Russian tea cakes and Mexican wedding cookies are similar, containing a buttery, nutty cookie rolled in powdered sugar. They are often used interchangeably to refer to the same treat, with the terms being used for Christmas and other special occasions. Snowball cookies, also known as Russian tea cakes or Mexican wedding cookies, are bite-sized balls of buttery cookies coated in powdered sugar. They have a melt-in-your-mouth texture and are perfect for special occasions like weddings or holiday celebrations.
The main ingredients in both Russian tea cakes and Mexican wedding cookies are butter, powdered sugar, flour, and chopped nuts, typically walnuts or pecans. They are made with a combination of butter, powdered sugar, flour, and chopped nuts, typically walnuts or pecans. To create lighter Mexican wedding cakes and kourambiethes, clarified butter is suggested.
In a large bowl or stand mixer, cream together butter, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, flour, salt, and nuts. Divide dough into half and form each half into balls. Preheat the oven to 350°F and bake cookies for 10-12 minutes until set on edges but not brown. Allow the cookies to cool slightly before removing them from the oven.
Mexican wedding cookies, also known as Russian tea cakes or snowballs, are delightfully nutty little balls of powdered sugar covered in powdered sugar. Although they are called Russian tea cakes and not cookies, they are delicious and can be enjoyed by everyone.
📹 Russian Tea Cakes
RECIPE: https://preppykitchen.com/russian-tea-cakes/ Russian tea cakes are simple buttery cookies packed with chopped nuts for …
What is the name of the Italian wedding cake?
In Italy, we celebrate weddings with a Millefoglie. It’s a traditional Italian wedding cake with layers of pastry and whipped cream. Fill the pastry layers with your favorite toppings. We love sharing this tradition with couples and their guests. Naked cakes are a hot trend. Instead of fondant, couples are using buttercream to cover their cakes. They are then usually covered in flowers and fruit.
If you want a stunning cake that will wow your guests, a suspended cake is perfect. You can also use them as a centerpiece for your guests to enjoy.
What are the other names for Russian Tea Cakes reddit?
Polvorones, aka Snowball Cookies, Russian Tea Cakes, Mexican Wedding Cookies, etc.
Why are they called Russian Tea Cakes?
Some people think Russian Tea Cakes came from Eastern Europe. But I think they got their name from the 19th-century American interest in Russian tea culture. Russian Tea Parties were common fundraising events. In 1884, Baltimore Sun, “Queen of the Kitchen” Mary Lloyd Tyson printed this recipe for “Russian Tea” in her 1870 cookbook.
What is a Spanish wedding cake?
For your wedding cake, try a Spanish twist. Spanish wedding cakes are usually flan-like tarts filled with fruit, nuts, and sometimes custard. Weddings in Spain have many traditions. The bride and groom usually feed each other a piece of cake before the guests arrive. The food at weddings is usually high in sugar and uses heavy ingredients. This is because of Moorish traditions. The cake at a Spanish wedding is the main event. It’s good luck for the couple and adds personality to the wedding. The bride and groom can customize it however they want.A typical Spanish flan. Let’s look at the different flavors and textures you can find in a traditional Spanish wedding cake. It’s usually a flan cake with one layer. The cake is filled with different flavors, like coconuts, almonds, dried pineapple, and pecans. It’s similar to a traditional British fruit cake. The ingredients are usually soaked in rum and decorated with icing. Sometimes the icing is in the shape of religious symbols. It’s different from our usual figurines of the bride and groom. Other cakes at Spanish weddings include the tres leches cake, a light and airy cake soaked in three types of milk, and the chocolate-chili cake.A tres leches cake is a traditional Spanish wedding cake. It has three layers and is usually filled with a nut-based filling soaked in rum or condensed milk. The cakes are more westernized now, with different designs and patterns. Check out some cakes from our vendors in Spain for ideas. Our vendors want to hear from you about your ideas. Ask for the most outrageous cake or even a nice white tres leches cake. Enjoy…/vc_column_textvc_column_text/vc_column_text/vc_column/vc_rowvc_rowvc_columnvc_column_textSpain4Weddings has great cake makers for traditional Spanish weddings.Contact the Spain4weddings team for more inspiration or help planning your dream wedding in sunny Spain.
What are tea cakes called in UK?
In Kent, the teacake is called a huffkin. It is often flavored with hops, especially at the time of harvesting hops in September. In Sussex, a teacake with added aromatics is sometimes made and called a manchet or Lady Arundels Manchet. In East Lancashire, Cumbria, and West Yorkshire, a teacake is a round bread roll cut in half for sandwiches. They don’t usually have dried fruit. They can be made with white, brown, whole wheat, or Granary flour (a brand of flour made by Hovis).
Sweden and Finland In Sweden, teacake (tekaka) is a sweetened wheat yeast bread. In Finland, there’s a similar dish called teeleipä.
Why are cookies called tea cakes?
