Old Fashioned Tea Cakes are a favorite cookie in the Deep South. Mention “Tea Cakes” to different people, though, and you are sure to get different thoughts on the subject. Some people may think about Russian Tea Cakes while others may think about green tea cakes.
What is a tea cake?
According to my favorite internet source (aka Wikipedia): A teacake in England is a light yeast-based sweet bun containing dried fruit, typically served toasted and buttered. In the U.S. tea cakes can be cookies or small cakes. And in Sweden it is a sweetened wheat soda bread served with butter, jam and often cheese. In India and Australia, a teacake is more like a sponge cake.
Russian tea cakes are similar to Mexican Wedding Cookies and are soft, melt-in-your mouth cookies that are covered in powdered sugar. They are very different from southern tea cakes.
Old Fashioned Southern Tea Cakes
My mother-in-law grew up in rural Alabama on a farm and the recipe I have came from her. I like to believe that it is an authentic, old-fashioned recipe.
No matter what, it’s an addictive little cookie. It’s difficult to eat just one. In fact, in making this recipe I HAD to eat three. Yes – three for the sake of research. And my poor husband – I texted him a picture while he was away and his response was “mouth-watering.”
(Please don’t tell anyone, but while I am sitting her writing all of this I HAD to go and eat another one. All for research. Yes, research.)
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Old Fashioned Tea Cakes
Ingredients
- 4-5 cups self-rising flour
- 2 cups sugar
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup oil
- ½ cup milk
- 1 tsp vanilla flavoring
- 1 tsp lemon flavoring
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
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Place flour, sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl.
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Make a well in the center and add remaining ingredients. Mix until all ingredients are thoroughly combined. The dough will be stiff.
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Place on lightly floured surface and knead. Roll out and cut using a cup.
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Place on baking stone and bake for 7-9 minutes or until lightly browned.
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Cool and enjoy.
Tips:
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- If you use a baking stone, they will probably take a little bit longer to cook. I also recommend that you use parchment paper for easy removal.
- If you use a metal sheet pan, keep a close eye on your first batch so that you get a feel for how they will bake in your oven. They will bake faster on metal than on a baking stone. Also, you might want to rotate the baking sheet for more even browning.
- The thinner the cookie, the crunchier it will become as it cools.
Thank you so much for posting this recipe! These tea cakes are unmistakably southern American- not British. My 86 year old dad who grew up in west Tennessee was recently reminiscing about these very same tea cakes his mother would make when he was a child. I found her incomplete recipe- which must date back to the depression era, and your recipe fills in all of the gaps! When I first saw the 450 degree baking temperature from her recipe, I thought it was an error- but your recipe confirms it’s not. These are delicious!
Hi Sheri,
Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment. I am delighted that the recipe helps fill in the gaps and preserves a treasured recipe. (The temperature does seem concerning at first, doesn’t it?)
Take care,
Lynda
After my grandmother’s death (Mom Moody) her tea cake recipe was forever lost……..that was until now. Thank you so much for this recipe. Tea cakes are such a sweet reminder of days past with a delightful fragrance wafting from a large farm kitchen and my grandmother in her cozy apron to wrap around me as I enjoyed the delightful bites.
Can’t wait to make.
Peggy Bostic
(In loving memory of my precious grandmother, Clara Moody)
Thanks, Peggy, for taking the time to write a comment – it made my day. I hope that when you make this recipe that more sweet memories of your grandmother come to mind.
This is the best recipe that I’ve ever had for tea cakes as I remember from my youth. Perfection in every way !! –
They remind me of the cookies I got as a child from a little country store . The savored cookies were taken out of a jar there and put in a little brown sack for my little hand to reach into and eat as I walked home.
I love the rise too. A+++ . Thank you ! After 40 years of searching, I can smile big time over this easy and delicious recipe . jm
Thank you so much for your post. It made my day and I know it would have made my mother-in-law happy, too! 🙂
tea cakes
They look like they would be really good with a cup of coffee as an afternoon pick me up.
Definitely!
This old fashioned tea cake looks delicious. It’s fairly easy recipe, so I can make it.
Love these! This recipe reminds me of the one in my grandmother’s recipe box. Great post.
Thanks!
Oooh what a treat and good for you to take one for the team! 🙂 Research? Yes, I do a little research myself! These look delish!
🙂 Thanks. They are delicious.
I’ve never come across anything quite like these! they look pretty tasty!!!
Yum, they look tasty. I’ve never had them before though.
They look wonderful and like a light snack that could easily be eaten over coffee or tea 🙂
These looks super yummy!
I never had a tea cake before, but I’d love to try one sometime. 🙂
I would love to try those with some yummy jasmine tea!
Ooh so yum with some hot tea. My grandma made the best 🙁
Courtney do you have your Grandma’s recipe? I have been hunting for a good tea cake recipe for over 30 years. My husband’s mother use to bake tea cakes for her children and I would like to get as close as I possibly can to her recipe. She has passed and this would be a nice gift for my hubby. They lived around the Abilene, TX area.
This would be a first to make for me. These look really good!
those look really tasty i’d love to try them
I’ve never had a tea cake before. They sound really good though.
The Tea cakes I remember were the ones my Great Grandmother in Georgia made, They were sooo good! This sounds like it could be the recipe!!I hope so
Mmmm. Can you talk with a British accent while eating them? I wouldn’t be able to resist!
I’ve never had tea cakes before, but have always wanted to try them.
I’m not sure I have ever had any type of tea cake, but these sound delicious!
That’s fascinating – I had no idea there were so many different meanings. I’m English so for me it’s a kind of bread roll with fruit, ideally to be served toasted with butter 🙂
These look really good! They kind of look like scones, which I love! I want to try making these for a little tea and biscuit treat!
Will ask my English mum in law about these and try making them for hubs. Thanks for the recipe and hello from SitsSharefest
It would be interesting to see what she thinks about the differences between English tea cakes and the Old South’s tea cakes.
I only have good memories of these. My mom used to make them often when I was younger. A few weeks ago I asked her about how she made them and we found ourselves taking a walk down memory lane. She told me how her mother made them literally by hand. She knew just the right amount of ingredients to use by measuring them without spoons or cups.
Now that’s skill and love!
LOVE tea cakes — my husband’s grandmother makes these too. 🙂
I haven’t seen these in forever. I would love to have a few with a nice cup of English breakfast tea. Yum!
I Have never had old fashioned tea cakes. I have every thing but the lemon flavoring, will have to go pick some up tomorrow so I can make them.
I love tea, so these would be the perfect compliment.
Oh yummy! those look delicious and your husband was right they are mouth watering!
…I’ve never had a tea cake… But I think that’s about to change!
These look really good. I have never tried a tea cake.
Ooh these sound yummy! I’ve never had any variety of them.
These look very good but I’ve never had them before.
This is the tea cake I grew up with in rural Alabama===nothing fancy, just delicious.
I don’t think I’ve ever had tea cakes! They look delicious!
I have never in my life had a tea cake but I will say that your tea cakes look and sound good.
Love some tea cakes.
This is exactly the kind of treat that I love–elegant and British!
Wow! I have been thinking about tea cakes. I have my grandmothers recipe. She died at 101. We I was little we lived next door to her and when we would go to her house she kept a tin 5 gallon lard can filled with tea cakes. We would make ourselves sick on them they were so good.
101?! Sounds like a good reason to be eating these!
I should make some, they seem like the sort of thing my little girl would like.
These look fantastic. I wonder how many weight watchers points one is?
Good question, but one that I am afraid to calculate.
Tea Cakes bring back great memories of my Grannie. Can’t wait to try these for the upcoming Christmas holiday.
If you happen to make them on a metal pan, pay close attention to the baking time. It may take less than the stated time. For best results, use a baking stone if you have one. I would love to know how they come out for you.