December 18, 2012

Holiday Cheer - RUSSIAN TEA CAKES

WIN A NOOK HD - Just leave a comment
 
By Meg Mims
 
 
Meg will give away a copy of SANTA PAWS to one lucky commenter.....

SANTA PAWS -- The last thing Lacey Gordon—divorced with a teen daughter and two cats—needs is a rescue dog coming into her life. To top it off, she's rooked into a "Get Under the Mistletoe by Christmas Eve" dating contest. Since Buddy the dog prefers to be the only "new guy" in Lacey's life, will Santa Claws ruin her holiday for good?


 
Here's my recipe and a short "story" about the cookie recipe. Stole it from Betty Crocker's website, since my mom always used her old cookbook to make these....

Mom had a special silver tray that she placed a variety of Christmas cookies in rows -- and my favorite was the Russian Tea Cake.
 
After rolling the dough into balls and baking, you roll them twice in powdered sugar. The cookie itself is a bit dry and crumbly, but I love love love them with Hot Cinnamon Spice tea from Harney & Sons, or a nice mocha latte. Mmmm! They're fairly easy to make, too. If you use all butter, the balls will melt down to half circles. I usually use half butter and half margarine.

Russian Tea Cakes

1
cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2
cup powdered sugar
1
teaspoon vanilla
2 1/4
cups all-purpose flour
3/4
cup finely chopped nuts - pecans or walnuts
1/4
teaspoon salt
Powdered sugar
  1. Heat oven to 400ºF.
  2. Mix butter, 1/2 cup powdered sugar and the vanilla in large bowl. Stir in flour, nuts and salt until dough holds together.
  3. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place about 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet.
  4. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until set but not brown. Remove from cookie sheet. Cool slightly on wire rack.
  5. Roll warm cookies in powdered sugar; cool on wire rack. Roll in powdered sugar again.
Makes 4 dozen cookies

Do you have a special dish/tray that you bring out for the holidays? Leave a comment for your chance to win a copy of SANTA PAWS and a nook HD, full of romance stories!

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12 comments:

Cheryl Pierson said...

Meg, those cookies look wonderful. I have never had them, that I can remember. My mom used that cookbook, too, and I have one of my own. You have a very Merry Christmas!
Cheryl

Anna Kathryn Lanier said...

Hi, Meg! Thanks for being my guest today! The story sounds great and is on my very long, TBR list. I think for Christmas, I'm going to give myself a coupon book with '1 hour for reading' coupons, lol. I've never made Russian Tea Cookies, but they sound yummy, too. So, we may have some new cookies this year!

Paty Jager said...

Hi Meg! I've made Russian tea cakes before. they are dry but the powdered sugar on the outside makes them melt in your mouth! As a 4-H cooking leader I've made just about any kind of cookie! LOL

I have two glass dishes that are oval shaped with molds of poinsettias and leaves that I love and set out all during the holidays with goodies. I think they were my grandmother's but I'm not sure. I found them tucked up in a cupboard after my mom passed away and Dad told me to take anything "fancy" I wanted because he'd never use it.

Unknown said...

I like to make peanut butter cookies and sugar cookies for my nieces and nephews. Russian tea cakes sound good. I'll have to try them.

Barbara Edwards said...

I love these cookies. I'm going to be so fat after trying these recipes.
barbara.edwards2@yahoo.com

Meg said...

LOL! I *loooooove* these cookies, and you're right, Paty, they are supposed to melt in your mouth - I think if you use all butter, they do. The glass dishes sound lovely! My sister has the silver tray of mom's, and I use a "Santa" tray to put my cookies on. I usually make Lemon Crackle cookies for hubby - he's a lemon lover! Thanks, all, for commenting! I'll choose a winner when Anna K tells me to throw names in a Christmas stocking. ;-)

Tanya Hanson said...

Meg, those cookies are already melting in my mouth. Yum. And as for a rescue pup, my heart's already stolen. The story is marvelous. xo

Mary Preston said...

A delicious recipe thank you. I do love to bring out the rum balls for Christmas.

marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com

Becky said...

My mother used to make those cookies every Christmas. I never use a special dish to put the cookies on, but I have a silver tray to use for special occasion.

Meg said...

I wrote your names on strips of paper, shook the folded pieces in my snowman jar and chose one!

WOOO HOOOO -- Becky is the winner of the free e-copy of SANTA PAWS!!! It's winging its way to you now! Thanks, everyone, for posting a comment.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!! Happy cookie eating. :-)

Anonymous said...

I've never had Russian Tea Cakes, but they sound great! Will try my hand at them this weekend.

I used to have special tray that belonged to my mother and my grandmother before her. Unfortunately I lost in the flash flood that hit us in 2011. By the time we were able to get into our home basically everything was gone.

I will have to make due with plate this year... :-)

Deb T
mammy4423(at)yahoo.com

Karen Michelle Nutt said...

I'm collecting some yummy recipes here!

Your story sounds perfect for the holiday season!

kmnbooks at yahoo dot com