From baptisms to protests, these cookies have seen Southerners through it all. Outside the South, “tea cake” means any cake served with tea. But to Southerners, tea cakes are more than that. They are the nostalgic cookies—crispy on the outside, soft on the inside—that are perfect for tea or any other drink. The tea cake originated as the classic Quaker jumble more than 250 years ago. It changed when baking soda and baking powder came along. Early tea cakes were called Jackson Jumbles and Democratic Tea Cakes. The tea cake might have been salty, rich, or fluffy, depending on where you grew up and what you had in your kitchen. It might have been shaped into rounds or dropped like a biscuit onto a pan. It might have been scented with lemon, nutmeg, or vanilla. That recipe was yours, just like your DNA. It told about your family. You didn’t share it like your social security number. For my book, American Cookie, I interviewed six cooks who made tea cakes, and none would share their recipes. I figured out how to make them through experimentation. I learned about their unique place in the South, where family stories and politics were discussed. One of the first tea cakes in the US was the Edenton Tea Party Cake, made in Edenton, North Carolina, in 1774 by women protesting the British tax on tea. They baked these little cakes, but they didn’t drink British tea that day.
What is a traditional Italian wedding cake called?
Wedding cakes: Italian traditions. Many couples choose the Millefoglie for their Tuscan wedding. There are many variations and styles, so I’ll list a few. The basic ingredient is a special type of puff pastry. It’s usually divided with Chantilly cream and fresh cream. You can add berries or chocolate chips to the layers and topping. Berries (raspberries and bilberries) work better because the acidity cuts through the sweet creams better than chocolate. Both are delicious! A traditional millefoglie is a low cake, often one large tier, but often presented in three or more tiers. A three-tiered, chunky, low-style millefoglie cake can be made.
What do Mexican wedding cookies taste like?
These cookies are a classic! They’re called Mexican wedding cookies, snowball cookies, Russian tea cakes, or polvorones. And they’re good for a reason! They’re irresistible with their crumbly, buttery, nutty flavor. Plus, they’re cute on a Christmas cookie tray. They look like little snowballs! We’re in Christmas mode here! I’ve finished decorating, shopping, and wrapping (ten days ahead of time!). Now we’re making Christmas treats. We’ve made almond biscotti, chocolate truffles, and oatmeal cranberry cookies. Today I’m sharing another favorite: Mexican wedding cookies!
Are Arcoiris cookies Mexican?
Last time we went to Mexico, we reviewed Emperador Combinado Cookies. Today we review the Gamesa Arcoiris Marshmallow Cookies. Gamesa is owned by Pepsico, but is still called Gamesa. Let’s look at this snack. Our Mexican cookie pack comes in a white sleeve with blue trim. It looks like the last Gamesa snack we reviewed. The snack has the Gamesa logo and the words “Arcoiris Galletas con Malvaviso” on the package. It also says “6 Gelletas” and the English translation. Also, a picture of three cookies: two with silly expressions and the third, an image of the snack. Let’s taste test the Gamesa Arcoiris Marshmallow Cookies! Our 11-year-old Director of Taste found this snack. He traded with a Mexican student at school. Mexican food is popular in most of America, especially in the South. The Mexican-American student said this is her favorite snack. He traded one of our other snacks and brought this home. We didn’t know what to expect because we hadn’t researched it. What did we find?
What country are Mexican wedding cookies from?
After cooking lots of side and main dishes, I finally had a sweet tooth and made a dessert for this post. Since it’s wedding season, I thought I’d make a traditional Mexican wedding dish. Mexican wedding cookies were brought to Mexico by the Spanish. They are still eaten in many other countries. The cookies were served at many California rancho weddings in the 1800s. This recipe is simpler than some I’ve done before. I’ll try to make nearly every ingredient from scratch, like early California settlers did. You can make your own whole wheat flour and powdered sugar or use store-bought items.
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened but still cool.
Colored tissue paper, cut into 6-inch squares (optional)
What is the difference between Italian wedding cookies and Mexican wedding cookies?
The main difference is preparation. Italian wedding cookies usually have almonds or hazelnuts and are flavored with almond extract, vanilla extract, and cinnamon or anise. Mexican wedding cookies use nuts, butter, sugar, and sometimes chocolate chips. More Italian cookie recipes. Italian Butter Cookies 1 cup butter (room temp); ½ cup powdered sugar; 3 tsp vanilla; ½ tsp almond extract; ½ tsp salt; 1 cup almond flour; 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour.
Why do they call Mexican wedding cookies?
