Russian Teacakes And How To Chop Walnuts

For the batches and batches of Russian Teacakes I made yesterday, I had to chop more than three pounds of walnuts.

Good thing I know this simple trick to chop them fast using a rolling pin and a plastic bag.

Chopping nuts the easy way.

Just put the walnuts, a cup or so at a time into a sealed plastic bag and hit them with a rolling pin to break them apart. It's fast and easy and that's exactly what I needed to make all of these cookies which will help fill the Trinity Christmas Cookie Boxes.

Twelve recipes of Russian Teacakes ready for the cookie boxes.

And, here's the recipe for Russian Teacakes which are one of my family's favorite cookies. They are also known by other names like Snowballs, Mexican Wedding Cakes and Swedish Teacakes.

Russian Teacakes
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
1/4 teaspoon salt
Extra powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Whip the butter until smooth and creamy, add the vanilla, salt and powdered sugar and whip again. Stir in the flour and the nuts until mixed thoroughly and the dough holds together.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls. I like to use a cookie scoop to get even sizes and then roll it with my hands to form a nice ball. Place the cookies 1-inch apart on a greased or parchment lined baking sheet.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until set but not brown. Let the cookies cool until they are still slightly warm and roll in powdered sugar. 

Russian Teacakes

Russian Teacakes were one of the cookies we put in our holiday treat boxes to benefit the Wednesday Community Meal.

Okay, Christmas is just a few days away but you still have time to bake some holiday cookies.

Especially if you make these Russian Teacakes - they are festive and nothing could be easier.  No wonder they are universally loved and known by other names like Snowballs, Mexican Wedding Cakes and Swedish Teacakes.

These are my daughter Eleanor's all-time favorite cookie and believe me, she's tried a lot of cookies.

When I asked her why she likes them so much, this is what she had to say: "I just like the way they melt in my mouth and I like the powdered sugar."

I also like that the dough can be used to create other cookies. We wanted to get two cookies out of the dough for our holiday treat boxes so we created Walnut and Chocolate Logs by rolling the Russian Teacake dough into 2-inch logs, baking them and dipping the ends into melted dark chocolate and crushed walnuts.

My friend Anne bought a box of the cookies and told me that the Walnut and Chocolate Logs were her favorite. You could also substitute other nuts for the walnuts - don't be afraid to experiment. This is a tried and true recipe that is very forgiving.

The Walnut and Chocolate Logs.

Russian Teacakes are easy to make and a good choice if you want to make a big batch of holiday cookies.

 


Russian Teacakes
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
1/4 teaspoon salt
Extra powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Whip the butter until smooth and creamy, add the vanilla, salt and powdered sugar and whip again. Stir in the flour and the nuts until mixed thoroughly and the dough holds together.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls. I like to use a cookie scoop to get even sizes and then roll it with my hands to form a nice ball. Place the cookies 1-inch apart on a greased or parchment lined baking sheet.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until set but not brown. Let the cookies cool until they are still slightly warm and roll in powdered sugar.