Russian Teacakes
Russian Teacakes are a classic Christmas cookie that are soft, buttery, and “melt in your mouth” delicious with a sweet powdered sugar finish. They are the perfect accompaniment on any Christmas cookie platter or for Santa’s plate on Christmas Eve.
When I think of Russian Teacakes and Christmastime, I think of watching The Santa Claus in 1994. My sister and I on that old couch in the little brown house. Dressed in red PJs, hot chocolate in hand, faces smothered in confectioner’s sugar from mom’s Russian teacakes.
Russian teacakes have always been one of my favorite Christmas cookies. Yeah, the chocolate and peppermint and red and green sprinkles are wonderful, but these sly little cookies are unassuming. They’re so understated, but so incredibly delicious. They’re not too sugary, a bit nutty, with a buttery melt in your mouth goodness. You can easily eat several without noticing.
These cookies are also known as Snowballs and Mexican Wedding Cakes, but my family and many others also call them Russian Teacakes. Why? I don’t know. And neither does the internet. Some speculate that it’s because they could be derived from Eastern European shortbread cookies. But now in the US we make and enjoy them for Christmas, Easter, and wedding celebrations.
Regardless, these cookies have always been and will always be good. A true classic. My grandma made them, my mom made them, and now I make them. They always have a spot on my Christmas cookie plate.
These Russian Teacakes are:
- Buttery, soft, tender, nutty, with a sweet powdered sugar finish.
- So easy to make. The batter is really simple to throw together. Once it’s made, all it takes it rolling out the cookies, baking, and tossing in powdered sugar.
- A great cookie to make with little kids. What could be more fun than rolling cookies in a mountain of powdered sugar on the kitchen table?
- Perfect for a cookie platter or Santa’s cookie plate.
- So good you can’t eat just one.
Russian Teacake Ingredients
- Flour: The base of the cookie.
- Butter: Binds everything together and makes the cookie literally dissolve in your mouth.
- Powdered sugar: Coats the cookie to give a nice sweet finish and snowball appearance.
- Nuts: A nice nutty flavor and crunch to offset the buttery base. Also helps to hold the cookie together.
- Vanilla: Provides flavoring.
- Salt: Provides flavoring.
Tips to Make Russian Teacakes
- The cookies need to be rolled in the powdered sugar while they’re hot, but this is also when they’re the most delicate. Be super careful when doing this. I like to make a mountain of powdered sugar on some parchment paper, place the cookie in the center of the sugar mound, the toss the sugar all over the cookie before placing back on the tray.
- If the cookie breaks, enjoy yourself a hard earned snack 🙂
- One batch probably won’t be enough.
- We like to use pecans, but walnuts would also work well. Alternatively, you can make these nut-free but they may be more delicate as the nuts help to bind the cookie together.
I hope you enjoy these cookies as much as my family does during the holidays!
More Easy Cookie Recipes
Russian Teacakes
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cups Gold Medal flour
- 1 cup butter or margarine, softened
- ½ cup powdered sugar, sifted
- ¾ cup nuts, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- Additional powdered sugar for coating
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- In a large bowl, mix together butter, sugar, and vanilla.
- Sift flour, then add salt to the sifted flour. Add the dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix well until the dough holds together. The dough should not be sticky at all.
- Chill the dough for about 30 minutes.
- Roll the chilled dough in 1″ balls, then place on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake 10 to 12 minutes, or until set but not brown.
- While still warm, roll in confectioners’ sugar. Cool, then roll in confectioner’s sugar again.
- Enjoy!
