Russian Teacakes

Every year around Christmas my grandmother would make tons of different kinds of cookies. My favorite kind are called Russian Teacakes. They are little butter cookies with chopped walnuts that are baked and then covered (twice) in powdered sugar. They are simple but so delicious! I make them sometimes around Christmas and luckily had time to make them this year. It's been a while since I had made them but since it's fresh in my memory I have a few tips. Make sure you let the butter soften so the consistency of the cookies comes out right (not too crumbly which makes them difficult to shape). There is a lot of butter in this recipe so that is pretty important and really makes a difference in how the batter comes out. I also couldn't remember how big to make them and I think they ended up a little larger than they should have been. If you have a small cookie scoop, that size seems to work well (don't overfill the scoop, because that makes them too big since they grow a bit while baking). Also, there is no need to sift the powdered sugar before rolling the cookies in it. They come out best if you do not sift it. All in all, they were delicious as always!

Russian Teacakes

(Also called Mexican Wedding Cakes)

1 cup margarine or butter, softened

½ cup confectioner’s sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2¼ cups Gold Medal Flour

¼ teaspoon salt

¾ cup finely chopped walnuts

Powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 400°.  Mix thoroughly butter, sugar, and vanilla. Work in flour, salt, and nuts until dough holds together. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place about 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheet.

Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until set but not brown. Remove from cookie sheet. Cool slightly on wire rack. While warm, roll in confectioner’s sugar. Cool. Roll in sugar again.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

Mix butter, vanilla & powdered sugar

Add flour & salt

Add chopped walnuts

Shape dough into 1-inch balls

Bake until set

Roll in powdered sugar twice

Updated photos from July 2021: