USVI-On-Line

Marybeth - May I please have your recipe for the Russian tea balls?

Coden wrote:Marybeth - May I please have your recipe for the Russian tea balls?

of course. i love this recipe because I can recall clear as day writing it on a recipe card many years ago in my friend Chrissie's kitchen. She was really my sister's friend and I will probably about 10. I thought she was cool! Still do. And i make these every year still from the recipe card.

Russian Tea Balls

1 cup butter
½ cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 c flour
½ c chopped walnuts

Cream butter, sugar, vanilla.
Add flour and nuts and blend until just mixed together.
Do a final stir by hand to make sure all ingredients are mixed.

Roll dough in to small balls and bake on a lightly greased sheet at 350 degrees for 15-17 minutes.

When cool roll balls in powdered sugar.

Thank you Marybeth - I am going to bake these today!

Question: Do you use unsalted butter or regular?

And I assume the flour is self-rising?

I always bake with unsalted and the flour here is regular all purpose flour. this makes a dough that is easy to roll. your butter should be soft but not melted. if it is room temp. it blends up nicely.
PS - when I made them yesterday I was out of walnuts so I just switched up to pecans. I use either in this recipe.

Thnx!! I was pretty sure about the butter being unsalted but wanted to double check.

This is one of those recipes that you always have the ingredients on hand...off to soften the butter!

Here they are:

that was FAST! Did you try one yet? I advise you don't unless you want to make them 2-3 more times before Christmas! LOL

Ha, it was fast, I was on a mission.

I have to confess, I've had 3 already and have now removed them from the kitchen and from out of my line of vision.

Thnx again!!

Coden wrote: This is one of those recipes that you always have the ingredients on hand...off to soften the butter!

HaHa - maybe you have the ingredients on hand

Here's what's in my kitchen:

Russian Tea Balls

1 cup butter - nope; down to my last stick
½ cup powdered sugar - no - haven't bought my pizzele ingredients yet
1 tsp vanilla - got anise extract, but no vanilla
2 c flour - yes, but only because I am waging the war on Popovers
½ c chopped walnuts - nope - a large bag of roasted peanuts, but no walnuts.

Anyway - your cookies look delish!!

jayseadee - I have to confess...I'm not much of a sweet baker and I almost asked someone at the grocery the other day if Powder sugar and Confectioners sugar was the same thing. I'm glad I figured it out myself before I did. Normally I would not have that in my cabinets.

Maybe you'd like to try this recipe! I make the Russion tea cookies but have always called them butterballs. One of my husbands favorites.

JOSE CUERVO CHRISTMAS COOKIES:

1 Cup of Water
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 Cup Sugar
1 tsp Salt
1 Cup Brown Sugar
1 tsp Lemon Juice
4 Large Eggs
1 Cup Nuts
2 Cups of Dried Fruit
1 Bottle Jose Cuervo Tequila

Sample the Cuervo to check quality. Take a large bowl,
check the Cuervo again, to be sure it is of the highest
quality, pour one level cup and drink.

Turn on the electric mixer; beat one cup of butter in a
large fluffy bowl. Add one teaspoon of sugar. Beat
Again. At this point, it's best to make sure the
Cuervo is still OK, try another cup....just in casze.

Turn off the mixerer thingy. Break 2 leggs and add to
the bowl and chuck in the cup of dried fruit. Pick the
friggin fruit off the floor.
Mix on the
turner. If the fried druit gets stuck in
the beaterers, just pry loose with a drewscriver.
Sample the Cuervo to check for tonsisticity.

Next, sift two cups of salt, or something. Who giveshz
a sheet. Check the Jose Cuervo. Now shift the lemon
juice and strain your nuts. Add table. Add a spoon of
sugar, or somefink....whatever you can find.

Greash the oven.

Turn the cake tin 360 degrees and try not to fall over.
Don't forget to beat off the turner.

Finally, throw the bowl out, finish the Jose Juervo and
make sure to put the stove in the dishwasher.

CHERRY MISTMAS!!!!!


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For the "Baking Challenged" among us, I was surprised at how tasty these are at only 60 cal per wafer.

ok so 60 calories x 15 wafers that I see in the photo - yeah that's about right

I can eat a whole can of those by myself while watching TV! Almost as dangerous as Mary Beth's Russian Tea Balls!!

at least you don't know how many calories are in the tea balls