This is my mother's recipe, her mother's recipe, and so on... Basic, simple, down-home and delicious!! My grandmother's advice is to enjoy warm with a big glass of ice-cold milk!!! Poor folks' heaven!!!
WOW- sooo good. It is exactly what the name says: little cookie-shaped cakes. They get even cakier and moist the next day. It's the perfect sweetness too. Great little cake cookies that truly is perfect with tea. So simple and so good. Hint- don't substitute the buttermilk or else you won't get the fluffy, airy texture. They are unbelievable right out of the oven - I usually devour 3 while still warm. I've also added 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon for a great variation. **Update** I substituted regular sour cream in place of the buttermilk in a pinch the cookies turned out divine. A little different from having the buttermilk. The cookie was super-rich and a little denser versus the light airiness you get from the buttermilk. It held up very well and made a slightly thicker cookie. A great variation if you want something toothier.
Read MoreI made these with the hope that they would turn out like my mom's cookies -- cake-like and moist. These turned out like soft sugar cookies. There was no cake-like texture at all. I kept going over and over the recipe wondering if I did something wrong, but I followed the recipe exactly and can't understand why they didn't turn out like most of the other reviewers describe. I do a lot of cookie baking and this is the most disappointing batch I've ever made. Maybe my expectations were too high. It's a shame my mom lost her recipe.
Read More WOW- sooo good. It is exactly what the name says: little cookie-shaped cakes. They get even cakier and moist the next day. It's the perfect sweetness too. Great little cake cookies that truly is perfect with tea. So simple and so good. Hint- don't substitute the buttermilk or else you won't get the fluffy, airy texture. They are unbelievable right out of the oven - I usually devour 3 while still warm. I've also added 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon for a great variation. **Update** I substituted regular sour cream in place of the buttermilk in a pinch the cookies turned out divine. A little different from having the buttermilk. The cookie was super-rich and a little denser versus the light airiness you get from the buttermilk. It held up very well and made a slightly thicker cookie. A great variation if you want something toothier.
I was crushed when I realized I had lost my own recipe for these after some time had passed since I last made them. Several failed attempts later at trying to do it by memory, nothing seemed to turn out exactly right. This is the one I have been trying to resurrect. Thank you, Carol, for restoring to me a lost treasure! These old-fashioned, soft sugar cookies are some of my favorite cookies in the world. They're also wonderful with Celeste's Icing for Sour Cream Cookies on this website. For special occasions I use food coloring to make the icing festive.
Third time's a charm! My success includes adding a pinch more flour, using parchment paper, making them smaller (between the diameter of a quarter and half dollar - they will expand) and cooking them until they are just starting to brown. I was going to give up and just eat the dough (yes, other reviews were right - it's sinfully good) but I'm so happy that I took the time to make them successfully!
This is an easy recipe and the tea cakes were soft and delicious. I did add a 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg and used parchment paper instead of a greased cookie sheet.
From another Mississippian - WONDERFUL RECIPE, just like my Big Mama (my great grandmother)made. She lived till she was 106 years old, and made these until she left us. I have been trying to make by memory and they never tasted like hers, THANKS for posting the recipe.
I have tried other tea cake recipes, this one was quick, easy, and tasted great. It reminded my grandmother of the tea cakes she used to make. Thank you for allowing me to help my grandmother remember the good times!
Well..it just doesn't get any better than this! I was craving a sweet snack while pulling an all night studying session but unable to get to the store. It's not very often that I can find a good recipe that doesn't require that I make special trips to the market. Not until this recipe! I never would have thought that something so simple would turn out so fantastic! This is the best cookie recipe I have ever tried. THANK YOU!
I passed this recipe on to my sister to bake for a dessert social and they turned out great! She had to bake up a second batch for the guests, since we couldn't stop eating them fresh out of the oven :-) Very soft...unlike the must-be-dunked kind I ate as a kid. Try adding 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg for an extra kick of flavor.
