Russian tea cakes, also known as Mexican wedding cookies, are easy to make and is a guaranteed crowd pleaser. Traditionally made with pecans, we swapped out the pecan for a more luxurious macadamia nut to upgrade this classic recipe.
Russian Tea Cakes
Ingredients
- 226g (2 sticks) Butter, Room Temperature
- 75g (¾ cup) Powdered Sugar (plus extra for dusting)
- 5g (1 tsp) Vanilla Extract
- 230g (1¾ cup) All-Purpose Flour
- 160g (1 cup) Macadamia Nuts, Roasted & Chopped
- 2g (½ tsp) Salt
Equipment
- Stand Mixer with a Paddle Attachment
- Sheet Pan Baking Paper
Timing
Active Time: 10 Minutes
Total Time: 1 Hour
Yield
~ 40 Cookies
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Prepare Cookie Dough
Pre heat an oven to 275F°.
In a mixer with a paddle attachment equipped, place the butter and powdered sugar.
Cream the sugar and butter together for 5 minutes or until light and fluffy.
Add the vanilla extract and salt and mix for 1 minute.
Add the flour and mix until just barely combined.
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Roll and Bake Cookies
Roll the cookies into 15g (1 tbsp) balls and place them on a sheet pan lined with baking paper.
Press them down gently until they are about 1 ½ inch in diameter.
Bake the cookies for 30 minutes at 275°F. They should be brown on the bottom and white on the top.
-
Cool, Coat, & Serve
Remove the cookies from the pan and place them on a wire rack.
Allow cookies to cool for 15 minutes before dusting them with powdered sugar. Coat the cookies liberally with powdered sugar.
serve and enjoy.
Summary
Recipe Name
Rustic Russian Tea Cakes
Author Name
Modernist Pantry
Published On
Preparation Time
Total Time
Average Rating
Based on 1 Review(s)
Comments (6)
February 3, 2020 11:20 am
Not a big deal, but the recipe doesn’t state when to add the nuts. My mother made these (with pecans), formed into about 1/2 X 2” cylinders and rolled them in the powdered sugar. She called them “cocoons”.
September 29, 2020 12:16 pm
[…] 1 Recipe Rustic Russian Tea Cakes […]
March 13, 2022 3:08 am
Step #2, Bake them, and then add the vanilla and salt, a second time? The last line in step 2 is from step 1 and can be ignored.
I’ve made these since childhood using Black Walnuts and not flattening them. They are wonderful, and very fragile. Does flattening them keep them from breaking in half as easy before they are consumed ?
March 13, 2022 3:12 am
Also. The version I know was rolled in powdered sugar as soon as they came out of the oven, while they were still putting out steam or oil. IIRC, once they were cooled they were rolled in sugar again.
March 14, 2022 4:50 pm
We tried both and found that the one time in sugar was plenty. We preferred them to not be too sweet.
March 14, 2022 4:49 pm
Removed the repeat step. Flattening them just makes them a little more uniform. But I don’t think anything will keep them from being fragile. To me that is the appeal.