AWD doesn't really give too much contol while moving. You can put more power down, without inducing wheel slip, but that's all. It won't help if you corner too quickly, which is the main cause for involuntary overstter, or understeer. And like you said, it doesn't help at all at breaking.
Snow tires will help in any condition, get you going, breaking and contol. And in the last two cases even more than AWD ever could.
But years of clever advertising have shaped the public opinion on AWD and snow.