There is no Christmas without Snowballs at my place.
I baked hundreds of them. If not actually even more than a thousand.
My friends always ask me for this delicious Christmas "cookies".
But in my opinion these are good all year, haha.
I also baked that once for a Christmas in July Trivia night.
I think that week I baked around 300 of this little snowballs.
And I remember around 70 people were pretty happy with it.
Some even ask for the recipe. I think that is the best gift I can get in return.
When people are so delighted with what I do that they ask for the recipe :))
They are simple and always look like winter.
I think that is what it makes a Christmas sweet for me.
And I invented them. When we came to Australia, Christmas was/is so different.
And specially the first years I SO missed the snow and cold.
And with that I got the idea to bring some snow to my house :)
I gave them the name. Because they look like snowballs.
In Germany, this is not a typical Christmas sweet. I never saw something like that.
So I am happy I did that. I also remember I submitted this recipe, my first one to Best Recipes.
And, they also were so delighted, my recipe ended up at the their magazine, Food Ideas.
That was a great feeling. The recipe was with normal wheat flour.
But now, I have the gluten free version, what in my opinion, is equal delicious.
I baked it for friends and family and they not really tasted a difference.
I think this is a great gift idea as well. Not only for Christmas. You can do any shape you like. You can use a cookie cutter and do whatever shape you love. It does not change the taste. Be creative if you want to do this for another time of the year than Christmas.
For people who follow MM, this is made with vegan margarine/butter. Maybe you find a product what fits your detox.
I personally mostly make it for friends. I eat one to check if everything is ok. But that is mostly it.
I did this once with oil only. Almond oil. You sure can go for it. But you need oil to bring the dough together. Also, if you do not use oil, they really will be dry and crumbly. Even with oil it is a bit of a tricky part. You need to play around with the right fat and water mix.
The oil version will be more dense. The margarine version is nice and airy.
Sorry that I only provide at this stage the vegan gluten free version.
But I want all vegans and the ones who want to play around with vegan baking provide an option for Christmas.
But never forget. Even when you are healing from whatever. One snowball will not change your detox journey.
And trust me, your soul will be very happy. And this is a huge healing plus as well, right!
So go for it,...
To make approximately 35 snowballs
you need:
100g Millet flour
100g gf oat flour
100g almond flour
50g organic raw sugar
10g Vanilla sugar
15g Tapioca starch
100g vegan margarine (Nuttelex)
30ml water
1 pinch of pink salt
1-2 cups icing sugar (if possible Aluminum free)
1/2 tbsp vanilla sugar
MM follower version:
I could not hold it and try a more MM qualified version.
And my dough looks and feels pretty ok.
So instead of the margarine, use
60ml almond or olive oil***
70ml water or almond or cashew milk
***I don't recommend coconut oil, because of its own flavor.
When you use coconut oil, it will overpower the vanilla!
For me almond oil works perfect, because it matches the almond meal.
Direction:
1. Add all ingredients, except of the icing into a bowl and mix well to a smooth dough.
Wrap into cling foil and rest in the fridge for at least 4 hours. Best is to prepare one day ahead.
2. Preheat oven to 180C
3. Remove dough from the fridge. Get a kitchen scale and cut dough into 15g pieces.
Shape to a ball and put on a baking tray with baking paper.
Do so until the dough is all used up.
4. bake for about 20 minutes.
5. Sift icing sugar into a bowl. Mix with 1/2 tbsp vanilla sugar.
6. Remove snowballs from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes.
7. take about 4 balls at a time and add to the icing bowl. Cover well with the icing sugar.
Remove and store on a plate or something. When all are covered,
sprinkle some more vanilla sugar on the balls and sift more icing on top.
Cool completely down.
8. store in a cooky tin box. That will keep them fresh.
Make this snowballs a couple of days ahead. They are good to eat straight away.
But they are even better after days of rest!
9 ENJOY and Merry Christmas