Russian Teacakes, also known as Mexican Wedding Cakes or Snowballs, are a must-have holiday cookie with a tender bite and slight flavor of toasted pecans and rolled in powdered sugar.
I love the holidays and all of the baking that comes with this time of year—all the tradition, all the nostalgia, all the cookies! Aside from my own seasonal baking, the real treat is talking with others about what they’re baking this month, from the items they enjoyed in their childhood to those cherished recipes tied to the memory of a loved one.
That’s why I was so excited to talk to my friend Becky about her family’s holiday traditions which include Russian Tea Cakes—the scrumptious, little cookie balls with a powdery finish!
I knew Becky and I shared a passion for family recipes after she shared a copy of her family cookbook—an effort she spearheaded that includes more than 200 recipes from her large, extended family with German and Lebanese roots.
Becky and her mom Karen, who came from a big family, had talked about creating a family cookbook for years. And, when Karen was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2013, they made it happen in about six months.
“The cookbook was certainly a labor of love,” says Becky.
From Karen’s many contributions in the cookbook and my conversations with Becky, it’s clear Karen was an amazing cook and baker who made the holidays all the more special with her love for holiday baking, including Russian Tea Cakes.
Where did the recipe come from?
It is said that Russian Tea Cakes, also known as Mexican Wedding Cakes, may have originated in Europe, perhaps as a tea time snack and eventually migrated to Mexico where they became a popular cookie served at weddings. There are other names for these cookies too like Snowballs (I think that’s what we used to call them when I was growing up).
No matter the name, Becky doesn’t remember a Christmas without these cookies in the house. Her mom made them every year along with several varieties of other cookies she’d make from scratch during the month of December, often sharing them with others or bring them to holiday get-togethers on beautifully organized trays of assorted treats.
Russian Tea Cakes: A Tip and a Twist
A tip: While the recipe calls for pecans or walnuts, Becky prefers pecans and suggests toasting them first. Her tip for toasting nuts: “You can do them in the oven or on a pan on the stove. Just watch them closely because they burn really easily. The process only takes a few minutes and I usually give it a shake or stir once.”
A twist: A talented baker, Becky has experimented with a new version of this classic cookie that she calls Diablo Snowballs. She incorporates chocolate, cinnamon and cayenne flavors and adds chocolate chips.
She says, “I love chocolate and this recipe is sweet, mellowed by the chocolate, the slight heat of the cayenne and the textures of the nuts and chocolate chips.”
You can get Becky’s recipe by clicking here.
Today, Becky marvels about all the time and effort her mom would put into her holiday baking, particularly the dozens upon dozens of sugar cookie cut-out cookies she would make. “She had all the cookie shapes and there’d be cookies covering every surface of our small house,” says Becky.
But even as a busy mom herself these days, Becky sets aside time each December to bake several of her family’s favorite cookie recipes and the Russian Tea Cakes top the list. She says, “Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without these cookies.”
