bake for 12 minutes instead of 10.
You can use light or dark molasses, but do not use blackstrap or cooking molasses or your cookies will be bitter. I used the brand Grandma’s Original Molasses, which is easy to find in the U.S.
Here’s a link to Christmas cookie cutters I used.

More Holiday Recipes:

Other recipes you may like:

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

How long can you keep the dough refrigerated?

Lactation Cookies

Emma Chapman — Wed, 03 Jul 2024 13:19:00 +0000

As some of our readers know, I just welcomed our second son, Hugo, into our family this summer. And just like with my first son I’m back to nursing for a while. While I love the bonding and the health benefits breastfeeding provides, I must admit that I am one of those women who struggles with milk production. So I thought I would share this recipe for lactation cookies that I make for myself often and have also made for new mom friends before. They are delicious, packed with helpful ingredients and super easy to make.

While I love this lactation cookie recipe, I also want to put it out there to always consult with your doctor or lactation consultant for anything specific to your body and also as the source for medical advice. This is just a cookie recipe that I feel helps my milk production, so I’m happy to share it in case it’s helpful to you. And if you’re a new mom reading this who can’t breastfeed or chose not to, I am of the mindset that fed is best and formula is an amazing invention that I too use with my babies.

Related: Interested in past posts from our dietitian contributors? Read What Should Be My Baby’s First Food, Nutrition for Your Menstrual Cycle, or How Much Water Should We Really Be Drinking.

Ingredients

Oats
Brewer’s Yeast Powder
All-purpose flour
Baking soda
Salt
Butter
Granulated white sugar
Brown sugar
Eggs
Milk
Vanilla extract
Walnuts
Dark chocolate chips

If you or your baby have a sensitivity to milk, you can easily substitute it for any milk alternative you like (oat, soy, etc.).

I also highly recommend toasting the walnuts but it’s optional.

Directions

In a medium size bowl, stir together the dry ingredients: oats, brewer’s yeast, flour, baking soda and salt.

In a larger bowl, cream together the softened butter and sugars. Then stir in the eggs, milk, and vanilla extract until just combined.

Stir the dry ingredients into the wet until a dough forms. Then stir in the walnuts and chocolate chips.

Spoon the cookie onto a prepared baking sheet covered with parchment paper or a baking mat. Bake at 350°F (177°C) for 8-10 minutes. I like to bake these for 8 minutes, which results in a very soft center. They almost feel like protein balls, but if you bake for a few more minutes the edges will get crispy and the centers more like a muffin. Up to you on the texture!

You can also freeze the cookie dough into balls and bake these in small batches as needed. Or even give the frozen dough to friends who are expecting or just had a baby.

Ingredients that may help breast milk production

Oats – A healthy whole grain that is also a great source of plant-based protein. You can eat oats all sorts of ways too, not just these lactation cookies. Try overnight oats for a quick and easy breakfast.
Brewer’s Yeast Powder – This ingredient can help increase milk supply and you can use it in other baking recipes or even other foods like smoothies.
Walnuts – High in omega-3 and healthy fats. Add walnuts to other meals, like yogurt or even stir-fries.

While these lactation cookies are, well, cookies, they are lower in sugar than your average cookie as they are meant to be enjoyed more often to potentially help increase milk supply levels. If you are looking for something to satisfy your sweet tooth, try these.

Lactation Cookies

A lower-sugar cookie with oats, brewer's yeast and walnuts that may help increase milk supply.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword cookie

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 10

Total Time 20

Servings

Calories 163kcal

Author Emma Chapman

Ingredients

3 cups old-fashioned oats
⅓ cup brewer's yeast powder
¾ cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
¾ cup butter softened
½ cup granulated white sugar
½ cup brown sugar
2 eggs
⅓ cup milk
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup dark chocolate chips
1 cup walnuts toasted

Instructions

In a medium size bowl, stir together the dry ingredients: oats, brewer’s yeast, flour, baking soda and salt.
In a larger bowl, cream together the softened butter and sugars.
Then stir in the eggs, milk, and vanilla extract until just combined.
Stir the dry ingredients into the wet until a dough forms.
Then stir in the walnuts and chocolate chips.
Spoon the cookie onto a prepared baking sheet covered with parchment paper or a baking mat. Bake at 350°F (177°C) for 8-10 minutes.

Notes

If you or your baby have a sensitivity to milk, you can easily substitute it for any milk alternative you like (oat, soy, etc.).

I also highly recommend toasting the walnuts but it’s optional.

You can also freeze the cookie dough into balls and bake these in small batches as needed. Or even give the frozen dough to friends who are expecting or just had a baby.

Nutrition

50+ Christmas Cookies

Emma Chapman — Sat, 09 Dec 2023 14:01:00 +0000

The holidays always put me in the mood to bake! No matter if you are having a little baking day to yourself, sharing the kitchen with your kids or hosting a cookie decorating party, here are 50+ of our favorite Christmas cookie recipes!

Many of these are holiday specific, but I think Christmas cookies can also be classics or favorites throughout the year, so we are sharing a big variety in this post.So grab your baking trays, butter, flour and sugar. We’ll help you make the ultimate cookie platters.

Find other holiday sweets in our full Desserts archive.

Christmas Wreath Cookies

Easy Christmas wreath cookies made from cornflake cereal with a marshmallow coating.

Cookies Archives - A Beautiful Mess

Snowball Cookies

Snowball Cookie Ingredients:

Directions:

Tips for Making:

Serving Suggestion – Coffee!

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Why did my snowball cookies turn out flat?

Homemade Cookie Butter

Homemade Cookie Butter

Ingredients

Instructions

Nutrition

Butter Cookies

Butter Cookie Ingredients

Butter Cookie Directions:

Tips for Making Butter Cookies:

Other Holiday Baking Recipes

Frequently Asked Questions

Are butter cookies the same as shortbread?

Grinch Cookies (With Cake Mix!)

Looking for more holiday recipes? Try our:

Ingredients for Grinch Cookies:

Grinch Cookie Instructions:

Tips for Making Grinch Cookies:

Love a good cookie recipe? Check out:

Frequently Asked Questions

How long will Grinch cookies keep for?

Soft & Chewy Gingerbread Cookies

Gingerbread Cookie Ingredients:

How to Make Gingerbread Cookies:

Tips for Making Gingerbread Cookies:

More Holiday Recipes:

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

How long can you keep the dough refrigerated?

Lactation Cookies

Ingredients

Directions

Ingredients that may help breast milk production

More Cookie Recipes

Lactation Cookies

Ingredients

Instructions

Notes

Nutrition

50+ Christmas Cookies

Christmas Wreath Cookies

Easy Chocolate (Oreo) Truffles

Melted Snowman Cookies

Soft & Chewy Gingerbread Cookies

Butter Cookies

Grinch Cookies (With Cake Mix!)

Snowball Cookies

Meringue Cookies

M&M Cookies

Thumbprint Cookies

Soft & Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies

White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Pinwheel Cookies

Edible Cookie Dough

Potato Chip Cookies

No-Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookie Recipe

Peanut Butter Blossoms

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

Soft & Chewy Molasses Cookies

Espresso Cookies

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Candy Cane Cookies

Simple Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies

Snickerdoodles

How to Freeze Cookie Dough Balls

Rocky Road Cookies

Giant Chocolate Chip Cookies

Tips for Mailing Royal Icing Sugar Cookies

How to Make Slice and Bake Cookie Designs

Classic Shortbread Cookies

Lemon Crinkle Cookies