I know I’ll cry before finishing this Favorite Old Fashion Tea Cakes recipe for you. It has such sweet memories for me of my great-grandmother.
As a little bitty girl, I remember standing on a chair in my Mawmaw’s kitchen helping her make Favorite Old Fashion Tea Cakes Recipe. She was one of the sweetest ladies I’ve ever known; God-fearing, patient, always encouraging, never had an unkind word to say about anyone, always had a warm hug for her great-granddaughter.
Because she lived in the age where ladies didn’t work, she was always home and took care of my brother and me before we were old enough to go to school. She played I Spy for hours sitting in her living room. We played baseball with balls she made out of yarn or fabric scraps. She made glue out of flour and water! I didn’t know you could make glue; I thought it was something you only bought in the white bottle with the orange top!
Other than the time we buried the cat alive, we always had a great time with Mawmaw. (We got into a little trouble for the cat incident. It is the only time I can remember her being upset or raising her voice!)
But my favorite by far was making these cookies.
Favorite Old Fashion Tea Cakes recipe
They are thin and crisp and the perfect buttery bite. She was so patient with me mixing and measuring and teaching me how to do it just so. She insisted on sifting the flour three times. This recipe always makes me think of those fun times.
I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I have over the years. Additionally, I hope you go make memories baking them with someone you love. Those memories will last a lifetime. I know.
Do you have a special recipe that you made with someone when you were younger?
Favorite Old Fashion Tea Cakes
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter at room temperature
- 2 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 Tablespoon milk
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg or lemon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 4 cups all purpose flour My Mawmaw was very specific about the flour being sifted 3 times!
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Cream butter and sugar, add eggs one at a time mixing well after each addition. Add milk, nutmeg or lemon, and vanilla. In another bowl sift flour, baking powder and salt together and combine with other wet ingredients.
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
- On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/4 inch in thickness. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Place cookies 1 1/2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bakein oven at 325 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 3 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Nutrition
More cookie love! Almond Crunch Cookies
Chocolate Peppermint Chip Cookies
Also, you can also find great recipes here or at Meal Plan Monday
Reggie says
Do these come out like the thicker/softer ones or the thin/firm ones?
Paula says
thin and crisp
WinnieReed says
My mom made these and cut them in 3” cookies, and sandwiched them with fudge,for our school lunches. They worked great for bartering. LOL
Emma Moore says
Going to try your recipe it sounds so good. My mother would make tea cakes and they were wonderful. My grandmother (my father’s mother ) would make these if she new we were coming to see her. Miss my mother and grandmother so much.
Paula says
My Great grandmother made them for us too. But she lived next door, I love tea cakes just because of her.
Linda says
I can’t wait to try your way of making your Mawmaw’s tea cakes. My Grandmother always made tea cakes if she knew someone was comming. I know it was a simple recipe and that she cut them out with the rim of a glass. They were the best, odd shaped and a little brown around the edges. My Mother and I have tried and tried to figure out how she made them but we never quite get it right. Maybe you have the secret!
Jo Green says
please clarify ’cause it does make a difference . . . do you measure the 4 cups of flour before or after you sift 3x??
Paula says
Yes, it makes a huge difference. Always measure the flour AFTER you sift it. What I do is scoop a lot more than I thnk I need, sift it, then measure. Also, use a spoon to spoon the flour into your measuring utensil then level with a knife.
Lynne says
Paula: My Mema was family-renowned for her fried chicken and buttermilk biscuits, but my favorite was the fresh-from-the-oven crisp she called her “Tea cakes.” I suspect half my delight was eating a cookie from the OVEN rather than a box, but she was always amazed at my level of joy. She’d say, “Why, they’re just my old tea cakes.” They were brown and crisp on the edges, light and just-sweet. Hers were not uniformly shaped, however, so I’m wondering if they were rolled or dropped rather than cut with a cookie cutter. Any ideas?
P.S. She read her Bible, baked the morning biscuits, prepared grits, scrambled eggs, cereal, and coffee, cleaned the house, and then went to her shift at the cotton mill. The gentlest, kindest soul I ever met.
