Tea Cakes

Southerners enjoy many lovely things, and tea cakes are one of the loveliest. These treats have a long history in the region’s food culture, dating at least as far back as the antebellum era. And they still occupy a special place in many families’ traditions, including ours.

Confusingly, tea cakes are not cakes. They are pillowy cookies with barely browned, crispy-ish edges, soft, cake-like centers, and a whisper of salt. This recipe makes a lot (48 cookies!), but these elegant little treasures freeze incredibly well. Just pop one out of the freezer and let it thaw for about 10 minutes. It will taste just as a good as when you made them.

Ingredients

4 1/2    cups     all-purpose flour        

1          cup powdered sugar          

1          teaspoon          baking soda    

1          teaspoon          cream of tartar 

1          teaspoon          Morton kosher salt     

1          cup      unsalted butter, softened (2 sticks)    

1 1/4    cups     granulated sugar, divided (1 cup and 1/4 cup)          

2                      room temperature eggs          

1          cup      grapeseed oil (or canola oil)  

1          teaspoon          vanilla extract     

Method

1. Sift the flour, powdered sugar, baking soda, and cream of tartar together into a large bowl. Sprinkle the salt into the flour mixture. Set aside.               

2. Cream the butter and 1 cup of the sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer, scraping the bowl as needed.                      

3. Stream 1 egg into the creamed butter and sugar on medium speed, beating until fully incorporated and scraping the bowl as needed. Repeat with the remaining egg.

4. Add the flour mixture, in roughly three parts, to the bowl on the lowest speed. A dough will form that resembles large crumbles.                      

5. Pour the grapeseed oil and vanilla extract into the bowl, mixing on the lowest speed. Continue to mix just until the dough becomes cohesive and pulls away from the sides of the bowl, about 30 seconds.                

6. Roll the dough into two-inch balls and line them up on a half sheet pan.                

7. Place the remaining one-quarter cup of sugar in a bowl. Roll each dough ball in the sugar to gently coat and place back in line on the pan. Cover tightly and refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours.

8. Heat the oven to 350 degrees.           

9. Stagger cold dough balls two inches apart on a cookie sheet or half sheet pan. Bake them, rotating the sheet or pan at the 8-minute mark, for 15 minutes. The edges should appear faintly brown, if at all.                

10. Remove the cookies from the oven and allow to cool for 2 minutes.                       

11. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.               

12. Repeat steps 9 through 11 until all of the cookies are baked.            

13. Store, or freeze, in an airtight container.      

Notes For Tea Cakes

• The dough will be very soft prior to refrigerating the and dough balls will not make perfect rounds. This will not affect the shape of the tea cakes once baked.

• Because this recipe makes so many and the cookies freeze well, they make wonderful hostess or holiday gifts to have on hand.