Old Fashioned Southern Tea Cakes

Old Fashioned Southern Tea Cakes is a classic, vintage recipe. A cross between a cookie and cake, not too sweet, and utterly delicious.

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 10

Total Time 30

Servings servings

Using a hand or stand mixer, cream the butter until soft and pale yellow in color.
1 cup butter
Gradually add the sugar to the butter, beating well.
2 cups sugar
Next, add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
3 eggs
Add the buttermilk and beat well again.
2 tablespoons buttermilk
In a medium bowl, combine the flour and baking soda.
5 cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda
Turn the mixer down to the slowest speed and gradually add the flour and soda mixture into the creamed mixture.
Add in the vanilla.
1 teaspoon vanilla
Shape the dough into a round or rectangle, cover with plastic wrap, and chill several hours or overnight.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease two cookie sheets.
If you chill your dough overnight, remove it from the fridge about 15 minutes before rolling.
Working with 1/4 to 1/3 of the dough at a time, roll dough to 1/4” thickness on a lightly floured surface.
Cut the dough into rounds using a large biscuit cutter or a drinking glass dipped into flour. Gather the scraps together, re-roll, and cut until all dough is used.
Place the rounds 1 inch apart on lightly greased cookie sheets.
Sprinkle lightly with additional sugar.
Additional sugar for sprinkling
Bake for 7-9 minutes or until the edges are very lightly browned.
Remove the cookie sheets from the oven and allow tea cakes to cool for several minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

When rolling out the dough, it's important that it's at least ¼" thick to give the tea cakes a "cake-y" interior texture.
To prevent the tea cakes from spreading while baking, make sure the dough is still quite cold as you roll and cut it. Then put the tea cakes directly into the oven to bake. Keep any extra dough covered in the refrigerator until needed.
Store tea cakes for 7-8 days at room temperature in a covered container.