Joan says
I am going to give this one a try. I have been trying recipes for many years, trying to find my Grandma Phelp’s recipe. She always mixed it up in the kitchen and would bring the bowl of dough and her canister of flour to the dining room table to roll out and let us cut them out with a glass. I don’t ever remember seeing her mix the ingredients. I just remember the LEMON, yes, I was yelling. Actually, the lemon “screamed”, guess that is why I love lemon (anything).
tfs
Paula says
I like lemon too, cakes, cookies, pies anything lemon. I don’t have many lemon recipes on here though. I should work on that!
Charlene@A Pinch of Joy says
The cookies sound wonderful, made even more special associated with such sweet memories. I am so grateful for the people who take time to be with little kids and pass on their knowledge. Moms are important but so are the other people in a child’s life! And I’ll be looking for the details on that cat story! 🙂
Rachel Cotterill says
“Tea cakes” means something quite different where I grew up, but these look delicious 🙂
Jamie @ Love Bakes Good Cakes says
Not only do I love these cookies – but the story of your Mawmaw melts my heart ….. I have several recipes that bring back such fond memories ♥ Shared on FB 🙂
Paula says
Thanks so much for your swet words, Jamie. I think I cried every time I worked on that post. Thank you for sharing!
Jennie says
Cookies look great! Thanks for sharing! You should come link up with me today! thediaryofarealhousewife .blog
natashalh says
What a beautiful post! I love my grandmother and am very fortunate to still have her with me. Thank you for sharing your memories and these tasty cookies! I have to check out the peppermint cookies, too.
Paula says
Thank you!
Ai Lin @ Nomsies Kitchen says
Thank you for sharing your fond food memories with us Paula, it is so heartwarming, certainly more than a cookie 🙂
Winnie says
These are great cookies, and your post is sooooooooooooo moving 🙂
I enjoyed reading it, and i could actually see you with your great-grandma
Paula says
Thank you, Winnie! She was so sweet, I’m happy I have these memories. Thanks for your sweet words.
Gloria // Simply Gloria says
I love those days back then when the ladies were never out to work…and they baked and played with us during the day. Love this recipe and the memory you shared with us. (=
rhonda says
She sounds like my grandmother. I adored that woman! I would watch her make perfect biscuits and fried apricot pies. She made the most beautiful quilts. She would let me help her cut out pieces of fabric. I remember getting in trouble one time when I did not want to put the scissors away. Funny how it only took us 1 time to get in trouble. My grandmother laughed about for 20 years. I miss her. Thank you for sharing. I love tea cakes. My mom made lemon tea cakes. I can still see the flour all over the counter. Such memories attached to simple recipes.
Paula says
Funn what we remember. My other grandmother quilted and I so wish I had learned how now. Thanks for sharing that with me.
Carrie says
Stopping by from Ducks in a Row party. Your cookies look AMAZING!!!
Paula says
Thanks so much, Carrie!
Joan - My Cookie Clinic says
Paula, I enjoyed reading this post about your great-grandmother. She sounds like a lovely lady. She would love that you are carrying on her tradition of making tea cakes. These look wonderful…I’ll have to bake up a batch sometime soon. Thanks for sharing your family recipe and lovely memories.
Paula says
Thank you for your sweet words. Recipes bring back such sweet memories.
Eva Gallant says
How wonderful that you have such great memories of your Me Maw!
Cindy Eikenberg says
Paula, I love this recipe and post! It brought a few tears to my eyes, sharing your memories and stirring up some of my own with my grandmother. Thank you so much for sharing this very special recipe with us and pinning! Have a merry day! 🙂
Paula says
Thank you Cindy, it’s so important to share these recipes with your loved one’s. Thanks for your sweet words and for sharing.
Kelly says
What wonderful memories of your Mawmaw, she sounded like an incredible and super special woman with the heart of gold. Thank you so much for sharing these tea cakes with us that have such a special place in your heart. Pinning – they sound perfect Paula 🙂
Paula says
Thank you, Kelly. They are much more than a cookie to me. Thanks for sharing.
Marcie says
I love the memories you have of your “mawmaw” — such a special bond you had. She sounded like an amazing woman, and these tea cakes must really take you back. Food is a powerful thing, and these look delicious. Lovely post, Paula!
Paula says
Thank you, Marcie, that means so much to me.
Helen says
Could these be made with Splenda
Paula says
I have ever baked recipes using artificial sweeteners. Some of them suggests not heating over a certain temp.