Oh my goodness, these cookeis are so good! I made myself refrain from eating the dough but I can't stop eating the cookies. I used powdered buttermilk but I couldn't tell that it made any difference. I had a wave of nostalgia because these taste so much like the rolled sugar cookies that I used to make for my daughter when she was younger. Brought back many happy memories. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Simply delicious! Very easy to prepare. As I ran out vanilla essence I replaced it with 1.5tsps of lemon essence and added 1tbsp of lemon zest. Took 2 cups of flour I took 3/4C of coarse sugar, It made a huge difference in the texture, more crispier at the top and soft in the inside! 1/3C butter and finally gave an Icing sugar lemon juice, milk glazing. It was just perfect!!!!!!
perfect tea cakes! i didn't have buttermilk, so i used 1/4 C milk to which i added 1 tsp lemon juice and let rest for 5 minutes. other than that, i followed the recipe as is. quick, easy, and delicious! thank you for sharing :)
I made these often when the kids were little and since lost my recipe. I had tried several others and came along to this one, and it may even be better than my old one. Thanks.......
I made these with the hope that they would turn out like my mom's cookies -- cake-like and moist. These turned out like soft sugar cookies. There was no cake-like texture at all. I kept going over and over the recipe wondering if I did something wrong, but I followed the recipe exactly and can't understand why they didn't turn out like most of the other reviewers describe. I do a lot of cookie baking and this is the most disappointing batch I've ever made. Maybe my expectations were too high. It's a shame my mom lost her recipe.
This recipe is a keeper! The only thing I did differently was that I used Swan's cake flour instead of all purpose flour. The light, airy texture of the tea cakes were divine!!
I made these for my Dad during Christmas, he loved them. He's from Mississippi and he said they were just like his grandmother used to make. This is most definitely a keeper! I agree with a couple others to add a little extra flour to the dough and cook on parchment paper. With a little tweaking this recipe comes out great.
This is a very simple cookie, but the texture is fantastic -- it literally melts in your mouth. Instead of using 1 tsp vanilla, I used 3/4 tsp vanilla and 1/4 tsp almond extract, which, I think, worked out very well. Overall, a delightfully soft, sweet cookie.
This is exactly what i was looking for. In my oven, 10 minutes made the cookie too pale and slightly undercooked. Increased temp to 375 and baked 12 minutes for a darker cookie. It was not too dry. Also added 1/4 tsp. nutmeg.
This is a very good, very simple recipe...Just what a TEA CAKE is supposed to taste like! It's fine as is, but can also take spices (nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon, ginger, cloves - tastes like eggnog!) nuts, chopped candied fruit, you name it.
These tea cakes taste just like the ones my grandmother used to make. I put a pecan half on top of each cookie like Granny did. My Dad loves them!
These are delicious little cakes that go perfectly with tea. I added 1/2 tsp cinnamon cause I love it. They need to be eaten within a day or two though, they don't keep very long. Simply yummy!
This was my first time hearing about tea cakes! My mother-in-law said she used to make them all the time when my husband was a child. He recalls eating them often & that they were a huge treat. Only change I made to this recipe was adding 1/2 tsp of nutmeg, which according to my mother-in-law, makes this a classic taste. They are light & yummy. I did keep them small according to suggestions & it's a perfect bite. Not too sweet & I cannot imagine the taste without the nutmeg... It's very good! Thank you for posting this recipe!!
My famlly loved this recipe for tea cakes. One bite took me back to when I was a little girl hanging out in the kitchen with my grandmother. Just like grandma made. : )
A great, simple cookie--kind of like a sugar cookie, but less sweet and a little more dense. Great with tea, as the name would suggest. I followed the recipe exactly, and in my oven the cookies took between 10-12 minutes to bake; I pulled them just as the edges started to turn brown, and that was perfect. I used a small ice cream scoop to make the cookies, and got about 20-24 pieces. Recipe is super easy to make, and the best thing is that you can dress it up or down however you please; a great base recipe. I might try nutmeg, cinnamon, and lemon variations on the next few batches.
