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Home » Recipes » The Best Old Fashioned Tea Cakes Recipe

The Best Old Fashioned Tea Cakes Recipe

Published: Mar 20, 2021 · Modified: Jan 3, 2023 by Lynda · This post may contain affiliate links.

Jump to Recipe

With some basic ingredients that you have in your pantry, you can make a batch of Old Fashioned Tea Cakes. I bet you can’t eat just one – they are downright addictive! It’s one of those classic recipes from the South that everyone enjoys.

Tea cakes on a baking stone.
Jump to:
  • Old-Fashioned Southern Tea Cakes
  • 🥘 Ingredients
  • 🔪How To Make Tea Cakes
  • 💭Tips For Making Old Fashioned Southern Tea Cakes
  • 📖 Recipe

Old Fashioned Tea Cakes are a favorite cookie in the Deep South. Mention “Tea Cakes” to people from other locations 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): An English tea cake 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 comes from her. I like to believe that it is an authentic, old-fashioned recipe. Nowadays, it might even be considered a vintage recipe. My husband thinks this is the best tea cake recipe. It’s one of his favorite cookies!

There several great things about simple southern recipes like this one. For one thing with this simple reicpe, you don’t have to cream butter or use a stand mixer. Another is that by using self-rising flour, you don’t have to use baking powder or baking soda and worry about the flour mixture/ratio being spot on. With this recipe, you also don’t have to worry about ingredients being at room temperature.

🥘 Ingredients

This Southern tea cakes recipe is made with simple ingredients. My mother-in-law’s recipe calls for the following ingredients:

  • self-rising flour
  • white sugar
  • salt
  • eggs
  • vegetable oil
  • milk
  • lemon and vanilla extract
Bag of King Arthur self-rising flour on a kitchen counter.

I prefer to use the King Arthur brand of self-rising flour because it is not bleached and they don’t use aluminum in their rising agent. It’s the only brand that I am aware of that has those two features.

🔪How To Make Tea Cakes

To make tea cakes, assemble all of your ingredients. Place the self-rising flour (see the recipe for quantity), sugar, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Create a well.

Add the remaining ingredients to the flour mixture and mix with a spoon until all of the flour has become moistened. If you love lemons, you could add a little bit of lemon zest to boost the lemon flavor.

Pour dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead. You may need to add additional flour. Once the dough is no longer sticky, roll out and cut into cookie shapes using a cookie cutter or a cup.

Place dough on cookie sheets and bake in a preheated oven. Keep an eye on them closely because at 450 degrees, they cook quickly and can burn quickly, too.

Once they are golden brown, remove them from the oven. Allow them to stay on the baking sheet/stone for a couple of minutes before moving them to a cooling rack.

Plate of teacakes made with self-rising flour.

These old-fashioned tea cakes with self-rising flour are sure to become a favorite in your home, just as they are in mine.

Just one bite of one of these simple sugar cookies and your family might think that granny, grandma, maw maw, or whatever-you-call-your grandmother came for a visit and left you all with a batch of her prized cookies.

Hand holding an old fashioned tea cake.

💭Tips For Making Old Fashioned Southern Tea Cakes

  • 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.
  • Store any leftover tea cakes in an airtight container such as a Ziploc bag or cookie jar.

📖 Recipe

tea cakes

Old Fashioned Tea Cakes

These Old Fashioned Tea Cakes are simply irresistible. 
4.55 from 71 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Desserts
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Servings: 18
Calories: 253kcal
Author: Lynda

Ingredients

  • 4-5 cups self-rising flour
  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 2 eggs
  • ½ cup oil
  • ½ cup milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla flavoring
  • 1 teaspoon lemon flavoring

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 450° Fahrenheit.
  • Place flour, sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl.
  • Make a well in the center and add remaining ingredients. Mix until all ingredients are thoroughly combined. The dough will be stiff.
  • Place on lightly floured surface and knead. Roll out and cut using a cup.
  • Place on baking stone and bake for 7-9 minutes or until lightly browned.
  • Cool and enjoy.

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 253kcal | Carbohydrates: 42g | Protein: 4g | Cholesterol: 18mg | Sodium: 42mg | Sugar: 22g
Tried this Recipe? Share it Today!Mention @SouthernKissedBlog or tag #southernkissed!
Love cookies and desserts? Here are some more delicious recipes you will want to sink your teeth into:
  • Nutella S’mores Cookies – These cute cookies combine the flavors of s’mores into a cute little cookie.
  • No-Bake Peppermint Cookies – Like Thin Mint Girl Scouts cookies? Then you will not only love these chocolatey minty cookies, but you will also love how easy they are to make.
  • Sweet and Spicy Chocolate Chip Cookies – These cookies are great for those who like a little extra spice in their life.
  • Homemade Banana Pudding – Bananas, creamy pudding, and sweet vanilla wafers come together in this popular Southern dessert.
  • Classic Southern Poundcake – This decadent pound cake is a taste of pure Southern delight, especially when you top it with strawberries.

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    Recipe Rating




  1. Sandra hiresv says

    February 20, 2022 at 3:37 pm

    When I think of tea cakes I instantly think of my granny and the 5 gallon popcorn can she kept filled with t cakes I hope this recipe is as good as hers

    Reply
    • Lynda says

      February 21, 2022 at 7:50 am

      Please come back and let me know how they compare to your granny’s tea cakes. 😀

      Reply
  2. Wade says

    July 11, 2021 at 1:26 pm

    Tea cakes turned out delicious but the recipe says it makes 18, I ended up with a little over 3 dozen. However, no one is complaining.

    Reply
    • Lynda says

      July 12, 2021 at 8:29 am

      This made me laugh out loud.

      The batch is listed as having 18 SERVINGS, not cookies. Therefore, if you got 36 cookies, then each serving would be 2 cookies.

      I am glad you enjoyed the recipe. 🙂

      Reply
  3. Brenda says

    March 09, 2020 at 10:16 am

    . I doubt they had self rising flour when the original recipe was developed js

    Reply
    • August says

      May 02, 2020 at 12:02 am

      Self-rising flour invented by Henry Jones, patented in 1845. JS

      Reply
    • Debra Johmson says

      October 26, 2020 at 2:58 pm

      @Brenda,

      Reply
  4. Darlene Turner says

    November 04, 2019 at 2:18 pm

    Unbelievable!! I have baked Tea Cakes for over 40 years, I have been married for 48 years. My husband told me these Tea Cakes taste great. His smile says it all. Thank you so much for sharing.

    Reply
  5. Sara says

    September 16, 2019 at 7:46 am

    One of the best tea cake recipe I have come across so far. Thanks for sharing

    Reply
  6. MaryAnn Coy says

    March 19, 2018 at 8:20 am

    5 stars
    Been a great many years, over 30+ for certain, used to buy these at a natural food store. They were whole
    wheat.& made in England, by The Walker’s company. They are lovely with Lemon Curd. My Hubs loves them with Nutella. These will make a lot more appearances in our house, finally found a recipe!

    Reply
  7. Sheri says

    September 17, 2017 at 10:11 am

    5 stars
    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!

    Reply
    • Lynda says

      September 17, 2017 at 11:00 am

      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

      Reply
  8. Peggy Bostic says

    September 10, 2017 at 11:17 am

    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)

    Reply
    • Lynda says

      September 11, 2017 at 7:35 am

      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.

      Reply
  9. judy says

    August 10, 2017 at 4:54 pm

    5 stars
    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

    Reply
    • Lynda says

      August 10, 2017 at 4:56 pm

      Thank you so much for your post. It made my day and I know it would have made my mother-in-law happy, too! 🙂

      Reply
  10. andrew bowie says

    August 06, 2017 at 5:38 pm

    tea cakes

    Reply
  11. Dannii says

    June 25, 2017 at 2:33 pm

    They look like they would be really good with a cup of coffee as an afternoon pick me up.

    Reply
    • Lynda says

      June 26, 2017 at 8:18 am

      Definitely!

      Reply
  12. Jagruti says

    June 25, 2017 at 2:06 pm

    This old fashioned tea cake looks delicious. It’s fairly easy recipe, so I can make it.

    Reply
  13. Teri says

    June 25, 2017 at 1:34 pm

    Love these! This recipe reminds me of the one in my grandmother’s recipe box. Great post.

    Reply
    • Lynda says

      June 25, 2017 at 1:35 pm

      Thanks!

      Reply
  14. Debra C. says

    June 25, 2017 at 1:31 pm

    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!

    Reply
    • Lynda says

      June 25, 2017 at 1:35 pm

      🙂 Thanks. They are delicious.

      Reply
  15. Emma Walton says

    June 25, 2017 at 1:28 pm

    I’ve never come across anything quite like these! they look pretty tasty!!!

    Reply
  16. Crystal @ Simply Being Mommy.com says

    September 09, 2013 at 2:30 pm

    Yum, they look tasty. I’ve never had them before though.

    Reply
  17. Bobbie says

    September 04, 2013 at 9:01 pm

    They look wonderful and like a light snack that could easily be eaten over coffee or tea 🙂

    Reply
  18. Lisa says

    August 26, 2013 at 1:32 am

    These looks super yummy!

    Reply
  19. HilLesha says

    August 25, 2013 at 10:20 pm

    I never had a tea cake before, but I’d love to try one sometime. 🙂

    Reply
  20. Lolo says

    August 25, 2013 at 8:50 pm

    I would love to try those with some yummy jasmine tea!

    Reply
  21. courtney says

    August 25, 2013 at 3:58 pm

    Ooh so yum with some hot tea. My grandma made the best 🙁

    Reply
    • Charlotte Morrison says

      December 30, 2014 at 11:00 pm

      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.

