Russian Tea Cakes

Russian Tea Cake Ingredients

So good and so easy, our Russian tea cookies only take a few ingredients to make.

Butter: Butter (we used salted for this recipe) brings richness, tenderness, and a distinctly buttery flavor to these tea cake cookies.

Flour: Use all-purpose for the right balance of chewiness to tenderness. It’s the most common type, so you probably already have it in your pantry.

Powdered Sugar: Powdered sugar, sometimes called confectioner’s sugar, is much more powdery than granulated sugar and works well when you’re looking for a denser, crumblier cookie, as we are with this Russian tea cakes recipe.

Chopped Nuts: We like either pecans or walnuts to bring added crunch to our cookies. For added texture and loads more flavor, toast the nuts before adding to the dough.

Other Ingredients You’ll Need: Vanilla and salt are also added for extra flavor.

Cookware You’ll Need

You only need a few pieces of basic cookie gear to make our Russian tea cakes.

Cookie Sheet: Over our many decades of cookie-making experience, we've found that the best cookie sheet has a classic shiny finish, which reflects heat more evenly, resulting in cookies that bake uniformly.

Mixing Bowl: You don’t need a stand mixer to make our Russian tea cakes recipe, but you do need a large mixing bowl.

Other Cookware You’ll Need: Dry measuring cups, measuring spoons, mixing spoon, and a cooling rack.

How to Make Russian Tea Cakes

Who knew that such a delicious, buttery cookie could be so easy to make? We did, and here’s how.

1. Combine Ingredients

In a large bowl, stir together the butter, sugar, and vanilla until the powdered sugar is completely incorporated. Add the flour, nuts, and salt and stir just until combined.

2. Shape Dough Balls and Bake

Roll dough into 1-inch balls. We like to measure the first one with a ruler, then eyeball the rest. Place the balls on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake until set but not browned.

3. Cool and Roll in Powdered Sugar

Immediately roll the warm cookies in powdered sugar. Cool the cookies on a rack and reroll in more powdered sugar for a thorough coating.

Possible Variations

A cookie with so few ingredients usually lends itself to variations and our Russian cookies are no exception.

Add Chocolate: One reviewer found an easy workaround to her son’s nut allergy by replacing them with mini chocolate chips. We also love our uber popular chocolate snowballs.

Use Different Nuts: While walnuts or pecans are the iconic choices, you could also try pistachios, almonds, or hazelnuts.

Add Additional Flavoring: Try other flavor options beyond vanilla, like almond extract. We also like to infuse a little holiday spirit in our peppermint snowballs.

Once you’ve mastered the art of the snowball, we suggest you try our Russian tea cake bars or, if preferred, our gluten free version of the classic.

Storing and Reheating

Extra Russian tea cakes are always a good thing and here’s how to keep them at their freshest.

Room Temperature  

Store cooled cookies in a tightly covered food storage container or resealable food storage bag at room temperature for up to 4 days.

Freezer Storage

Store in a covered food storage container or a resealable freezer food storage bag up to 2 months.

Thawing

Thaw at room temperature and reroll in powdered sugar to refresh the coating.

Why Betty Users Love This Recipe

With over a thousand reviews, our Russian tea cakes are definitely a hit with our community! Here’s what we’re hearing.

Users love the buttery flavor and melt-in-your-mouth texture of these “timeless” and “nostalgic” cookies. They also appreciate how easy they are to make, and the reliability of the results. Our Russian tea cakes recipe delivers every time!

Their versatility was also an important feature for many reviewers who like to customize these cookies by changing the nuts or flavorings to suit their own tastes or use the ingredients they have on hand.

Of course, our community views our Russian tea cookies as an iconic part of their holiday cookie trays and thinks they are great to give away. Who doesn’t love to see a big batch of these buttery beauties at a cookie swap?