Frosty Date Balls

These snowball-style cookies are loaded with chopped dates and walnuts wrapped in a tender, crumbly shortbread dough, then baked at a low temperature and rolled in powdered sugar while still warm.

The dough is eggless, which is what gives these their distinctive melt-in-your-mouth texture. Creaming butter with powdered sugar (not granulated) creates an extra-fine, sandy crumb. The tablespoon of water adds just enough moisture to bring the dough together without making it sticky or cakey.

Baking at only 300 degrees for 20 minutes is deliberate. Low heat dries the cookies gently, setting them without browning. You want them pale and “frosty” looking even before the sugar coating. If the oven runs hot, they’ll brown and lose that delicate, sandy texture that makes them special.

Rolling in powdered sugar while warm is the key to getting the coating to stick. The warmth slightly melts the sugar, which then sets into a thin, sweet shell as the cookies cool. A second roll once they’ve cooled completely gives the thickest, most even coating.

Kitchen Tips

• Chop the dates finely. Large chunks will poke through the thin dough and make the balls hard to shape.
• If the dough feels too crumbly to roll, let it rest for 10 minutes. The butter needs time to absorb the flour fully.
• Space them 2.5 inches apart as directed. Even though they don’t spread much, close spacing traps heat between the balls and can cause uneven baking.
• Store in a single layer in a tin. Stacking while fresh smashes the powdered sugar coating.

Variations

• Pecan version: Swap walnuts for toasted pecans and add a pinch of cinnamon to the dough for a Southern-style snowball.
• Rum-soaked dates: Soak the chopped dates in dark rum for 30 minutes before adding for a boozy holiday twist.