(moved) Russian Tea Cakes

Also known as Danish Wedding Cookies

Source: Gail Dubovsky

Yield: 4 dozen cookies

Rating: 4 of 5 - good

Ingredients

• 1 c. soft butter (or 1 c. butter-flavored shortening and 6 T. water)
• 1 t. vanilla
• ½ c. sifted confectioners sugar
• 2 ¼ c. sifted flour
• ¼ tsp. salt
• ¾ c. chopped nuts
• confectioners sugar for rolling

Directions

• Mix the butter, vanilla, and confectioners sugar.
• In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, salt, and nuts. Add this to the above mixture and blend well.
• Chill the dough in the refrigerator.
• Roll the dough into one-inch balls. Place the balls 2 ½ inches apart on a greased baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees F for 8 to 12 minutes until set, but not brown.
• While still warm (but not hot), roll in confectioners sugar. Cool. Roll in confectioners sugar again before storing or serving.

Notes

• Butter is preferred, though I have made these once with butter-flavored shortening. It required a little tweaking to get the consistency right, but it worked.
• In Givens Lane oven on non-stick gray pans, 8 minutes was too long; settled on 7. Let cool for 5 minutes, then rolled in sugar (might have been too early, but made for a nice thick sugar layer), then rolled again a few minutes later. 2014 timing: top third rack, 365 degF, 9 minutes in, 5 minutes cool.
• Givens Lane 2015: added 1/2 tsp almond extract; cooked 365 degF for 9 minutes; let cool for quite long (15 min?) before first coating.