Russian Tea Cakes are buttery cookies that are delicate and easy to make. They have a tender crumb filled with crunchy toasted walnuts. These Russian tea cookies are coated twice in icing sugar and are best paired with chilled milk or your favorite hot drink.

❤️ WHY YOU’LL LOVE THIS RECIPE

The flavor – It’s buttery, perfectly sweetened, and has a nutty flavor coming from the toasted walnuts.
Its texture – These Russian tea cookies melt in your mouth, leaving behind cravings for more.
Stores well – Because it has butter and is coated with powdered sugar, it can be stored on your kitchen counter for up to 4 days in an airtight container.
Make it your own – The recipe is forgiving and adopts different ingredients. More on this under the Variation section below.

🍪 INGREDIENTS YOU’LL NEED

All-purpose flour – I always use all-purpose flour in my baking, but you can use half all-purpose and half whole wheat flour.

Butter – Go for good quality butter because in this recipe, the flavor of the butter will be noticed. I have used unsalted butter.

Walnuts – If you prefer other nuts, use them or a mixture. Other than pistachios, always toast the nuts to get a better flavor. You can also skip the nuts.

Sugar – We use confectioner’s sugar to keep the texture tender and smooth. There is sugar in the dough, and we will use some to coat the cookies.

HOW TO MAKE RUSSIAN TEA CAKES

Step 1

Preheat the oven and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Step 2

In a bowl, beat the butter, icing sugar, vanilla, and salt until creamy.

Step 3

Add the flour and mix; the mixture will look like wet sand, but that’s alright. Fold the nuts using a spatula.

Step 4

Form equal-sized balls and place them on the baking tray. Bake the cookies for 12 to 14 minutes.

Step 5

Leave the cookies in the baking tray for 5 minutes.

Step 6

Roll the warm cookies one at a time in the icing sugar. Place the cookies on a wire rack to cool completely, then roll again in the icing sugar for a second coating.

Coating Russian cookies with powdered sugar.

👩🏽‍🍳PRO TIPS

When measuring the flour, fluff the flour while it’s in the container and then spoon it into the measuring cup. Use the back of a butter knife to level the flour.
If you are using salted butter, omit the salt from the recipe.
Toast the nuts and chop them before adding them to the cookie dough. Toasted nuts give a better taste and texture to the cookies.
The butter should be soft, but don’t use half-melted or room-temperature butter.
If you don’t have parchment paper or a silicone mat, you can grease the baking pan and then dust it well with flour.
These cookies do not spread while baking unless the butter in the dough melts. If you are working in a hot kitchen, then after forming the balls, place the cookies in the fridge for 20 minutes before baking them.
The melt in the mouth texture comes from the icing sugar in the dough. If you don’t have icing sugar, use my recipe for making powdered sugar.

Russian cookies coated with powdered sugar.

🌡️STORING RUSSIAN TEA CAKES

In an airtight container, you can store the cookies on the kitchen counter for up to four days.

You can also freeze the baked cookies for up to 3 months. Place them in a freezer-freindly bag, and to thaw the Russian tea cake keep them out on the kitchen counter for a few minutes while covered or wrapped in plastic wrap.

Russian teak cake (Snowball cookies) in a plate.

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⭐PLEASE RATE AND REVIEW

If you have tried this Russian Tea Cakes recipe and liked it, please give it a 5-star rating and leave a comment below with your experience!