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Scottish Snowballs recipe from Baking with Granny. Delightful little cakes, sandwiched with jam and rolled in coconut.

Scottish Snowballs

Scottish Snowballs are soft sweet buns filled with jam, coated in icing, and rolled in desiccated coconut. A nostalgic bakery favourite that’s simple to make at home.
5 from 19 votes
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Course: Dessert, Snack
Cuisine: Scottish
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Servings: 10

INGREDIENTS

To decorate

INSTRUCTIONS

  • Preheat your oven to 200°c (180°c for fan-assisted ovens, Gas Mark 6 or 400°F) and lightly grease a couple of baking sheets with some excess butter/margarine. Set aside.
  • Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Add the butter/margarine and rub with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir through the sugar.
  • In a small bowl or mug, beat the eggs & milk together. Add to the dry ingredients, mix until combined, and you have a soft dough (you may need to use your hands).
  • Turn your dough onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead until it is smooth. Divide your dough into 20 even-sized balls, placing them on your prepared baking sheets, with a bit of space between each.
  • Bake in your pre-heated oven for 12-15 minutes, until they are risen and a light golden colour. Remove from the oven and leave to cool a little on the baking sheets.
  • Once cool enough to touch but still warm, spread a little bit of jam (about half a teaspoon) onto the flat side of half the snowball buns before sandwiching the other halves to them. Place them into an empty muffin tin to stop them sliding apart whilst they continue to cool and the jam sets.

To decorate

  • Once your snowball buns have cooled and the jam has set, you can prepare your icing. In a small but relatively deep bowl, mix your icing sugar with 2-3 tablespoons of water until you have a thin consistency. Decant your coconut into a similar (but different) bowl and keep it close by.
  • Start by rolling your buns in the icing until completely coated. Hold your snowball bun above the icing and allow the excess to drip off, before transferring straight into the coconut. Roll your now-iced snowball bun in coconut until it is completely coated. Transfer to your muffin tin and repeat with the other snowballs, until they are all coated in icing and coconut.
  • Allow your snowballs to set for an hour or so before enjoying.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

All my recipes are developed using a digital scale and the metric system (grams and millilitres). Cup measurements are available as a conversion but these, unfortunately, won't always be as accurate. For best results, I always recommend baking with a digital scale.

NOTES:

Storage:

Store your Scottish Snowballs in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2-3 days. Due to the icing, they can become a little sticky over time, so it's best to keep them in a single layer if possible.
 

Freezing:

You can freeze the buns before assembling. Once baked and cooled, freeze them in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Defrost at room temperature, then fill with jam, bforeing icing and coat in coconut as usual. I wouldn't recommend freezing once assembled, despite their name.
 

Substitutions:

  • Jam: The jam filling can be swapped to suit your taste - raspberry and strawberry are the most traditional, but any seedless jam will work well.
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