Russian Tea Cakes are tender and buttery on the inside, studded with crunchy walnuts and rolled in powdered sugar. They dissolve in your mouth and you won’t be able to stop at just one.
This is also one of the easiest cookie recipes. We have perfected it over the years. Read on to learn the KEY to making the best Russian Tea Cakes.
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Russian tea cakes are one of our favorite Christmas cookies and a staple of holiday cookie platters, right up there with classic Sugar Cookies. Just like our Almond Snowball Cookies, these look like adorable little snowballs.
What are Russian Tea Cakes?
Russian Tea Cakes are also known as Mexican Wedding Cakes or Snowball Cookies. The cookie dough contains nuts, usually walnuts or pecans which gives the cookies a nutty flavor and slight crunch.
The butter in the cookie dough makes the cookies tender and powdery and they almost dissolve in your mouth. The cookies are rolled in powdered sugar twice to give them a white coating making them look like snowballs.
Ingredients for Russian Tea Cakes
- All-purpose flour – be sure the flour is measured correctly.
- Unsalted butter – softened at room temperature. Gives the cookies a tender crumb. Forgot to soften your butter? See our tip to soften butter in 5 minutes.
- Walnuts – toasting the walnuts until they are golden will give you the best tasting cookies. You can substitute with pecans or even pistachios. Powdered Sugar – also known as confectioners sugar. We add 1/2 cup to the batter and use more to roll the cookies.
- Vanilla Extract – adds flavor. We love homemade vanilla extract for all of our baking.
- Salt – balances the sweetness. Fine sea salt is our salt of choice.
The KEY to the Best Snowball Cookies
Toast the walnuts on a dry skillet over medium heat, tossing frequently for about 5 minutes or until nuts are lightly golden and fragrant then remove to a cutting board to cool and chop the nuts. Whether you are using walnuts or pecans, toasting the nuts will really bring out their best flavor and will make your cookies even better.
Pro Tip: Nuts can burn very quickly on a skillet. Never walk away from your skillet and be sure to toss them frequently. As soon as you can smell the aroma of the nuts, they are done toasting.
How to make Russian Tea Cakes
- Cream together butter, powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth.
- Add flour and salt and mix until combined and no streaks of flour remain. The mixture will be lumpy and not smooth.
- Add walnuts once they are cooled and chopped. Use a firm spatula to mix them in until well distributed in the dough.
- Shape into 1-inch balls (using a small cookie scoop makes portioning easy) and place them on a parchment or Silpat-lined baking sheet, keeping them at least an inch apart. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the edges are very lightly browned at the base.
- Roll hot cookies in powdered sugar and place on a cookie platter to cool completely to room temperature.
- Roll cooled cookies again in powdered sugar to get an even and generous coating of powdered sugar.
How to tell when Tea Cakes are Done?
These cookies bake up quickly. They are done when the edges of the cookies are lightly golden in color with a golden base.
Make-Ahead
Storing at room temperature – Cookies may be stored up to 1 week in an airtight container.
To freeze Russian tea cakes – store in a freezer-safe lidded container or zip bag and freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw in the refrigerator and enjoy.
Common Questions
You don’t have to use nuts. You can leave them out completely or fill them with a surprise such as a few butterscotch chips (my son’s favorite). If omitting nuts, I suggest adding another 1/4 cup of flour or the cookies will spread in the oven since the nuts help them keep their form.
They are essentially the same thing and the terms are used interchangeably. At Christmas time, they are referred to as snowball cookies.
You can sub with half whole wheat flour if you prefer. It will add flavor and color to the center of the cookies.
More Christmas Cookies and Bars
Christmas baking is a nostalgic activity and a great time to make beautiful food memories. Explore all of our best Christmas Recipes Here and I’m sure you’ll find many new favorite cookies in this list.
- Christmas Sugar Cookies
- Peanut Butter Cookies
- Lemon Bars
- Snickerdoodle Cookies
- Christmas Coconut Balls
- Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
This Tea Cakes recipe was first published in January 2010. It has been updated with new photos and we shared all of our best tips for richer flavor and texture.
Russian Tea Cakes Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 lb unsalted butter, or 16 tbsp, at room temperature
- 1 cup walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped
- ½ cup confectioners sugar, powdered sugar, plus 2 cups more for rolling cookies
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp salt
Instructions
Quick Prep:
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment or silicone liner.
- Toast nuts on a dry skillet over medium heat for 5 minutes, tossing frequently until fragrant and lightly golden.
How to Make Russian Tea Cakes:
- In a large bowl, using an electric hand mixer, cream together butter, 1/2 cup of powdered sugar, and 1 tsp of vanilla, until smooth.
- Add flour and salt and continue mixing until no streaks of flour remain. The mixture will be lumpy. Use a firm spatula to fold in the nuts until evenly incorporated.
- Use a firm spatula to fold in the chopped nuts until evenly incorporated.
- Shape the dough into 1-inch balls (using a small cookie scoop to portion the dough makes the process easy) and place them on a clean baking sheet at least 1-inch apart. Bake at 400˚F for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the edges are golden at the base.
- Fill a bowl with 1 cup powdered sugar and roll the cookie balls in it while they are still very warm then transfer to a platter to cool completely.
- Once cookies are at room temperature, roll them in more powdered sugar to get perfect little snowballs. Cookies may be stored up to 1 week in an airtight container.
Notes
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
I used black walnut extract instead of the vanilla extract , although I did add a touch of vanilla too. I also prefer to use Hammond’s American Black walnuts instead of the common English type walnuts that you see in all the grocery stores. Our Native American Black walnuts have a stronger walnut flavor, less bland than the English walnuts we see on the store shelves.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Drl! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Grew up with these cookies (I’m
81 years old!) My mom always used black walnuts–I can’t imagine them with any other kind of nuts!
Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
I’m 60. I remember helping my mom make these and she always use black walnuts. I wouldn’t make them any other way because they would not taste right.
Also, she would store then in multiple layer containers for us or others and because of the butter soaking through, she would put down a layer of cookies (she called them Russian Tea Cookies not Cakes) and then sprinkle a thick layer of powdered sugar and then added the next layer.
Thank you so much for sharing that with us, Mark!
Hi Natasha! I didn’t have any nuts so I used toasted unsweetened coconut and they came out beautifully and tasted wonderful! Thank you!
Hi Tina, great to hear that they turned out great! Thank you for sharing that with us.
Mine came out flat. Taste great but not sure what happened. I substituted almonds for walnuts. Not sure if that would make a difference?
Hi Jessica, They shouldn’t be flat unless you used way too much butter. It’s likely due to too much butter. How much butter did you use? Also, it’s hard to say what went wrong when substitutions are made. I hope you find the culprit!
AH I see. The recipe states 1/2 lb unsalted butter, or 16 tbsp, at room temperature. Those are two different measurements. I used 16 TBSP room temp. butter. Should I have only used 1 stick (1/2 lb)?
Thanks!
Hi Jessica, 1/2 lb is equal to 16 Tablespoons or 1 cup of butter. With my butter packages, it is 2 sticks of butter.
if you have a food scale, this is ALWAYS the best way to prevent over and under measuring ingredients. Most precise and accurate is of course in grams, NOT ounces.
I love these!! Question…Can I substitute gluten free floor?
Hi Janet, I haven’t tested that substitution to advise. If you experiment, let me know how you liked the recipe
Yes, I have made with GF flour. Nobody will notice the difference. Sift the flour, then measure. Put dough in refrigerator for 30 minute so the flour is absorbed.
Hi Elaine, that is great to know it works well with gluten-free flour.
So delicious !! Best I’ve ever had !
The entire family loved them.
Easy to follow recipe. I used pecans and they came out so soft and crumbly .. will definitely save this recipe. Thank you, Natasha!!
All of your recipes are so easy and delicious !! All the blessings in 2022 !!
Aww, that’s the best! Thank you so much for sharing that wonderful compliment with me. I’m all smiles
Going to make some of your cookies!! Esp, the Russian
Tea Cakes.. Thanks.
I hope you love them! Your home is going to smell so good once they start baking!
I have been making these for years however I use dates instead of the nuts. There great ..I’ll try some choc chips next but the dates I have been doing for years.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Elaine!
Hi Natasha, I love watching you bake. Thank you for your awesome recipes. I did have a question though. Can I freeze the dough after I form them into balls? If so how would I go about baking them?Thank you.
Hi Vivian, You can make these up to 3 days in advance. They freeze well, just coast cookies with some more fresh powdered sugar after thawing them.On of my readers mentioned freezing the dough saying: “I freeze the raw dough once I form them into balls. Then when I want a few I bake them. Great for unexpected company.” I hope this helps!
Just mixed a batch of these and will be baking them tomorrow. Can’t wait to taste – the dough is delicious on it’s own! Writing because I saw a typo and wanted to let you know – Under “How to make. . .” section, step 3 says “add pecans” not “add walnuts.” Thanks!
Good catch and thank you for pointing that out.
What is used most often, pecans or walnuts or either? I am trying to remember what my mother used. 🙂
Hi Diane, either will work great!
Perfect! These are a Xmas tradition for me. My mom always made them and froze some, too. The Xmas after she passed away, I found the bag she had sent home with me the previous Xmas still in my freezer. Such a sweet memory. Now I make them and think of my mom.
Aww, I’m so glad you found that bag, Diane! Merry Christmas!
Delicious! The flavor of the orange zest is even better the second day. 😊
Isn’t it the best! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Carol!
An east and quick recipe that is Delicious! I also made a g/f option with almond flour instead of A/P flour. It too is tasty.
I’m so glad you loved it and found it tasty! The tea cakes are pretty special 🙂
Sooooooo yummy and easy! I’ve loved these as a kid but never knew what they were called. I had pecans so used those and just used my hands to mix in the nuts. The whole process was very quick and easy. Definitely making these again.
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing your great review!
These were called ‘Sands’ in my mom’s recipe collection and they were a Christmas tradition in our family. I used your more exact recipe and they taste exactly like hers. Thanks so much. Great memories !
Nice on, Barry. It’s great that you found this recipe and loved it!
Yum – I enjoyed mine with hot chocolate. Delicious, thanks for great recipe.
Yum! Thank you for the wonderful review!
I’m so excited to try this recipe! My family always made these with walnuts and a half of a drained maraschino cherry inside!
I hope you love it, Susan!
Hi Natasha! Love all your recipes but I’ve been baking these for years and they are called sand tarts or Mexican Wedding Cookies. It’s the exact recipe.
Great to hear that and thanks for the info. I hope you’ll love it.
Awesome recipe and so yummy.
I’m allergic to ALL NUTS and so I use pretzels(crushed) which works out great. Still have the crunch.
Thank you
Geri
Great to hear that you use a good substitute for nuts and you loved it!
thanks for the tip. I was wondering what nut free families could do for this recipe. Appreciate your comment.
The best way I have found to toast nuts is to use the airfryer. I’ve toasted walnuts, pecans and almonds sucessfully in the airfryer at 350 degrees F. for 3-5 minutes, watching them carefully. Much easier than oven or skillet, in my opinion.
Thanks for sharing that tip with us, Janet.