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Sugar-Free Paleo Pecan Snowball Cookies

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These Paleo Pecan Snowball Cookies are sugar free, low carb, gluten free, grain free and now dairy free too! These are a perfect allergy friendly twist on a classic holiday recipe! 

Traditionally these cookies have always been known as Gram’s Butter Balls in my childhood memories. And they were fabulous. They were so easy to make with just 4 ingredients of flour, butter, pecans and sugar. I would often be preparing them with her as a child and loved every minute of the cloud of confectioners sugar all over me. Everyone looked so forward to them every holiday.

Sadly when my grandmother passed, my mom tried to carry on the tradition. She still makes them but doesn’t have the time to make the dozens and dozens my grandmother would make for all our family and friends. That’s where I come in!

My gluten free recipe for my Grandmother’s Butter Balls are in my cookbook. And they are good, but I have so many friends and family who need to be dairy free for health reasons and allergies.

I’ve use Ghee which is a type of clarified butter and has very minimal amounts of milk solids in it, something like 99% free of milk solids. So if you’re dairy free and haven’t yet tried ghee, I would totally recommend it!

I made these about 3 times before I got just the right texture and taste. The first time I made them my oldest child, the picky teen, asked if he could try one. I never mentioned the name of them or what was in them.

He said, “YUM, these taste like Gram’s butter balls”!

Task accomplished!

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All 3 of my kids and picky hubby too loved these cookies each time I made them. Even my MOTHER said, these taste like GRAM’S!!! I was so honored! My grandmother, I think, would have loved my healthier version of her recipe or at least I would hope she’s proud of me for trying to carry on her cookie tradition.

 


Baker’s Tip: Freeze them for 20-30 minutes before baking, helps keep them from spreading and flattening.

I hope you enjoy these snowball cookies as much as my family did! Here are some other cookies you might love for the season!

Happy Holidays!

Recipe first posted in November of 2016 and updated Dec.2017 with new photos and video.

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Sugar-Free Paleo Pecan Snowball Cookies

Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Servings 24
Calories 112 kcal
Author Brenda Bennett | Sugar Free Mom

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Place all ingredients into food processor and process until batter forms a ball. Pulse if needed.
  3. Taste batter, adjust sweetener if needed.
  4. Line a baking sheet with silpat or parchment.

  5. Use a cookie scoop and make 24 mounds.

  6. Roll each mound in the palm of your hand.
  7. Place in freezer for 20-30 minutes.
  8. Place in oven for 15 minutes or until golden around edges.
  9. Allow to cool slightly.
  10. Once able to handle roll each in some confectioners sweetener.
  11. Allow to cool completely before storing in an air tight container.

Recipe Notes

Net Carbs: 1g

Nutrition Facts
Sugar-Free Paleo Pecan Snowball Cookies
Amount Per Serving (1 cookie)
Calories 112 Calories from Fat 99
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 11g 17%
Saturated Fat 3g 15%
Cholesterol 12mg 4%
Sodium 24mg 1%
Potassium 16mg 0%
Total Carbohydrates 2g 1%
Dietary Fiber 1g 4%
Protein 1g 2%
Vitamin C 0.1%
Calcium 1.8%
Iron 2.1%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Blessings, Brenda

Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. Brenda, Your site and recipes are so amazing! Thank you, thank you, thank you! Would the recipe be the same if you wanted to just substitute real butter?

    Reply

  3. Since going LCHF, I have felt left out of the Holiday cookie craze. This recipe has changed all that! Can’t wait to try them. Thank you so much for all of your recipes and tips. Have a great Thanksgiving!

    Reply

  8. Brenda, these cookies look amazing. I love the tip about freezing them, excellent! I also love the the low carb aspect.
    Just in time for the holidays. , thank you very much!

    Reply

  11. This is a beautiful cookie to add to my CHRISTmas Eve family dinner. I may just whip some up for Thanksgiving, too! Thank you, Brenda!

    Reply

  15. I made these last night, OMG they are FANTASTIC. I have always loved these kinds of cookies but being diabetic I couldn’t have them, NOW I can. Thank u.
    P.S. I made mine with real butter. So good.