      Reply
  22. Anne - Mommy Has to Work says

    August 25, 2013 at 9:55 am

    This would be a first to make for me. These look really good!

    Reply
  23. Tricia @ Night owl mama says

    August 25, 2013 at 12:52 am

    those look really tasty i’d love to try them

    Reply
  24. Jennifer says

    August 24, 2013 at 10:18 pm

    I’ve never had a tea cake before. They sound really good though.

    Reply
    • Lisa says

      October 28, 2013 at 10:02 pm

      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

      Reply
  25. Jenn says

    August 24, 2013 at 8:52 pm

    Mmmm. Can you talk with a British accent while eating them? I wouldn’t be able to resist!

    Reply
  26. Leilani says

    August 24, 2013 at 7:47 pm

    I’ve never had tea cakes before, but have always wanted to try them.

    Reply
  27. Marcie W. says

    August 24, 2013 at 4:44 pm

    I’m not sure I have ever had any type of tea cake, but these sound delicious!

    Reply
  28. Rachel Cotterill says

    August 24, 2013 at 11:59 am

    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 🙂

    Reply
  29. Karen @ Karen's Soiree says

    August 24, 2013 at 8:55 am

    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!

    Reply
  30. T.Dashfield says

    August 24, 2013 at 7:43 am

    Will ask my English mum in law about these and try making them for hubs. Thanks for the recipe and hello from SitsSharefest

    Reply
    • Lynda says

      August 24, 2013 at 8:57 am

      It would be interesting to see what she thinks about the differences between English tea cakes and the Old South’s tea cakes.

      Reply
  31. Teresa says

    August 24, 2013 at 7:05 am

    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!

    Reply
  32. Rachel @ Following In My Shoes says

    August 24, 2013 at 12:03 am

    LOVE tea cakes — my husband’s grandmother makes these too. 🙂

    Reply
  33. Kathleen says

    August 23, 2013 at 11:39 pm

    I haven’t seen these in forever. I would love to have a few with a nice cup of English breakfast tea. Yum!

    Reply
  34. Jenn- The Rebel Chick says

    August 23, 2013 at 8:40 pm

    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.

    Reply
  35. Stefanie says

    August 23, 2013 at 6:38 pm

    I love tea, so these would be the perfect compliment.

    Reply
  36. Theresa @ Faith and Family Reviews says

    August 23, 2013 at 5:06 pm

    Oh yummy! those look delicious and your husband was right they are mouth watering!

    Reply
  37. Amber says

    August 23, 2013 at 1:37 pm

    …I’ve never had a tea cake… But I think that’s about to change!

    Reply
  38. Mellisa says

    August 23, 2013 at 9:26 am

    These look really good. I have never tried a tea cake.

    Reply
  39. Shell Feis says

    August 23, 2013 at 4:01 am

    Ooh these sound yummy! I’ve never had any variety of them.

    Reply
  40. Ty @ Mama of 3 Munchkins says

    August 23, 2013 at 1:03 am

    These look very good but I’ve never had them before.

    Reply
  41. patti says

    August 22, 2013 at 8:09 pm

    This is the tea cake I grew up with in rural Alabama===nothing fancy, just delicious.

    Reply
  42. Becca @ Mama B says

    August 22, 2013 at 7:23 pm

    I don’t think I’ve ever had tea cakes! They look delicious!

    Reply
  43. Jennifer @ MySweetSanity says

    August 22, 2013 at 6:45 pm

    I have never in my life had a tea cake but I will say that your tea cakes look and sound good.

    Reply
  44. patti says

    August 22, 2013 at 6:27 pm

    Love some tea cakes.

    Reply
  45. Jennifer @ The Quirky Momma says

    August 22, 2013 at 5:52 pm

    This is exactly the kind of treat that I love–elegant and British!

    Reply
  46. Katy says

    August 22, 2013 at 5:29 pm

    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.

    Reply
    • Lynda says

      August 22, 2013 at 9:25 pm

      101?! Sounds like a good reason to be eating these!

      Reply
  47. Robin Gagnon says

    August 22, 2013 at 3:52 pm

    I should make some, they seem like the sort of thing my little girl would like.

    Reply
  48. Vanessa: thequeenofswag says

    August 22, 2013 at 3:27 pm

    These look fantastic. I wonder how many weight watchers points one is?

    Reply
    • Lynda says

      August 22, 2013 at 9:26 pm

      Good question, but one that I am afraid to calculate.

      Reply
  49. Christy Spurlock says

    August 22, 2013 at 2:57 pm

    Tea Cakes bring back great memories of my Grannie. Can’t wait to try these for the upcoming Christmas holiday.

    Reply
    • Lynda says

      August 22, 2013 at 9:27 pm

      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.

      Reply

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Lynda and Johnny statue

My name is Lynda and I am a recovering sugar addict and travel junkie. I'm also a mom of two children & 2 dogs, wife of 1....and a messy cook taking life one bite at a time.

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