Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Spritz and Russian Teacakes

These melt-in-your-mouth Spritz are my favorite Christmas cookie. What's not to like about butter, sugar, and almond extract?? (See recipe below, along with the note about making this a gluten-free cookie.*)

Sunday evening, 8 PM: With my dad's funeral coming up on Thursday, I am scheduling this to post on Tuesday. (See Sunday's post) I wanted to make sure you got it in time to finish up your Christmas baking.


Russian Teacakes go by other names also, e.g. Pecan Balls, Swedish Wedding Cakes, Oh I Love Those Things, etc. I think these are Gus's favorite, so I made a double batch. The dough is so tender you have to get that cookie to your mouth fast before it falls apart! Boy is it worth it!



Spritz, Recipe:

1 c. Real Wisconsin Butter, softened
1 c. sugar
1 egg
1/2 t. almond extract
2 1/3 c. all-purpose flour*
1/2 t. baking powder
3/4 t. salt

Cream butter and sugar; blend in egg and flavoring. Combine dry ingredients; stir into creamed mixture. Mix well. Do not chill the dough. Pack dough into cookie press. Press into desired shapes on UNgreased cookie sheet. If desired, sprinkle with colored sugar crystals or trim with pieces of red and green candied cherries, pressing cherries lightly into dough. Bake at 365 for 8-10 minutes. Cookies should be thinking about turning golden, but only thinking about it... Cool on pans. Makes about 6 dozen.

Russian Teacakes, Recipe:

1 c. Real Wisconsin Butter
1 t. vanilla
6 T. powdered sugar
2 c. all-purpose flour*
dash salt
1 c. finely chopped pecans

Blend butter, vanilla, and powdered sugar. Mix in flour and nuts. Roll into balls, about the size of a shooter marble. (It's an antique; Google it)   Bake at 350 degrees for about 12 minutes. After they're slightly cool, roll in powdered sugar. Just before serving, roll in powdered sugar again.

*To make either of these recipes gluten-free, substitute 1 c. white rice flour, 2/3 c. potato starch, 1/3 c. tapioca flour, and 2 t. xanthan gum for the 2 c. of all-purpose flour. For the Spritz, I'd add an additional 1/3 c. tapioca flour.



This post is linked to Tempt My Tummy Tuesday
and Tasty Tuesdays
and Tasty  Tuesday Parade of foods
and Tuesdays at the Table

14 comments:

  1. My mom made Spritz cookies every year! I used to love using the cookie press!! What great memories I have of those times with my mom in the kitchen! Thanks Judy :)
    (my thoughts are with you and your family this week)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for the cookie recipes. I've never had a Spritz cookie, I don't think I know anyone with a cookie press:-) I've tried to start a tradition of trying out a new cookie recipe each year. My thoughts are also with you and your family this week. You wrote a wonderful post about your father and what a great testimony he had. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Going to the store now to get what I need to make these and the toffee! Thanks, Judy! :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Russian tea cookies (another name--we call them sand tarts) are my husband's favorite. One of my granddaughters, the 8 year old, asked me yesterday what she could get Colonel (retired AF) for Christmas. Tomorrow we are baking sand tarts. By the way, what is your connection with England? Just curious.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I adore those little multinational butter balls!!! And I envy you your ability with the cookie press ... I have so much trouble with those, and yet I keep persisting every year. I'm so proud of myself when I can get one batch done!!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Those look good! Mind sending me some?? ;)

    Hope you have a very Merry Christmas. I'm thinking about you this week!

    Hugs,
    Rach

    ReplyDelete
  7. These two are among my favorites also. Thinking of you today!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thanks for thinking of us in the midst of all your busy-ness. Hugs to you as you prepare to say good bye to your father. Hope the snow stays away from all your events. We are supposed to be in for a "Big One" Christmas Eve!

    HUGS!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I am so sorry about your father. You and your family are in my thoughts and prayers. I have never heard of Spritz cookies before this year. They look wonderful!

    Merry Christmas,
    Candace

    ReplyDelete
  10. They are both gorgeous and perfect for the holidays. Wish I could bite into both right now!

    Lots of yummy love,
    Alex aka Ma What's For Dinner
    www.mawhats4dinner.com

    ReplyDelete
  11. Yummy recipes!! Thank you for posting these! I am a new follower from the blog Walking the Off-beaten path. Hope you will stop by and say hello~

    Merry Christmas
    Jamie~your Innkeeper
    Applesauce Inn B&B

    ReplyDelete
  12. Oh my yumminess! Looks delish. Wish I could partake of them.

    Merry Christmas!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Just to let you know that my thoughts are still with you. Hope Christmas goes ok at this difficult time.

    ReplyDelete

Hi! And thanks for stopping in at Cranberry Morning. I love reading your comments and visiting your blogs. I am unable to respond to No-Reply bloggers, so please make sure to enable your email address on your blog. Also, many Google+ blogs don't allow me to comment because I'm not a member of Google+. So, I'm not deliberately avoiding you, but Google+ is not commenter friendly.