    Reply

    • you could try that, I thought they would take on the shape of the pan and be flat at the bottom so I chose not to try it.

      Reply

  17. I made these over the week end…….fantastic!!!!! Am going to make a batch for Christmas, fot my
    Diabetic son-in-law. Now that he can’t indulge in my regular cookies.

    Reply

  19. These were a favorite of mine growing up. Since I follow a low carb diet I am glad I found your low carb recipe version. Thank you!

    Reply

  20. Hi!
    Just wondering if the recipe can be done with no mixer or food processor? I found out I’m getting one for Christmas but that doesn’t help me in my quest to make these the day before Christmas!!

    Thanks!

    Reply

    • By hand may be difficult but I think as long as you have finely chopped nuts you can do it, may take some arm strength to get everything well combined. Please let me know if you do try it by hand.

      Reply

    • I haven’t made this version yet, but I definitely plan to because they look so much like my usual Russian Tea Cakes. Just have to buy the Swerve confectioners Sweetener and the Vanilla Liquid Stevia. I’ve been making the traditional Russian Tea Cakes for many years and I have always used a regular old hand mixer, but I use my old Pampered Chef hand crank cheese grater to finely grind up the pecans. It makes it a lot easier to mix in the nuts. My family and I like the cookies with the pecans finely ground, but they would also be good with only half of the nuts ground and the other half finely chopped, if you prefer to have some slightly bigger pieces.

      Reply

  24. Brenda,

    I wanted to let you know this is the first time I am leaving a comment. These were so fantastic that I just had to let you know and thank you for this great recipe. I have been following a ketogenic diet, and had compiled a list of keto-friendly holiday cookie recipes. I tagged these to include at our our annual family cookie baking weekend. I made these there and everyone was crazy about them. And, everyone raving about them does not follow a low carb or sugar free diet so this is quite the compliment – all their baking was with flour, sugar, etc while I had my almond flour, Swerve Sweetener, etc. And, they liked these the best!!! But, to be totally honest, I used butter as I wanted to use all keto-friendly ingredients. These were so good that last night I made 6 batches of them to give out to my customers. Thanks again for the awesome recipe – everyone is now asking me for it and I have given them the link to it.

    Reply

    • You can still use plain liquid stevia, same amount then use a bit more vanilla extract than I did. Taste and adjust.

      Reply

  30. These are so good Brenda! I was so glad to see this recipe since my Mom used to make these every Christmas (we call them ladyfingers and roll them into cylinders). I used butter since it’s what I had and I also used Sukrin instead of Swerve (Swerve has been giving me GI trouble). They are just like the ones my Mom made and I’m taking some to her on Christmas Eve (she is now in a memory unit and we’re having a little party for her). I’m so glad to be able to take her something she used to make and I can eat it too! I may take a break from dairy in the new year so next time I might try a coconut blend. Thanks so much for this recipe, it really means a lot to me.

    Reply

  31. Oh my word! I made these Christmas eve and they are seriously awesome. I used butter, and I did put them in the freezer for the recommended time. My baking time took a little longer, but I love how they held their shape so beautifully. My only issue with these little bites of heaven is my lack of self control around them!

    Reply

  32. When I put all of these ingredients into MyFitnessPal, making 24 servings, I get 106 calories, 10.6 g fat, 8.2 g carbs, 1.2 g fiber, 2 G protein.

    I highly recommend lchf people check this for themselves!

    Reply

    • Correction – I put in double the Swerve on the app. The carbs are 5, fiber is now 1.
      I feel better now, but still believe that is a significant difference for carb sensitive people like myself.

      Reply

  33. These were so good. I baked them an extra 5 min cause I expected them to firm up to a crunchy cookie but they were chewy. I love chewy cookies so that was fine by me. I used butter and they really tasted like butter pecan. I’ll definitely change up and try them as pignoli cookies and anise cookies. Very good

    Reply

  34. Tried these today. Best step is to roll in the ball shapes and chill really well. That works better than baking immediately- I should know. 🙁
    Flavor is right on- texture is a bit different due to almond flour- but still a winner!