This is a delicious cookie. My mother used to make "tea cakes" and this recipe is very close to hers.
Hot out of the oven, these were amazing. Once cooled the next day not so great. Kind of too soft and cake-like
Excellent served fresh from the oven with a big glass of milk - my, oh my! Better make 2 batches next time. These are just like Grandma used to make. Delicious!
Easy.. amazing... addictive. My household LOVES these. Thank you so much for the wonderful recipe!
I made them for a friend who had been longing for his grandmothers tea cakes for about 3 years. He loved them!!! They were so easy to make & taste wonderful...
Delicious! Light, fluffy and subtle on taste. Perfect definition of "tea cake". I made the really basic recipe, but I think the next time I bake them, I'll play around with adding lemon/orange zest, cinnamon, almond extract or nutmeg. They're so simple. The recipe made exactly three dozen for me, and I even gave into eating a little bit of the dough! Fantastic recipe!
these are better than my grandmother's recipe, the trick is to use nutmeg for a little spice.
It is soft and crunchy at the same time. The recipe is supereasy and the taste five stars. A must make.
These were good, but they sort of reminded everyone of sugar cookies. I added shredded, sweetened coconut to one batch and subbed some of the vanilla for coconut extract, and those were very well received.
Oh my heaven's these are wonderful. I split my batter (not adding in extracts until after the split). Half of the batter contained lemon extract and some lemon zest. The other half I added vanilla and almond extracts. These are just so light, and soft and just perfect with a glass of ice tea on this hot summer day! Thank you for sharing this recipe.
I never tried these before my boss asked me to try to find a recipe for her and make them. I knew they were going to be good because before I put them in the oven, I ate half the cookie dough. Thanks for sharing!
Perfect! Just like my mom's recipe. She cooks without measuring so she couldn't give me the recipe over the phone. She said she'd just have to "show me." Found this recipe and it is the best! Thanks.
Very bland. I was disappointed. Even for a tea cookie. I tried experimenting in small batches by adding in a wide range of "chips" and got nothing. *Not worth the calories, is another way of putting it.
Great for a no frills cookie. Reminds me of a sugar cookie with less sugar. One of the lightest cookies I have ever cooked.
Nice simple sugar cookie. I will be making this one with my grandaughter for years to come.Easy enough for children to make with success each time. Thank you for a great recipe.
These are the softest cookies I've made yet. I made 1/2 the recipe as we already had other cookies. My dough was very flimsy or limp, so couldn't roll it into balls as I wanted. This is definitly one of my new favorite recipes. I mean the texture is so soft!!!
My cookies didn''t look a thing like the photo. They were sweet but I think that's because of the sugar substitute. Also, the dough was very thick & hard to work with.
Delicious! I made half of the recipe with maple flavoring and that was also good! When my sister tasted the maple flavored ones she said "oh these would be good with syrup!" I had to tell her that it was because she was tasting maple! Its was subtle but there. Sooo good!!!
I only just made them and I've eaten 4 of them already. They taste like a soft, chewy, cripsy on the edges vanilla cake. Wish I had some tea but I don't think I can wait that long. I used a cookie scoop which worked fine but it makes the cookie look bumpy. The last batch I smoothed out the scoops with my spatula and they look better.
This recipe is good but not like the one I remember growing up in the south. This is the best recipe I have tired so far, but it is too sweet and could use a slight less butter. I will make them again but with some slight changes. I also added 1 tsp of lemon flavoring and 1/2 tsp of vanilla, with 1/2 tsp nutmeg.
These cookies are VERY easy to make, and delicious. I added 1/2 tsp of cinnamon and they were very similar to Snickerdoodles. Next time I am going to make as-is but put M&M's on top as someone else suggested.
