Old-Fashioned Crispy Tea Cake Cookies
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This is a crispy version of old-fashioned Southern tea cake cookies. They still have the same lightly sweet taste that’ll have you dipping into the cookie jar for more.
Where I’m from, an old-fashioned tea cake cookie is a simple flavored cookie. It’s not a or a . It’s delicious on its own or with a cup of coffee, just lightly sweet with the texture of a sugar cookie, so that it can double as a snack or treat.
My mother’s grandmother, Mama Reed, was known for her soft old-fashioned tea cakes. She would serve them warm, straight out of the oven, to her 10 kids and whoever happened to be around when they were done. Then, after they had cooled she would store them in a big old cookie jar, where they didn’t last long.
Today, though, I’m sharing another variety of tea cake cookies that was also a standard of many Southern families These crispy little tea cakes are what my husband calls “evil little things that won’t let me stop eating them.” Whether you try the soft or crispy version, you’re guaranteed to love these old-fashioned tea cake cookies as much as my family.
Fortunately, they’re easy to make and take less than 15 minutes to bake. All you’re going to need are ingredients you probably already have at home, like butter, sugar, flour, eggs, salt, and vanilla extract. Will these be your family’s new favorite ? My bet is yes!
Recipe Ingredients
- Butter
- Sugar
- Eggs
- Vegetable oil
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Vanilla extract
How to Make Southern Tea Cake Cookies
In a large bowl, cream together the sugar and butter with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add eggs and beat again. Add the remaining ingredients and beat until fully incorporated, scraping down sides as needed.
Drop the tea cookie dough by tablespoon-size balls onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Dip a glass in sugar and press down lightly on each dough ball to flatten, dipping in sugar again after each one.
Bake at 350 for 12-14 minutes, or until lightly brown on the edges. If you would like them to be softer, bake one to two minutes less. Cool completely.
Storage
- Store your tea cake cookies in an airtight container at room temperature until they disappear (or 3 days).
- You can also freeze either the unbaked cookie dough or the baked cookies for up to 3 months. You’ll just need to add a few minutes to the baking time for the unbaked cookies and just allow the baked cookies to thaw at room temperature before serving.
Recipe Notes
- The more golden brown the edges, the crispier your cookies will be.
- If you want to take this to the next level, sandwich your favorite ice cream flavor between two cookies to make an epic homemade ice cream sandwich.
Here are more cookie recipes to bake:
Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
Easy Homemade Peanut Butter Cookies
How to Make Snickerdoodle Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature (two sticks)
- 1 3/4 cups sugar
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
- In a large bowl, cream together the sugar and butter with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add eggs and beat again. Add the remaining ingredients and beat until fully incorporated, scraping down sides as needed.1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature, 1 3/4 cups sugar, 2 eggs, 3/4 cup vegetable oil, 4 cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Drop the cookie dough by tablespoon-size balls onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Dip a glass in sugar and press down lightly on each dough ball to flatten, dipping in sugar again after each one.
- Bake at 350 for 12-14 minutes, or until lightly brown on the edges. If you would like them to be softer, bake one to two minutes less. Cool completely and then store in an airtight container until they disappear.
“Our greatest fear should not be of failure but of succeeding at things in life that don’t really matter.”
~Francis Chan
I can’t wait to try these! Whenever we visited my grandmother she always had a big jar (really an old gallon sized mayo jar) filled with fresh, crisp, just a little brown around the edges tea cakes. Of course the recipe was in her head so it went to the grave with her – along with the recipe for the most awesome brownies ever! I have tried several tea cake recipes over the years in an attempt to duplicate hers but they always turn out soft. I still have her cookie jar so maybe now I can finally fill it with her cookies!
I’ve been looking for a tea cake recipe that was crunchier for a long time, now. A relative gave me the recipe which I lost before settling down in one spot. Since she was from Alabama, as well, I’m hoping that this recipe may be the one!
We spent this past Christmas at a resort in the hill country and our children were able to visit us there. My husband was pacing around waiting for me to finish the tea cakes and get them packed before we could leave home two days before Christmas. I was refusing to have Christmas without them!
Christy, I am so glad you have posted both versions of your tea cake recipes. I look forward to making the one that doesn’t require rolling out the dough.
I use to clog and when we would go on long trips my Mama would make us a ice cream bucket full to take with us.
My daughter calls these Christmas cookies. I’ve been making them for Santa since she was a little girl. My recipe was given to me 40+ yrs. ago by a little old lady who was almost 100 yrs. old. It calls for lard for the shortening. She didn’t even have a recipe. She used the scoop of this and a pinch of that method. So, she made a batch and measured as close as she could to write down the recipe. I’ve made them with my little daughter and she was so proud of herself. I hope she still has Nana’s recipe someday to pass along, as you have.
I made them with my granddaughter, not daughter.
Thank for telling me your friend used lard. That’s what I’ll do too and I’ve got a feeling they will taste like my grandmothers! Thanks!
I hope they turn out just like your grandmother’s. I love cooking with lard, but, switched to vegetable oil a long time ago because it’s supposed to be healthier. So, these cookies are a real treat.
Sounds like my Mother, measure? you have to be kidding. We tried like you did but never exactly the same
I honestly have never heard of these…but then again I grew up in Wisconsin and now reside in Minnesota. My husband has to have something dessert like with his coffee so I might give these a whirl! Thanks for teaching me something new today. 😉
These look kind of like the brown edge wafers I grew up with, though not quite as thin. My granddaddy and I loved those cookies! (They came in a gold box, not sure who made them.) These look good, I think I’ll try to make them! 🙂
Nabisco! Brown Edge Wafers!
The brown edge wafers and lemonade were a staple Vacation Bible School snack at our church growing up.
I remember those brown edge wafers! Don’t remember who made them but the ones I remember came as lemon or orange. Grandma made the best lemonade!