    Reply

  35. I made these today – use butter , taste was very good but they didn’t hold the shape – they got so flat 🙁
    Don’t know what i did wrong – put them in the freezer for 15 -20min ,
    Please help- i want to do them again the flavor is so good . Thx

    Reply

    • It’s definitely ok for a dairy free option. As far as keto I think many would say, butter is better for a keto diet.

      Reply

  37. I just found your site today and stumbled on these cookies. I’ve been making snowball cookies every year for the past 30 years, and my mother made them before that. They are a family favorite–my adult children request them every Christmas! This is my first year eating keto, and I was wondering how I was going to have the willpower to not eat them myself. You’ve saved the day with this recipe! Can’t wait to try it–and I’m hoping I’ll never go back to the original. After reading your family’s responses, I’m guessing my children won’t know the difference!

    Reply

    • I wouldn’t use as much. Often you can’t swap almond for coconut in many recipes because coconut usually needs more liquids. Reduce the coconut flour to 1/2 cup, you won’t get as many but they won’t be super dry, r try using the cup of coconut flour but increase the butter to 2 sticks. This is all guessing as I’ve not tried it.

      Reply

  43. I made these today for my son who is Type I diabetic. I used spend and put in food processor to makeep powdered sugar. They turned out really good!!!

    Reply

  45. I just wanted to let you know that these are actually not dairy free as written. If you have a milk allergy ghee is not an acceptable alternative to butter. Perhaps you should say it is light on dairy?

    Reply

      • Can I use coconut oil instead of butter/ghee? My grandmother always said Butter makes it Better, but sadly allergies prevent the use of dairy for us. Thank you so much!

        Reply

  46. I froze mine for 30 minutes in the freezer in a glass dish and then transferred them to a cookie sheet for baking. the center ones maintained their round shape but the ones around the edges got pretty flat. Next time I’ll freeze them longer. I also thought it was a bit sweet as written. next time I’ll use less sweetener. Otherwise a great adaptation of a favorite recipe! Thanks for sharing it!

    Reply

  48. Wondering if measurement is the same if I replace swerve With a homemade version of icing sugar using arrowroot and coconut sugar?!

    Reply

    • I would think they would be fine, although Swerve isn’t has sweet as other sugar free sweeteners and definitely not as sweet as coconut sugar so you may need a bit more.

      Reply

  49. Hi! I’m excited to make these for Christmas. Do you know if I could make them ahead of time and freeze them and then bake them later?

    Reply

    • I bake them ahead and have frozen them once cooled. I’ve not tried preparing them and not baking them but I think you could make them into balls and place them in an airtight container, probably best to place parchment between the layers so they don’t stick. Thaw the night before you want to bake them.

      Reply

      • Oh cool, thanks! I am also fine with preparing them all the way and then freezing them. Do you just remove 24 hrs ahead of time and thaw and then they’re ready to eat?

        Reply

        • Yes I’m pulling mine out of the freezer on Christmas Eve morning and I think they will be fine to enjoy even on Christmas Eve night.

          Reply

  50. thank you so much for this recipe. They really taste amazing. My mom used to make “snowballs” every Christmas. I still have some go flat even though I freeze them (I use butter) but you know what they still taste great.

    Reply

  51. I’m bummed. Just pulled these out of the oven and they all melted into a blob instead of remaining a ball. And I definitely froze it before stick it in the oven! Probably longer than 30 minutes just because I was making other stuff. I don’t know what went wrong. 🙁

    Reply

    • I just made them again last night, froze for 30 minutes and baked and they stayed perfectly round. Was your butter completely melted when you added it or just soft?

      Reply

      • I used ghee and froze for 45 min. amd mine were flat also. I was wondering if my ghee should have been refrigerated before using? They do, however, taste awesome!