This was just fab!! I only got around a dozen out of the dough but they were still great. I used margarine instead of butter (its the only thing i bake with) and i left them round before baking in stead of flattening. They where puffy, light and cake like. Just wonderful thank you for sharing.
I hate to rain on the parade, but no one that tried these cookies liked them. Everyone said they were too bland. However, I do think they would be good as a base cookie with some embellishments added.
These are very delicious. Very soft and fluffy. I followed the recipe to the letter, and don't plan on making any changes. Thank you for this wonderful experience!
My husband always mentioned how he liked Tea Cakes so I used this recipe as my first attempt...LOVED IT! I didn't have buttermilk so I used milk/lemon juice substitute. Will become one of my go to desserts now!
I made these for my daughter's birthday party and everyone there raved about them. Very soft and delicious.
I rolled these into individual balls, flattened them with the palm of my hand, then put m&m's on top of them. They came out delicious, like the same kind of m&m cookies I buy at Mrs. Field's.
This reminds me so much of my grandmother's teacakes it's scary! They're sinfully good, though. Especially the batter!
I made some butter from our raw milk, and wanted to use the buttermilk for something. These were good and I will do it again. They are very sweet, so if you so not like sugary cookies you might not favor them. I love them with the milk.
Good flavor, cake-like cookie. Sweet, but pleasantly simple. Might be good for frosting.
Awesome cookies - followed the recipe exactly and ended up making three batches in a week for friends and coworkers. Great way to use up that extra buttermilk in the fridge, too!
Very Good! I used 3/4 tsp. of vanilla and 1/4 tsp. of almond extract with a few sprinkles of cinnamon. Very tasty cookie!
These are awesome! The only thing I did differently was make larger cookies (so this recipe yielded about 15 larger cookies in my case) and subsequently increased the baking time to around 25 minutes so they baked all the way through. They taste very good, look nice, and were very quick and easy to make. I will definitely be making these again and sharing them with others!
I doubled the recipe. I used the ingredients as listed. I did add nutmeg. I cooked them for 10 mins. They came out soft but crisp around the edges. They were easy to make and delicious. This is my go to recipe. My family loves these and asks for them all the time.
I have 3 granddads and a 89 year old mother in law they all love these. They eat them as fast s as I can make them. I have added a half f teaspoon of lemon flavor once and a half teaspoon of nutmeg once, they both were very good. Amjack
These were very disappointing. I followed the recipe exactly, and ten minutes in the oven was definitely not enough time for me. They ended up being extremely moist and fragile, and they were too sweet. Nobody had a second when I served them with tea.
Yuck. I have a family of cookie lovers who refused to eat them. I think I put in a little too much baking power but they were just not very tasty.
They taste like little clouds, just a little bit too sweet for us. Also had to double the buttermilk. Definitely will make them again, next time with some orange juice or raisins.
So easy to make! I used a very small ice cream scoop and spaced them about an inch apart on the baking sheet. they didn't run together. I added a little salt too. Thanks for the recipe!
excellent! super easy to make and basic ingredients. This one is a keeper. Thanks for posting!.
Exceptional recipe. Super easy to make and they aren't out of the oven yet but the batter was divine!
These are fantastic! I made a few slight adjustments by using cake flour instead of all-purpose flour; brown sugar instead of white sugar; and an extra egg yoke, with that I used no milk and they came out fluffier. These are definitely southern style, I’m from Alabama can confirm!
WOW!!! I USED A BAKING STONE AND I'VE EATEN THE WHOLE FIRST BATCH WHILE I WAIT ON THE SECOND ONE TO BAKE! I LOVE THIS RECIPE!
I made these w/ brown sugar and Swan Cake flour they are fluffy light and airy. Definitely making them again...yummy
This recipe was awesome. Added some lime and lavender, made some earl grey - even better
my husband and brothers love these cookies! I have to make them often to keep them calm. It reminds them of their grandmother. I add a teaspoon of nutmeg to the recipe.
