RUSSIAN TEACAKES
Ingredients
1 cup (2 sticks/226 grams) unsalted butter, softened slightly
5 tablespoons (63 grams) granulated sugar
2 teaspoons (10 ml) pure vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon (1.25 grams) kosher salt
2 cups (240 grams) organic all-purpose flour, such as King Arthur Flour®
2 cups (about 240 grams) finely chopped walnuts
1½ cups (about 188 grams) confectioners’ sugar, for dusting cookies twice
Preparation
Using an electric stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, or handheld electric mixer, cream together butter and sugar. Beat in the vanilla and salt. Gradually add flour or gluten free flour blend (see Notes); beating after each addition. Stir in the nuts; mix until fully incorporated. Divide dough in half and refrigerate in plastic wrap for approximately 45 minutes.
Meanwhile, arrange oven rack in middle of oven and preheat to 350ºF. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside. Place confectioners’ sugar in a small bowl; set aside. Measure dough using a small, 1-inch spring-loaded scoop making sure each scoopful is level. Roll dough between palms of hands to achieve a small rounded ball.
Place dough balls 1½ inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Bake in preheated oven until the cookies are just beginning to brown, about 12 to 14 minutes. Do not overbake. The underside of the cookies should be only lightly browned. And, the cookies should not crack—a sure sign of overbaked teacake cookies.
Cool cookies on baking sheets on wire racks for approximately 2 minutes. Remove cookies from baking sheets using a metal cookie spatula. While cookies are still warm, gently roll them in the confectioners’ sugar. Place the sugar-coated cookies on wire racks to cool completely. Roll cookies once again in the confectioners’ sugar.
Yield: Makes about 7 dozen cookies.
SHORTBREAD BISCUITS
INGREDIENTS
• 2 cups salted butter, cold and cut into pieces
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 4½ cups all purpose flour, divided
• Optional: Your favorite sprinkles
DIRECTIONS
1 Preheat oven to 325F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
2 In the bowl of a stand mixer, add butter and brown sugar. Using paddle attachment, mix until fluffy and light. Add 3½ cups of the flour and mix until combined.
3 On a large board, sprinkle ½ cup flour. Knead dough by hand for 5 minutes, adding as much of the remaining ½ cup flour as needed to make a soft dough. The dough should end up soft and pliable, similar to play-dough, not sticky. Work in desired amount of sprinkles, if using. (You may not end up using all the flour, depending on how your dough feels.)
4 Form a ball, wrap tightly, and chill for about 30 minutes. Roll dough out to about ½ inch thickness. Either cut into 3x1 rectangular strips, triangles, or use cookie cutter for shapes. Place each cookie 2 inches apart on baking sheet. Poke cookies with fork to design if not using sprinkles.
5 Bake 15-20 minutes, or until edges are golden brown. If your shapes are smaller, bake less time. Bake longer for bigger shapes.
6 Cool completely on wire rack.
YIELD: 40 DEPENDING ON CUT SIZE
SUGAR BISCUITS
Yield: about 20 large cutout cookies
Ingredients
1/2 cup (111g) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup (204g) sugar
1 egg
1 tsp (5ml) vanilla extract
2 cups (296g) flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a cookie sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
2. Cream butter and sugar together for 3-4 minutes, until light and fluffy.
3. Add egg and vanilla extract and mix until combined.
4. Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl, then add to wet ingredients and mix until well combined. Dough will be very thick. You might need to use a spatula or your hands to help it all come together.
4. On a lightly floured surface and using smaller amounts of dough at a time, roll out dough to about 1/8 to a 1/4 inch. If dough sticks to rolling pin, lightly sprinkle the top of the dough with flour.
5. Use cookie cutters to cut out cookies, then transfer to cookie sheet.
6. Bake cookies 7-9 minutes. Remove from oven just before they start to brown on the edges.
7. Allow cookies to cool for 4-5 minutes, then move to cooling rack to finish cooling.
CHOCOLATE SUGAR BISCUITS
Yield: Approx. 35 medium sized cookies
Ingredients
2 cups unsalted butter (at room temperature)
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
3 tsp vanilla
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups cocoa powder
1 tsp salt
Instructions
1 Cream the butter and sugar together in the bowl of an electric mixer on low to medium speed (Use a paddle attachment). Mix until thoroughly incorporated – for about one minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a plastic spatula and mix again for a few seconds more. Over mixing the butter and sugar in this step will cause too much air to be incorporated into the dough. If you’d like a light and fluffy cookie, that’s ideal, however the dough will spread more during baking; not ideal if you’d like the cookie to hold its shape.
2 Add eggs slowly and mix. Scrape down the bowl with your spatula at least once and mix again.
3 Add liquid vanilla extract. Stir briefly.
4 Sift your dry ingredients together. (Flour, cocoa powder and salt).
5 Add all of the flour mixture to the bowl. Place a large tea towel or two small tea towels between the edge of the bowl and the electric mixer so that the flour won’t escape. Mix on low speed for 3o seconds. Remove the tea towels and observe the dough mixing; when it clumps around the paddle attachment it’s ready. It’s also important at this stage not to over mix the dough.
6 Roll the dough out between 2 large pieces of parchment paper. Place on a baking sheet and into the fridge for a minimum of 1 hour.
7 Roll out the dough further if you need to, and cut out cookie shapes. Place on parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Re-roll scraps and repeat.
8 Put cookie dough shapes back into the fridge for 10 minutes to 1 hour to chill again. They will then hold their shape better when baked.
9 Preheat your oven to 350°F or 176°C.
10 Bake cookies for 8-12 minutes or until the center of the cookie no longer looks wet. The baking time will depend on the size of your cookie.
11 Let cookies cool to room temperature and decorate!
SHORTBREAD JAMS
Yield: 24
INGREDIENTS
• 1 cup salted butter, softened
• ½ cup confectioners' (powdered) sugar, plus ¼ cup more for dusting
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• ¼ tsp table salt
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• ½ cup fruit preserves
DIRECTIONS
1 Preheat oven to 325°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2 In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, blend butter and sugar until fluffy and light, 2 minutes. Add vanilla and salt, scraping down bowl as needed. Switch to low and gently mix in flour, just until combined. Don't over mix.
3 Roll tablespoonfuls of dough into 1-inch balls. Place dough balls on parchment lined baking sheets. Press down the center of each ball with a spoon (or your thumb!) making a slight depression.
4 Fill cookie centers with a teaspoonful of preserves. Bake 12-15 minutes or until golden brown and puffy, but take care not to overbake. Let cool a few minutes on baking sheet, then transfer to finish cooling on wire rack.
5 When cookies are completely cooled, dust with confectioners' sugar. Cookies can be kept in airtight container at room temp for a few days.
ROYAL ICING
1 c powdered sugar
2-3 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Mix all ingredients
