Mama Katies Tea Cakes Redone Food

MAMIE'S TEACAKES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Grease two large (14-by-16-inch) cookie sheets with shortening.
• Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. Using an electric mixer set to medium speed, cream the butter and sugar together. Add the eggs and vanilla. Add the sour cream and mix well. On low speed, gradually add the flour mixture until just blended. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board, and gently pat with floured hands to a 1/4-inch thickness. Cut with a 2-inch round, floured cookie cutter and place about 1 inch apart on the cookie sheets. Bake until the teacakes are lightly browned, about 10 to 12 minutes. Do not overbake. Sprinkle with a couple of tablespoons of sugar and remove the cookies to a rack to cool.

GRANDMA'S TEA CAKES

Steps:

• In a bowl, cream shortening and sugar. Add eggs and extract; beat well. Add remaining ingredients; mix well. Chill for 1-2 hours. Shape into 1-1/4-in. balls. Place 2-1/2 in. apart on lightly greased baking sheets. Bake at 375° for 11-13 minutes or until lightly browned (do not overbake). Cool 1 minute on pan before removing to a wire rack.

GRANDMA'S OLD FASHIONED TEA CAKES

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt and nutmeg; stir into the creamed mixture. Knead dough for a few turnns on a floured board until smooth. Cover and refrigerate until firm.
• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/4 inch in thickness. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Place cookies 1 1/2 inches apart onto cookie sheets.
• Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

RUSSIAN TEA CAKES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Add the butter to your standing mixer, put it on medium speed, then add your sugar right into the bowl. Turn it up so it gets nice and fluffy. Stop the mixer and scrape down the edges. Continue to beat it until it's almost white. Now you're ready for your eggs. Keep the mixer on low and add them 1 at a time. Wait to add the other egg until the first one is fully incorporated into the butter and sugar. Now add the almond and vanilla extracts.
• Add the baking powder to the flour and whisk really well, fully incorporating the baking powder into the flour and making sure any little clumps of flour are broken up. Add just a pinch of salt. Now add the flour mixture slowly to the butter mixture. Add in the pecans on slow speed.
• Scoop the batter with a small ice cream scooper, melon baller, or even a soup spoon, just make sure they are all the same size. And don't worry about spacing them out too much on the baking sheet, they aren't going to spread out, they're going to stay like little balls.
• Put the trays in the fridge for an hour or so. You want the butter to harden up, making the cookies crispy and delicious when baked.
• Bake for 15 minutes until they are golden brown. While still warm, roll them in confectioners' sugar. It will adhere slightly to the cookies, looking like snowballs.

RUSSIAN TEA CAKES

Steps:

• In a large bowl mix together the cookie dough and the pecans. Cover and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Form 1-inch balls from the chilled dough and place them 2 inches apart on cookie sheets. Bake until the edges of the cookies start to brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool for about 5 minutes.
• While the cookies are cooling, line another cookie sheet with wax paper. Sprinkle 1 cup of the confectioners' sugar on the bottom of the sheet and place the slightly cooled cookies on top of the sugar. Place the remaining 1 cup of confectioners' sugar in a passe or fine sieve and then sprinkle over the tops of the cookies.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a large bowl, stir together the flour and baking powder. In a standing mixer with a paddle attachment, cream the butter with sugar until fluffy and light. Mix in the eggs, almond extract, and vanilla extract. Turn down the mixer and slowly add the flour mixture, a third at a time to make a stiff dough. Divide the dough into 4 pieces. Use 2 pieces to make cut out cookies, and the other half for the Russian Tea Cakes.
• For the cut out cookies: On a lightly floured surface roll out a portion of cookie dough to 1/4-inch thick. Cut out shapes using cookie cutters. Place the cookies on lightly greased or nonstick cookie sheets. Bake until lightly golden, about 10 minutes, rotating cookie sheet halfway through the cooking time. Cool on pans about 5 minutes, and then transfer to wire racks and cool completely.

RUSSIAN TEA CAKES

Steps:

• First, brown the butter: Place the butter in a medium saucepan over low heat to cook. Check it after about 7 minutes; it should be a medium-brown color, not too light but not too burnt. Once it reaches that color, take it off the heat and let it cool. Refrigerate to continue to cool for about 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 3 half sheet pans with parchment paper.
• Add the cold browned butter, flour, powdered sugar, salt, vanilla extract and cinnamon to a food processor; process until light and fluffy. Transfer to a large bowl. Add the walnuts and mix with a rubber spatula until combined.
• Using a small ice cream scoop, portion 48 mounds of the dough onto your prepared sheet pans, spacing them 2 inches apart. Place in the freezer to cool for 15 minutes.
• Bake until the cookies are firm and smell nutty and toasty, 15 to 18 minutes. Rotate the pans 180 degrees halfway through baking.
• Meanwhile, place additional powdered sugar in another large bowl. Once the cookies are out of the oven, let cool for exactly 6 minutes 30 seconds then toss in the powdered sugar. Enjoy!

KATIE'S SWEET TEA

Steps:

• Place tea bags and 5 cups of cold water in a saucepan.Turn burner on high.When tea comes to a boil let boil one minute.
• Turn off burner and let saucepan sit (or steep) for 20 minutes.
• Place one cup of sugar in a gallon tea pitcher.
• Add the tea/water and stir with a long wooden spoon.
• Continue filling pitcher with fresh cold water from the tap or spring, until you have one gallon.
• Place in the refrigerator until chilled. Pour a big glass of tea, and add a lemon slice,if desired.Enjoy!