Russian Tea Cookies

  Posted on December 3, 2012  by Leslie Blythe  No comments

A Russian tea cake is a kind of cookie, commonly eaten around Christmas in the United States. They are also known as Mexican wedding cakes (or cookies) and butterballs.

I used to love it when my mom made these cookie when I was little.  I use to get to put the warm cookies in a paper bag full of powdered sugar and SHAKE!

Russian tea cakes have a relatively simple recipe, generally consisting entirely of butter, ground nuts and flour. After baking, they are coated in powdered sugar while still hot, then again once the cookie has cooled.

Russian Tea Cookies

Makes 36

1 cup butter
1 tsp vanilla
6 Tbs powdered sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup chopped walnuts
1/3 cup powdered sugar for dusting
Paper bag

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, cream butter and vanilla until smooth. Combine the 6 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar and flour; stir into the butter mixture until just blended. Mix in the chopped walnuts. Roll dough into 1 inch balls, and place them 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake for 12 minutes in the preheated oven. Once out of the oven, shake in a paper bag with powdered sugar.  You can do this again when cooled.