Raspberry Filled Almond Snowball Cookies Recipe

These raspberry filled almond snowball cookies are soft almond cookies wrapped around a spoonful of thickened raspberry jam and rolled in powdered sugar. The recipe makes 18 to 20 cookies in about 70 minutes.

The trick is the filling. Cook the jam with a teaspoon of cornstarch and a little lemon juice, then let it cool completely. Thick, cold jam stays in the middle of the cookie. Plain jam straight from the jar tends to bubble out through the seams.

Raspberry Snowballs vs Traditional Snowball Cookies

Traditional snowballs, the kind sometimes called Russian tea cakes, are made with butter, powdered sugar, flour and nuts. They bake into small, crumbly balls. This dough is different. It has 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour plus 1 cup almond flour, ¾ cup granulated sugar, an egg and baking powder, so the cookies come out softer and a little cakey, with tops that crack as they rise.

Vanilla and ½ teaspoon almond extract give the almond flavor. That softer crumb is what lets you break a cookie open and find the raspberry center still glossy. If you want the crumbly kind, my classic chocolate snowball cookies follow the traditional method.

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Thickening the Raspberry Center So It Stays Inside

Stir ¾ cup raspberry jam, 1 teaspoon cornstarch and 1 tablespoon lemon juice together in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, for about 5 minutes. It is ready when the jam turns glossy and mounds on a spoon instead of running off it.

Let it cool completely before you fill the cookies, at least until it feels cold to the touch, because warm jam softens the butter in the dough, and the seam opens in the oven. Seedless jam gives the smoothest center, though jam with seeds works too and is just a little grainier. Either is fine.

You will have extra. Each cookie takes only about ½ teaspoon, around 3 tablespoons for the whole batch, so roughly ½ cup is left over. Keep it in the fridge for toast or yogurt, or for a batch of raspberry linzer cookies. For a fresher flavor, use my homemade raspberry jam.

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Shaping and Sealing Each Almond Snowball

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and line a baking sheet with parchment. Whisk the flours, baking powder and salt. Beat the soft butter and sugar for 2 to 3 minutes until pale, beat in the egg, vanilla and almond extract, then stir in the dry ingredients only until a soft dough forms.

Scoop about 1 ½ tablespoons of dough and roll it into a ball. Press a deep well into the center with your thumb, spoon in about ½ teaspoon of the cold filling, then pinch the dough up and over the jam. Roll it smooth between your palms and set it on the sheet seam side down, about 2 inches apart.

Do not overfill the cookies. Half a teaspoon looks small, but more jam stretches the dough thin and that is where it splits. If the dough gets too soft and sticky to close around the jam, chill it for 15 to 20 minutes and it will shape cleanly again.

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Baking Until the Tops Crack, Then the Powdered Sugar Roll

Bake for 12 to 14 minutes. The cookies are done when the tops are slightly cracked and look set, but the cookies still feel soft when you touch them. They should stay pale on top. They firm up as they cool. Waiting for golden tops dries out the almond crumb.

Leave them on the sheet for 5 minutes, then move them to a wire rack and let them cool completely. Only then roll each one in the ½ cup powdered sugar. On a warm cookie the sugar melts into a sticky, see-through layer. For a whiter coat, roll them a second time about 30 minutes later.

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If the Raspberry Filling Leaks or the Sugar Turns Sticky

• Jam bubbled out: the filling was warm, there was too much of it, or the seam was not pinched closed. Use cold, cooked filling, ½ teaspoon at most, and bake seam side down.
• Cookies spread flat: the butter was too soft or the dough was warm. Chill the shaped balls for 15 minutes before baking the next tray.
• Sugar disappeared: the cookies were rolled while warm. Give them a second roll once they are fully cool.
• Dry, crumbly cookies: they baked too long. Pull them at 12 minutes next time, as soon as the tops crack.

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Other Jams and Nuts for Filled Snowball Cookies

Any thick jam works with the same cornstarch step. Apricot, cherry or blackberry jam are all good, and apricot jam is lovely with the almond extract. Finely chopped pecans or pistachios can be rolled into the dough for crunch.

For gluten free cookies, swap the all-purpose flour for a 1:1 gluten free baking blend and keep the almond flour. Do not replace it all with more almond flour. Without any wheat or blend in the dough, it spreads and cracks open around the jam.

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Storing, Freezing and Gifting Raspberry Snowballs

Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week, or in the fridge for up to two weeks. Make sure they are completely cool first, so no steam gets trapped and softens the sugar coat.

To get ahead for Christmas, freeze the baked cookies before rolling them in sugar, for up to 3 months. Thaw them at room temperature in the container, then roll in powdered sugar. Packed in a tin lined with parchment, they travel well in a cookie box; my Christmas cookie packaging ideas have a few ways to pack them.

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Raspberry Snowball Cookie Questions

Are raspberry almond snow cookies the same thing?

Yes. Raspberry almond snow cookies, raspberry snowballs and jam filled snowball cookies are names for the same idea: an almond cookie ball with jam inside, rolled in powdered sugar.

Can I use raspberry preserves with seeds?

Yes. Cook it with the cornstarch and lemon the same way. The center will have a little crunch from the seeds.

Why is the raspberry filling runny inside the baked cookies?

The jam was not cooked long enough for the cornstarch to thicken it. Keep it over the heat, stirring, until it turns glossy and mounds on a spoon, about 5 minutes.

For more ideas for your cookie tray, look through my 50 best Christmas cookies or try cranberry almond thumbprint cookies, where the filling sits on top instead of inside.