Russian Tea Cakes

Russian Tea Cakes – Deliciously soft, buttery, melt-in-your-mouth cookies that are coated in icing sugar. They pair perfectly with a hot cup of tea or coffee!

Russian Tea Cakes

Today, I bring you such a soft, delicate, buttery, melt-in-your-mouth cookie recipe, you won’t be able to stop eating them – Russian Tea Cakes!

These tea cakes are little cookie balls that are rolled in icing sugar, and they are absolutely irresistible. 

Russian Tea Cakes is a kind of pastry, often eaten around Christmas time in the US. Similar varieties are known as Mexican Wedding Cookies, Italian Wedding Cookies, and Snowball Cookies.

Looking for more festive treats? Check out my Melting Moments (Butter Cookies), Homemade Peppermint Patties, and my Gingerbread Fudge.

Ingredients you’ll need

Here’s a list of ingredients you’ll need to make these cookies. You can find my recipe card at the bottom of this post for the complete list with their amounts.

• Unsalted butter: You’ll want your butter partly melted for this recipe. So about half melted.
• Vanilla extract
• Icing/powdered sugar
• Plain/all-purpose flour
• Salt
• Chopped nuts: I used a mix of peanuts, almonds and walnuts. You can use ground nuts if you’d like less crunch.

How to make Russian Tea Cakes

To make these cookies, whisk together the partly melted butter, vanilla, and icing sugar until smooth and combined.

Fold in the flour and salt to form a soft, but not sticky, dough. Fold in the chopped nuts.

Roll the dough into tablespoon-sized (0.7oz) balls, and place them 2 inches apart on a baking tray lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat. 

Bake for 12 – 14 minutes until firm but not brown, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool slightly.

Roll the slightly hot cookies in icing sugar, and allow to cool completely on the wire rack. Once cool, roll them in icing sugar again.

The printable recipe card with the FULL list of ingredients and instructions can be found at the bottom of this post.

NOTE: For best results, I highly recommend using the gram measurements (with a digital scale), rather than the cup measurements.

Cup measurements are simply not accurate enough, and I cannot guarantee the best results if you use them.

Tools used for this recipe

Here are a few handy tools I used to make these cookies. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

• Baking trays
• Mixing bowls
• Kitchen scales: I always recommend weighing out your ingredients for accuracy. Sometimes using cups can be a little off, especially when it comes to ingredients like flour.
• Cooling rack

These Russian Tea Cakes are:

• super quick and easy to throw together
• soft, buttery, and melt-in-your-mouth
• studded with finely chopped nuts for added crunch
• generously coated with icing sugar
• the perfect cookies to serve at Christmas time

Do I have to add nuts to these tea cakes? Nope. You can make these Russian tea cakes without nuts for a completely soft and delicate cookie. OR use ground nuts if you would like the flavour, but not the added crunch.

How long will these tea cakes last? These cookies stay fresh in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.

Do Russian tea cakes freeze well? Yes! They freeze well for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before serving. You can even freeze the dough balls for up to 2 months, and bake from frozen.

If you try this recipe, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it, and don’t forget to tag me on Instagram and hashtag it #simplybakeblog. I’d love to see!

Try these cookies next!

• Chocolate Chip Banana Oatmeal Cookies
• Cinnamon Raisin Biscotti
• Mint Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies
• Chocolate Pumpkin Viennese Whirls

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