        Reply

  52. These look like Danish wedding cookies– or Mexican wedding cookies or Greek wedding cookies- I’m going to try these when things slow down a bit and I get some time. Olga

    Reply

  53. I made these with ghee, froze for about 30min, however after baking these things just crumble to pieces. I’m at high elevation so not sure if I need more liquid so they don’t crumble? Thanks!

    Reply

    • Sounds like they were dry if they crumbled apart. They are however a fragile cookie, but should not crumble, you may have needed more ghee.

      Reply

  54. I just took these out the oven, but realize I did not roll the mounds into balls between the palms of my hands after releasing the balls from the scoop. I guess I will have to sprinkle powdered sugar on instead of rolling them– since I did not make balls.

    Reply

  55. 2nd time I added cocoa nibs and a little more almond flour and more butter. They came out good but lacked the firm texture of my first batch. Next time I’ll stick to the recipe. Thank you.

    Reply

  56. I made these during the holidays,and they were so amazing I wanted more. Well I forgot to use confectionery sugar, so I am gonna bet they fall apart, or fall flat. We shall see.

    Boo!!

    Reply

  57. Hi Brenda,

    I’ll be using butter because I don’t have ghee at the moment. Do you need to let the butter cool down to room temperature first? Most recipes call for that.

    Thanks!

    Reply

    • I’m beginning to think it really may depend on how soft the butter is when you begin. So if someone has melted their butter and i only softened my butter, there’s the difference right there. 30 minutes in the freezer will work for mine when the butter was just softened but if the butter was melted then 30 minutes in the freezer might not be enough time for it to stay in shape while baking. I’ve made this so many times and I’m not sure why some follow my recipe exactly and can have perfect results and others are not having the same success.

      Reply

    • If you have a stevia product that measures cup for cup like sugar then swapping it for the Swerve would work fine.

      Reply

  60. Well i scrolled through the comments and i am adding one to the They flattened out replies haha. They tasted amazing before baking though! So I used cold butter that i just sliced into chunks and processed everything. I froze them for 30 minutes on the baking sheet and went straight from freezer to oven. I pulled them out at 12 minutes bc i noticed they were spreading. Theyre cooling now. As long as they hold together i will be fine haha. I dont care how they look as long as i can eat them without them crumbling. But yeah mine flattened too. Maybe I’ll make them again and just eat it raw😂

    Reply

  61. Holidays Schmomlidays! I can’t wait that long…. I’m making them in April cause these have always been one of my favorites and it’s been sooooooo long since I’ve had any. Just sampled one without the powdered erithrytol cause I’m still waiting for them to cool enough, but they are FANTASTIC!

    Reply

  62. The tast in these cookies is amazing, however, I left mine in the freezer for 30+ min, baked them and they spread out like nothing mattered? It’s an expensive recipe to find it doesnt work!

    Reply

  63. Made these yummy morsels today. As a diabetic and someone trying to watch what they eat sugar is off the table. Using Swerve has changed all that. No flour and real sugar but these are amazing. My Fiancé is doing keto with me and asked me to find a recipie for these cookies. I FOUND IT. Thank you!!

    Reply

  64. Another great recipe! I made the first batch on Saturday and turned right around and made another batch on Sunday. These are so delicious; I prefer them unpowdered, but I did powder some to share.
    I love exposing my co-workers to great Keto treats- this one is coming to my cookie exchange in a couple weeks.

    Thank you so much for sharing this recipe.

    Reply

  66. I have not tried these yet, but I am fascinated with the use of gelatin for crispness, that is what keto cookies lack for me. Is there a particular ratio you use for the gelatin substitute?

    Reply

    • You don’t want to use gelatin in this cookie as you want a tender bite. I use gelatin in my chocolate chip cookie as it gives an outer crispness and tender inside.

      Reply

  67. These were fantastic! I’ve always loved to bake and now I’m so glad to have a Keto variation of a long time favorite cookie. They were easy with a few simple ingredients.
    I’ve shared these with Keto and non-Keto eaters and everyone has loved them! This is my first use of Swerve and I’m suspecting there may be a little GI upset from it, but I’m okay with that, it will keep me from overindulging!

    Reply

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