Healthier Snowball Cookies

The big day is almost here! I don’t know about you but I’ve been insanely busy getting ready for Christmas. Between shopping, baking, cooking, and cleaning I’ve hardly had time to sit down (probably a good thing with the amount of cookies, dough, and frosting I’ve consumed). However, I think as of this afternoon I am finally done. Now all that’s left to do is sit down and watch Christmas movies and eat cookies.

While we are on the subject of cookies, I’ll share a healthier version of one of my favorite Christmas cookies, Snowball Cookies. Snowball cookies have many names, Russian Tea Cakes, Mexican Wedding Cookies, and my favorite Butter Balls.

Essentially the last name is correct if you make them the traditional way. Since I love to eat these cookies so much I figured I better make them a little less fattening, that way I could have more! The original recipe for these snowball cookies is one I got from my mom. She makes these every year for Christmas and I love them.

The changes I made to the recipe were replacing 3 tablespoons of the butter with non fat Greek yogurt, subbing whole wheat pastry flour for some of the all purpose flour, and adding a little cinnamon, mainly because I love cinnamon! The cookies turned out great! Flavor wise I hardly noticed a difference. The cookies were a little chewier then the original ones due to using less butter, but the texture was still good. If you are like me and have a hard time stopping at only one cookie then I recommend giving this healthier snowball cookies a try. You will still have the wonderful buttery taste of the original snowball cookies, but you can eat 3 or 4 of these and not feel so guilty!

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Yield: 20 cookies

Healthier Snowball Cookies

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Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Ingredients

• 5 T. butter, room temperature
• 3 T. non fat Greek yogurt
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1 t. vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup old fashioned oats (quick oats work also)
• 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/4 t. salt
• 1/4 t. cinnamon
• Powdered sugar for rolling the cookies in after baking

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Line a baking sheet with a silpat mat or parchment paper.
3. Beat the butter, Greek yogurt, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract in a stand mixer until smooth.
4. In a separate bowl whisk together the oats, flours, salt, and cinnamon.
5. Add the dry mixture to the butter mixture and beat until everything is combined.
6. Roll the dough into 1 inch balls and place them on the baking sheet.
7. Bake at 325 degrees for 25-30 minutes.
8. Cool the cookies on a wire rack.
9. Once the cookies are cooled roll them in powdered sugar.
10. Store the cookies in an airtight container.