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.

4.56 from 72 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

Why are my tea cakes dry? ›

Accidentally over-measuring the flour is a common mistake and it can make a dough that's just too dry and doesn't cling together. Another common problem is adding all of your flour too quickly without giving it time to absorb into the wet ingredients.

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.

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 a Scottish tea cake? ›

The iconic Scottish teacake - delicious chocolate covered marshmallow and biscuit wrapped in distinctive silver and red foil.

What causes a cake not to be moist? ›

The ratio of wet to dry ingredients determines a cake's moisture level. If there's simply too much flour and not enough butter, a cake will taste dry. On the other hand, if there's too much milk and not enough flour, a cake will taste too wet. Finding the right balance between wet and dry ingredients is key.

What is JFK's wedding cake? ›

The cake had layers of white cake with raspberry jam and raspberry frosting as the filling, and was covered with vanilla buttercream. The same cake was also served at JFK's inauguration, along with Ronald Reagan's and George H.W.

What is a brides cake? ›

Usually, a large, white tiered cake, decorated mostly in white frosting, is called the bride's cake, and a second flavor choice is called the "groom's cake". This tradition was brought over from England by early American colonists, who considered the white-iced bride's cake too light for men's tastes.

Why is it called a dump cake? ›

A dump cake is an American dessert similar to a cobbler but with a cake-like topping. It is so named because it is prepared by "dumping" ingredients (typically canned fruit or pie filling, followed by a boxed cake mix) into a cake pan without mixing.

What's another name for tea cakes? ›

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 a British Tea Cake called? ›

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. Similar baked goods have different names in other nations.

What has happened to Tea Cake? ›

The moment of Tea Cake's death, though horrible for Janie to endure, reflects how much she has grown as a person and how secure she has become. Although Tea Cake means everything to her, she is able to kill him to save herself.

What is a Tunnock's tea cake? ›

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 do Scottish people call tea? ›

In some parts of the United Kingdom (namely, the North of England, North and South Wales, Scotland, and some rural and working class areas of Northern Ireland), people traditionally call their midday meal dinner and their evening meal tea (served around 6 pm), whereas elsewhere people would call the midday meal lunch ...

Is tea cake African American? ›

Light, airy, and sometimes compared to soda bread or pound cake. Tea cakes are a traditional African American treat that dates back to the 1600s.

How do I stop my cake from being dry? ›

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.

Is there a way to add moisture to a dry cake? ›

Brush the cake with simple syrup.

One way to rescue a dry cake is to brush it with a simple syrup glaze. Simple syrup is made by boiling sugar and water together until the sugar has dissolved. It can be flavoured with extracts or fruit juice, and it can be used to add moisture and flavour to dry cakes.

How do you make a cake that isn't dry? ›

Make sure your ingredients (eggs, liquid and dairy) are as close to room temperature as possible to encourage proper mixing. Your cake is dry The culprits for dry cake are ingredients that absorb moisture, such as flour or other starches, cocoa or any milk solids. A second, and equally damaging culprit, is over-baking.

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