A Simple and Versatile Cookie for a Stressful and Complex Year

Russian Teacakes are amazing cookies in the best of times, but also in the worst of times. In any given year, I'm a lazy yet discerning baker. I want easy, fast, but also delicious. This means if I need more than two bowls, or if there are 17 complicated steps, I'm out. On a year like the one we've just had, that's even more true.

Some bakers, I'm sure, create complex, luscious and visually incredible desserts as stress relief, but I tend to do more of a simple bake. These cookies have been a family staple since before I was born, but they've never been more popular with us than they are now.

I got the recipe from Betty Crocker's New Christmas Cookbook (published in 1993). I love cooking from older cookbooks because I find them simpler, normally. There are fewer ingredients; the ingredients you do need are more likely to be ones you already have in your cupboard. These Russian Teacakes are no exception.

To start, you just need six ingredients: flour, butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, salt and chopped nuts. The method is simple: you mix together your butter, sugar and vanilla. Then, add in the flour, salt and chopped nuts.

Form them into balls. The more perfectly spherical, the better, but don't worry too much if you can only manage chunky-looking cookies.

A step Betty crucially leaves out is the need to fend away hungry relatives and friends from your work. There's no raw egg in this recipe, and the uncooked dough is really tasty, so be prepared to bat away onlookers with your spatula.

Then, just bake your cookies for 8-9 minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit. As soon as they come out, roll them in powdered sugar. Then, when they've cooled, roll them again. This double-roll does a couple of things. The first roll, when the cookies are piping hot, helps incorporate some extra sugar into the cookie, kind of forming a sticky sweet crust at the edges. The second roll helps fill in any gaps left by the first. Because you've made a buttery-sugary paste on the first roll, this helps the second layer stick on marvellously well.

The more spherical your cookies were to start, the easier it'll be to roll them in sugar, but don't worry if they're not quite right. I was in a hurry when I formed mine, so they came out chunky rather than ball-like. They still tasted great.

That's the thing about these cookies: they're so forgiving. Don't cook them quite long enough? They taste a little more doughy. Cook them too long? You'll get a more crumbly cookie. Not quite perfectly spherical? The cookie still tastes fabulous.

The end result is a crumbly, buttery, sweet cookie that goes excellently with a cup of your favorite tea, as the name implies.

The final benefit these cookies provide is their versatility as it's easy to spice these up. For a peppermint cookie, just substitute peppermint extract for the vanilla, and roll in crushed peppermint candies. If you fancy more of a marzipany cookie, add in almond extract and roll in melted chocolate then they're cool. Because the base cookie is so dependable, simple, and straightforward, there are no limits to jazz it up however you like.

These Russian Teacakes are, for me, the ideal holiday cookie. They're easy to whip up, easy to make in bulk, easy to modify, easy to store, and (very) easy to eat. Pair them with tea, wine, beer, your favorite silly holiday movie. You can't go far wrong with these amazing little cookies.

Here's the full recipe, as annotated by me, my mom, and my sister over the years: