The Best Old Fashioned Tea Cakes Recipe (2024)

Desserts | Recipes

ByLynda SelfPublishedUpdated on

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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.

The Best Old Fashioned Tea Cakes Recipe (1)

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 cakeis a light yeast-basedsweet buncontaining 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 are several great things about simple Southern recipes like this one. For one thing with this simple recipe, 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 cake 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
The Best Old Fashioned Tea Cakes Recipe (2)

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.

The Best Old Fashioned Tea Cakes Recipe (3)

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.

The Best Old Fashioned Tea Cakes Recipe (4)
The Best Old Fashioned Tea Cakes Recipe (5)

Tips & Tricks

  • 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.

The Best Old Fashioned Tea Cakes Recipe (6)

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 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes minutes

Servings: 18

Calories: 253kcal

Author: Lynda – Southern Kissed

Ingredients

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

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.
The Best Old Fashioned Tea Cakes Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Who made the original tea cakes? ›

Tea cakes were initially made by plantation cooks for the guest of white slave owners. These tea cakes, which Etha Robinson describes as rustic approximations of European teacakes1, were typically made with simple ingredients such as sugar, molasses, eggs, and vanilla when available.

What is the white stuff in tea cakes? ›

The Tunnock's Teacake is a sweet food often served with a cup of tea or coffee. It was developed by Sir Boyd Tunnock in 1956. The product consists of a small round shortbread biscuit covered with a dome of Italian meringue, a whipped egg white concoction similar to marshmallow, although somewhat lighter in texture.

What's the difference between tea cake and regular cake? ›

Texture: Tea cakesare typically denser than sponge cakes as they contain more butter and are often made with a lower amount of rising agents like baking powder.

What's the difference between coffee cake and tea cake? ›

#3 Coffee has coffee but tea has no tea.

Coffee cakes can also get their name from being made with coffee, but teacakes aren't made with tea (though you can make a teacake that is tea flavored, it is not a common thing).

What is a British Tea Cake called? ›

In Kent, the teacake is known as a "huffkin", which is often flavoured with hops, especially at the time of harvesting hops in September. In Sussex, a luxurious version of the teacake with added aromatics such as nutmeg, cinnamon and rose water is still sometimes made and called a manchet or Lady Arundel's Manchet.

What is the difference between travel cake and Tea Cake? ›

Travel cake also known as tea cake is topped with goodness of chocolate, vanilla or dry fruits, makes it a great bite for kids school snacks as well as adults over balcony coffee/ tea occasions.

How do you keep tea cake moist? ›

Using an air-tight container is the best and easiest way to keep your cake from getting exposed to air. However, if you don't have one of those, you can wrap your cake in cling film, or if it's iced, place a large inverted bowl over it to trap the air.

What is another name for tea cake? ›

Although they are widely known, tea cakes have not always gone by this name. They are referred to as currant buns or spiced buns in some regions of the UK.

Are tea cakes healthy? ›

Tea cakes contains 120 calories per 28 g serving. This serving contains 7 g of fat, 1 g of protein and 15 g of carbohydrate. The latter is 11 g sugar and 0 g of dietary fiber, the rest is complex carbohydrate. Tea cakes contains 3 g of saturated fat and 10 mg of cholesterol per serving.

What does the doctor say about Tea Cake? ›

After Tea Cake explains his story, Dr. Simmons pulls Janie aside and informs her that the dog that bit Tea Cake must have been rabid, as Tea Cake's symptoms align with those of rabies.

What is a Chinese Tea Cake? ›

Compressed tea, called tea bricks, tea cakes or tea lumps, and tea nuggets according to the shape and size, are blocks of whole or finely ground black tea, green tea, or post-fermented tea leaves that have been packed in molds and pressed into block form.

Why is Tea Cake gone? ›

Although Tea Cake means everything to her, she is able to kill him to save herself. Her relationship with him has brought her along the path of enlightenment, and now that she has achieved the horizon, she is strong enough to live on her own. Read more on why Janie kills Tea Cake.

What is special about Tea Cake? ›

Tea cakes are soft roll-out cookies that are tender, chewy and pleasantly dense. They are a cookie with a cake-like texture. The ingredients are very simple (flour, sugar, butter, milk, nutmeg, and eggs), and the gentle flavor of nutmeg is what makes these so special.

What coffee is best in cake? ›

Instant coffee or espresso is often used in cakes, cookies, and custards, where a small amount can be “activated” by any liquid, even eggs or butter.

Where did Tea Cake originate? ›

Tea cakes can trace their origin back to Great Britain where “afternoon tea” is still a part of everyday life. Afternoon tea began in the 1840s as a tradition of having a tea in the afternoons as a way to stave off hunger until the dinner meal was served.

When was the Tea Cake invented? ›

Boyd Tunnock, Archie's younger son was given the task of developing a new product. Boyd did a lot of market research and further developed the idea of using Italian meringue. He made a biscuit base, hand piped the mallow onto the base and covered in milk chocolate. The Teacake made its first appearance in 1956.

Who made original Smith Island cake? ›

No one is quite sure where this delicious dessert got its start, but many folks credit Mrs. Frances Kitching, whose easy and amazing recipe from Smith Island's official cookbook is presented here.

What happened to Tea Cake before he died? ›

Tea Cake falls forward and buries his teeth in Janie's forearm, as she catches him. Later, Janie must endure a brief trial, but she is freed. Afterward, she must arrange his funeral. She gives Tea Cake a glorious send-off, burying him in Palm Beach.

References

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