Mom's Russian Tea Cakes
Recipe from the 1950s Betty Crocker's Cookbook

This favorite holiday cookie is known by many different names around the world, such as Mexican Wedding Cakes, Russian Tea Cakes, Swedish Tea Cakes, Italian Butter Nut, Southern Pecan Butterball, Snowdrop, Viennese Sugar Ball, and Snowballs. You will find recipes using almonds, pecans, and hazelnuts. Mom always used walnuts and that is how I make them. The recipe below is the one published in the 1950s Betty Crocker's Cookbook. These cookies fall into the type of butter cookie called Tea Cakes. A tea cake is a butter cookie made with powdered sugar and also dusted with it.

Florentine Wedding Cake is a type of tea cake that is similar to the Russian Tea Cakes, except that almond extract is added in addition to the vanilla extract, and toasted hazelnuts are substituted for the walnuts. The amount of sugar in the recipe is also higher.The cookies are rolled in confectioners' sugar like Mexican wedding cakes, but the tops are dusted with unsweetened cocoa powder as well.

1 cup soft butter or margarine (2 sticks)
1/2 cup sifted confectioner's sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/4 cup sifted flour (or a little less)
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
(1/2 cup sifted confectioner's sugar, more or less, for rolling baked cookies in)

Cream together the butter, confectioner's sugar and vanilla. Add the flour and salt, then the chopped nuts. It will be a stiff dough.

Roll into 1 inch balls. Place on ungreased baking sheets. Cookies do not spread so they can be placed quite close together.

Bake until set, but not brown, at 350° F. for 10 to 12 minutes. (Mom's recipe said 400° F.) [Mine take about 15 minutes. The cookies should just be browning on the bottom and the cookie firm.]

While still warm, roll in confectioners' sugar. Cool. Roll in sugar again. Store in a covered container.

Makes about 40 small cookies. [I get 32 - 34 using my cookie scoop and indenting the dough slightly in the scoop.]