These tea cakes from my Mississippi big mama have been passed down from generation to generation. They are soft, buttery and the perfect mix of cake and sugar cookie textures. If you want authentic Southern tea cakes that have been thoroughly recipe tested, you’ve come to the right place.
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These shape up easy like cookie dough so you won’t find it hard to pull these off. Just make sure you:
- Refrigerate the Dough: It needs to firm up for at least an hour.
- Use your Hands: Your hand warmth helps shape the dough so it’s more workable.
- Keep it Tender: Make sure you don’t overmix the dough or overbake your cookies so they stay soft.
- Cool on the Pan: The cookies will be soft when you first remove the tray from the oven. I like to let them cool slightly on the pan which firms them up slightly making them easier to move.
How to Make Tea Cakes
Make the Tea Cake Dough
Step 1: Whisk together flour, salt, and baking soda.
Step 2: In your mixer, beat together butter and sugar until fluffy.
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Step 3: Add in the egg and vanilla and keep mixing until it’s smooth.
Step 4: Slowly add the dry ingredients into the mix.
Step 5: Mix after each addition only until just combined. Don’t overdo it.
Step 6: Cover the bowl or place the dough in a freezer bag and refrigerate it for at least an hour.
Bake Them Up!
Step 7: Scoop tablespoon-sized balls of dough. Smooth the balls, place them on a baking tray, and flatten each one slightly.
Step 8: Bake the tea cakes for 9-11 minutes or until the edges are golden. Cool and serve them up.
Southern Tea Cakes Recipe
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Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 stick unsalted butter room temperature
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/4-1/2 tsp ground nutmeg optional
Instructions
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and baking soda and set aside.
- In the bowl of your mixer, add butter and sugar and mix together on high speed until fluffy and smooth (about 4-5 minutes).
- Turn mixer to medium speed and add in one egg, vanilla extract and nutmeg, if using, and beat until well incorporated.
- Lastly, turn mixer to slow speed and add in flour mixture in intervals of three beating after each addition to incorporate.
- After dough is well mixed, turn off mixer and remove dough from mixer and add to a ziploc bag and place in your refrigerator for at least one hour to firm up dough.
- Once dough is firm, remove from fridge and preheat your oven to 325 degrees.
- Line your cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- Taking a measuring tablespoon, scoop out cookie dough the size of the tablespoon and roll into a ball. Using your thumb, gently press the center to flatten a bit and place on the tray.
- Do the same for the rest of the dough leaving at least an 1 1/2 inches between each dough ball.
- Bake for 9-11 minutes until golden brown on the edges and remove from the oven.
- Cool for 5-10 minutes and serve.
Notes
How to Store Tea Cakes
To keep your Southern Tea Cakes tasting just as amazing as the day they were baked, store them in an airtight container at room temp boos.How long will old fashioned tea cakes last?
They’ll stay fresh for up to 5-6 days. Keep them away from direct sunlight and some place cool such as the pantry or cabinet.Can I freeze them?
Yep, for sure boos! Just make sure they’re tightly wrapped, pop in a freezer bag, label with the date and they’ll be good for up to three months.Ingredient Swaps and Information
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- Unsalted Butter: You can also use salted butter here. Just leave out the salt in the recipe if you make this swap.
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- Granulated Sugar: You can swap in brown sugar or even molasses like my daddy’s grandmother used to do.
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- Egg: Just one binds the batter together.
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- Pure Vanilla Extract: You can swap this for any extract you like from almond to lemon.
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- All-Purpose Flour: You can try a cup-for-cup gluten-free option here though the texture might change a little.
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- Salt: Just a pinch! It helps balance the sweetness.
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- Baking Soda: Check your expiration date to make sure it’s good to go.
Nutrition
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Thank you for sharing your traditional recipe. I’ve also been raised eating tea cakes. From Baytown, Tx to New Orleans, La. Grandma’s on both sides of my family baked tea cakes.
I made these cookies and they were amazing! My husband said they were like the ones his mother made. My family love them. 1 batch only lasted 1 day . I’m making a double batch now.
I love these cookies. They aren’t hard to make and they are very tasty. I like them plain but they are very versatile. You can put your own spin on them by using different spices and flavourings. I’ll be making them again.
Almond flavoring is awesome too.
I split the recipe and put just vanilla in one half the other half I stick a little vanilla and pure almond.
Great. I make both flavors because some like vanilla and some almond flavor.
Some like both..
I had to post though I’m never the type to post a comment because these are My Grandmas cookies from her grave. This recipe Is pretty much my child hood and grandma wrapped all in one cookie jar! My grandmother Mae recently passed a year ago, I have done 3 random recipes from the internet including this one. This was the closest and same tea cake similarities to my tastebuds. They are chewy in the center, with a slight crunch on the edges. These cookies will stay chewy even days later just sitting uncovered on a cookie display. Two things I stay away from recipes for tea cakes that call for baking powder, because it makes the cookie more puffed and cake like this recipe doesn’t require any baking powder so I felt quite confident and I’m glad I gave it a try. Second the only thing my grandma and I do differently god rest her soul, is we add 1/4 teaspoon of Ground Mace Seasoning much better than just traditional nutmeg. Very hard to find but look on the seasoning aisle at your local Walmart you will be glad to add that 1/4 teaspoon of Mace while doing everything exactly as the recipe is stated here. Thank You so Much My Grandma Is Shouting From Heaven!
Great tasting and easy to make.
AMAZING !!! MUST TRY FOR SURE !!
this recipe is the absolute best!! the cookies are perfectly chewy and sweet! thank you so much!
This recipe is the easiest and the most delicious way of making my grandma’s tea cake cookies I’ve tried other recipes but they were not delicious as this one. Thank you very much for sharing this recipe.
Easy to make and so delicious! I added 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg to make them even tastier.
Im a 51 year old man, the baby child of nine…. one of my favorite memories growing up was for some reason, I really enjoyed cooking at an early age. I think I liked how good food makes people happy, and I liked the reaction of others when I made something good, so I started cooking on the regular from about maybe four years old or so. I learned how to make these tea cookies at a really young age…, and my brothers and sisters would go crazy over them. I didn’t measure, I just knew how I wanted them to taste and I mostly eyeballed my recipes. I would get recipes out of cook books and try them etc and then make them my own…Whether at 2pm or 2am…, someone was always asking me to make these cookies for them..,and I must admit … my tea cookies looked and tasted better than this recipe … I would make them with different flavored extracts as well the normal vanilla, I also used almond, lemon, orange extracts etc… I always made the cookies to absolute perfection!