Try this Grandma's Southern Tea Cakes recipe, or contribute your own.
- Carbohydrate 410.070400351231 g
- Cholesterol 985.208333631013 mg
- Fat 455.218444405562 g
- Fiber 13.4287545766402 g
- Protein 74.9038970254848 g
- Saturated Fat 258.92392627839 g
- Serving Size 1 1 recipe (1702g)
- Sodium 2676.74134937863 mg
- Sugar 396.64164577459 g
- Trans Fat 33.6325215365989 g
- Calories 6027 calories
Step-by-step
- Place your flour into a large bowl. Along with the flour add the baking soda, baking powder, an salt. Sift the ingredients until well combined, then set the bowl to the side.
- In a separate large bowl, place the butter and butter flavored shortening. Cream the two ingredients together.
- Add the granulated sugar along with the butter and shortening, and mix until well combined, then add in the eggs.
- Next, add in the Buttermilk / Sour milk , and the vanilla extract. Mixed until all of the wet ingredients are well combined.
- Gradually add the dry ingredients along with the wet.
- Once the all of the ingredients are well combined, and the cookie dough has formed, flour a flat surface, and roll out the dough using a roll pin.
- Cut out the desired shapes for the cookies / tea cakes, and place them on wax paper.
- Chill the dough in the refrigerator in the freezer for 10 minutes.
- Place a baking mat on your cookie sheet ( or skip the baking sheet, it's up to you) , and spray it with baking spray.
- Place the tea cakes on the cookie sheet, leaving at less 1 inches between each cookie.
- Bake the tea cakes on 350 F, for 7-8 minutes.
- Remove the tea cakes from the oven, place them on a cooling rack until they are cool to the touch.
- ENJOY!!
Southern tea cakes emerge from the oven with a pale, matte surface and a tender, biscuit-like crumb that bridges the gap between cookie and pastry. Fat distribution dictates this final texture. Creaming solid butter and shortening together traps microscopic air pockets, which expand when exposed to oven heat. Granulated sugar acts as a tenderizer by competing with flour proteins for water hydration, limiting gluten network formation. Using buttermilk introduces lactic acid. This acid reacts with baking soda to produce carbon dioxide gas, yielding lift without requiring yeast. Fresh buttermilk provides live cultures and a distinct tang that canned or powdered dairy substitutes lack. Sifting the all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together aerates the dry components and guarantees even leavening agent dispersal. Chill the rolled dough shapes for ten minutes on wax paper before transferring them to the baking sheet. This brief refrigeration firms the fats, preventing the tea cakes from spreading too rapidly and losing their defined edges during the initial minutes of heat exposure. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for seven to eight minutes. Pull the pans immediately when the bottoms show a faint golden hue while the tops remain pale. Overbaking dries out the crumb rapidly due to the high sugar-to-flour ratio.