Made some change added 1 teaspoon nutmeg and Almond Extract, double the sugar and flour and added 1/4 cup sour cream and 1/4 cup of buttermilk. Sold all of them @ bake sale
Oh my goodness! These are SOOO good!!! I added a bit of nutmeg to the flour mixture. I served these with mulled cider for an after school snack... YUM!!!
My mom gave me this same recipe many years ago. She's been making them for a couple of decades. They are really good and can be flavored any way you like. We usually chill the batter in the fridge for a few minutes to keep them from spreading too much. We like them a little chewy. Just a good basic tea cake recipe, and it's perfect!
I came across this recipe when I was looking for something to use up the small amount of buttermilk I had left from another recipe. I am really glad I did as these were delicious. The batter was quite thick and rather than dropping it on to the cookie sheet, I was squidging it on with the back of a spoon. I'll definitely make these again. Many Thanks.
Made these with about 2/3 cup craisins - Delicious little soft cookies - simple and tasty. One warning, though - space these cookies with plenty of space on the cookie sheet - this cookie dough is almost a batter - and it spreads a lot. The only reason I took off 1 star is because these cookies were a bit sweet for me. The very simpleness of the recipe makes the shorcoming apparent - and also makes the sweetness almost unbearable. I'd go with 3/4 cups sugar next time.
Our son made these for us the other day around 1 in the morning, just because he feels like it. It turned out they are so delicious that I had to eat 5 around 2 in the morning, which gave me acid reflux but totally worth it. Nostalgic taste, with very nice amount of sweetness. He added some crushed almonds in it and were perfect!!
I absolutely love this recipe. When the butter and sugar are creamed properly, the resulting teacakes will stay soft long after they've cooled especially when kept in an air tight container. For a crisper tea cake, flatten edges out a bit, add two minutes to baking time and raise temp by five degrees.
I was looking for something easy to make to go with hot chocolate and this was it. These were really, really good. "Perfect amount of crispy edge with a nice tender, flavorful middle," says my wife. I will be making these again. TIP: For novice cookie bakers, put no more than a large marble-sized amount on a spoon and drop onto cookie sheet; these are hard to roll into a ball so I didn't even try. (Also, I didn't know the rule about getting the cookies off the cookie sheet after five minutes before putting on rack to cool, so some broke on me for that reason.)
These cookies were exceptional!!!! I followed the recipe but added 1 extra Tablespoon of flour AND 1/2 teaspoon of Almond extract plus the vanilla extract. WOW!!! They were a hit at our house.
We all loved this! Thanks for the recipe. It went great with my almond tea. I think next time I'll use almond extract just to see how it is with the almond tea. Thanks again.
Mighty tasty, indeed. I first heard of teacakes in a comedy routine of the late, great Jerry Clower from Mississippi, a hilarious story about a Catahoula Cur Dog and 2 boys. I have a Catahoula, but wondered "what's a tea cake?". Now I know. And I know why that boy wrestled that dog to get it back!!
Didn't make any changes, but the photo shows a darker version of the tea cake. Tasted like a rich butter cookie.
Simple perfect delicious recipe. The first time, I made the recipe as specified with great results. The second time, I added 1 tsp cinnamon + 1/2 tsp nutmeg + 1/2 tsp ginger with the sugar. I baked the cookies on a nonstick cookie sheet covered with wax paper both times.
So I tried this recipe because I purchased cultured buttermilk by accident and didn’t want to let it go to waste. I did a search for recipes that use buttermilk. How serendipitous! First time making these. Yum. Made two batches. I didn’t have baking soda so had to substitute extra baking powder. Also added about a half cup of buttermilk instead of the 1/4 cup it asked for because the dough was kinda thick. The first batch came out good but a little dense. The second batch seemed to expand more and seems lighter. I sprinkled cinnamon and sugar to the second batch before baking to give it a little more goodness and contrast with the dough. Perfect pairing with hot tea. Thank you.
