The 200-Year-Old Cookie Recipe That’s a Southern Holiday Staple

On an average day, you can scroll on social media to find the latest trendy dessert to drool over. I love a good pastry mashup (hello, Cronut! hello brookie!) as much as the next person, but the holidays are a great time to re-acquaint yourself with the simple desserts that are still around despite the tide of changing trends and tastes.

Related: These Vintage Black Forest Christmas Cookies Are Surprisingly Easy

When it comes to Southern holiday traditions, tea cakes are the perfect accompaniment at big celebrations or if you just want to eat a few while you drink coffee, hot chocolate or, of course, tea. And don’t let the word "cake" fool you. Tea cakes are more like cookies than cakes. To help you enjoy this Southern staple, we're breaking down what the treats are made out of (so you can make a batch) and what people are saying about these treasured, nostalgic delights.

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What Are Southern Tea Cakes?

Despite their name, tea cakes are not cakes at all. Think of them as pale, soft, tender sugar cookies. The great thing is that tea cakes are made with basic pantry staples: eggs, salt, baking soda, flour, sugar and butter. Vanilla extract is optional, but is it really? Some family recipes include other ingredients, including almond extract, lemon zest or spices like nutmeg and cinnamon.

Aside from being delicious, there’s also a cultural significance behind tea cakes. According to NPR, the treat dates back about 200 years. It’s believed that Southern enslaved people developed them—using the flour, butter, eggs and sugar available to them—to replicate the English tea cakes that were served in wealthy homes. As Southern enslaved people navigated North, coveted recipes were passed down through generations. Today, they’re common to see on tables during family gatherings and holidays, including Juneteenth and Christmas.

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How Are Southern Tea Cakes Different From Sugar Cookies?

At first glance, tea cakes look like a typical sugar cookie, but they’re fluffier, softer and less sweet. Tea cakes have a tender, cake-like texture and are somewhere between a sugar cookie and a vanilla cake. The texture of tea cakes varies by the recipe, though the majority of them lean more in the cookie direction. Depending on the recipe, they can be smooth and puffy or have a somewhat cracked top.

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How Do You Make Southern Tea Cakes?

The method for making tea cakes also varies by recipe (and each family has their favorite), but generally speaking, to make tea cakes you beat butter and sugar until the mixture is fluffy, then beat or stir in a mixture of flour, baking soda and salt.

As Carlena Davis of @spilling_the_sweet_tea says in the video above, chilling the dough is a key step in most tea cake recipes. The time in the fridge helps the tender dough firm up so the cookies keep their shape. After the dough is chilled, you can roll out the dough as Davis does or roll it into balls and bake the dough, a method Jocelyn Delk Adams of Grandbaby Cakes prefers. If you roll and cut the dough, you can cut out whatever shapes you'd like, but keep in mind that tea cakes are traditionally round, so a round cutter (or even a juice glass) will create the classic shape.

Related: The 200-Year-Old Gingerbread Cookie Recipe That Will Change the Way You Make the Classic Treat

What People Are Saying About Southern Tea Cakes?

You know this dessert is a point of conversation when there’s an entire Southern tea cakes Reddit thread. A lot of the chatter is about finding the perfect recipe and sharing links to recipes that remind them of their upbringing, especially their grandma’s house.

"These were my favorite cookies growing up and remind me of my grandma’s house when I eat them," recalled one commentor. "She would’ve loved knowing they went past the family.”

Related: The 150-Year-Old Cookie Recipe That's Wildly Simple

Another user understood the value of the cookie's legacy. “I found your recipes, and I'm trying them all this week! Thank you so much for sharing these with us. As someone who is into gathering family recipes, it is invaluable to pass them forward so they are not lost.”

As you can see, you only need a few simple ingredients to create something that can last generations and satisfy your sweet tooth. Consider this your cue to add tea cakes to your holiday cookie lineup this year. Because it's never too late to invest in classics.

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