Similar cookies were popular in Northern Europe in the 17th century. Modern Mexican wedding cookies appeared in cookbooks in the 1950s. During the Cold War, Russian tea cakes disappeared from American cookbooks, and wedding cookies began to appear. It might be a coincidence, but nobody knows for sure, Parra says. Most think the cookies’ name comes from weddings. There are lots of other names for Mexican wedding cookies because of their complex history. Many blogs discuss the differences between Mexican wedding cookies and Italian wedding cookies, snowball cookies and Mexican wedding cookies, and Russian tea cakes and Mexican wedding cookies. What should you call Mexican wedding cookies in Spanish? Another name for wedding cookies is polvorones, which means “powder” in Spanish. Mexicans call these cookies polvorones.
The cookies have dozens of names, and bakers can’t agree on one. They all agree on one thing: these desserts are tasty. No matter what you call it, it’ll please any crowd if it calls for nuts, butter, powdered sugar, flour, and vanilla extract.
📹 Russian Tea Cakes – Easy Tea Cookies Recipe aka Wedding Cookies
Learn how to make Russian Tea Cakes!
My mother called these “Walnut Balls.” She made these every year for the holidays, and I still, to this day have a difficult time showing any self control with these in the house! She gave me a recipe book for Christmas one year where she had hand written all the recipes from my childhood, and of course this recipe is in that book! She is no longer with us… but her recipes live ON!
My mother used to make a cookie just like this every Christmas. She made hundreds because everyone who stopped by at Christmas loved them. She called them butterballs. She is no longer with us so I make them now, though I don’t like walnuts, so I use pecans. Thank you for this article and for bringing to mind the memory of helping her every Christmas. You are a joy, John!!
My family comes from Czech Republic, where these are shaped into crescents called vanilkové rohlíčky. Main difference is the addition of egg yolks, and the powdered sugar doesn’t contain cornstarch. They’re one of the top 3 classics at Christmastime, when a Czech family makes an average of 8 types of cookies.
I have been making these since about 11 yrs old, starting with just rolling them in 10x with green and red sugar sprinkles. Here I am at 58 yrs old and these are still the one main cookie on my buffet every year. Thank you so much for calling them Russia Tea Cakes. I see so many different names. But let it be known….these are Russian Tea Cakes! Thank you babes. P.S. when I make something new, I look it up on your page first. We just adore you!!
My dad’s side of the family is 100% Slovakian. He’s one of 12 children. The women baked a lot at Christmastime. No Russian tea cakes, but I especially loved their nut roll! John, could you show us how to make that??? My mother-in-law was a great cook, as was my own dear mom, from whom I inherited my love of cooking! Come to think of it, I come from a whole family of great cooks on both sides of the family, Slovakian on one side & Scotch and Irish on the other! My mother-in-law used to make these Russian tea cakes every Christmas. I’m so glad you made this article, because I seemed to have lost her recipe! Now I can make them! Yay! John, I L❤VE your articles! Your recipes are DE•LI•CIOUS!!! And your presentations are always such fun!!! Please don’t edit out your bloopers!!! I think I speak for nearly everyone when I say, WE L❤VE ‘EM!!! And we L🥰VE you!!! Many thanks from Pennsylvania!😋😉❣
Hi Preppy. My Grandmother makes these cookies, but a little bit different. She put less flour and more nuts, then she stretches mass on the table about half of the centimeter thin, and then cut circles around 2.5 cm wide. After they are backed she connects two pieces with plum or apricot jam and rolls them into the powdered sugar. We called them (Vanilice) In translation small vanilla cakes. I come from Serbia and I love these cakes.
“Russian” seems to be the oldest of names. I call them “Nut Balls,” and make them two or three times each year. I prefer them with pecans, only because walnuts sometimes burn my mouth. I don’t know why, but, well, what happens, happens. For those who like walnuts and don’t endure the burn, hey rah to you. Thus, I go with pecans, and love them. I also, sometimes, add a bit of anise. If you hate anise, well, leave it out. If you like it in candy, try it. Thanks, John, for keeping this wonderful recipe. Love your website. Hey. Once upon a time, I met a cookie with lots of cocoa and some anise, covered in powdered sugar, soft, chewy, someone’s holiday tradition. Know it? I would love to see that recipe. Still, thanks, and keep on baking!
Raised in central PA and born around Altoona. More Germans here than Russians and so I wonder if it’s actually a German thing and I don’t know why they are called Russian but our family always made Russian Teacakes for Christmas. They are Bangin”. If you think you are getting the same cookie with a Mexican wedding cookie, your taste buds will be disappointed. I don’t know what is different in the recipe but it is not the same and it seems like anything that is a “storebought” version of this like “snowballs” “Mexican wedding cookies” etc really falls short as well. Don’t know why but real, homemade, Russian teacakes can’t be beat!!
My gma used to make these. They were a favorite, but she never told us what they were. I’ve been using a Mexican Wedding Cookie recipe I found. It’s the same cookie, but the texture just isn’t quite like Grandma’s. 🤔 Hers were meltier and sometimes had a little squeakiness in the bite. This Russian Tea Cake recipe has powdered sugar IN THE DOUGH! THAT’S THE SQUEAKY MELTINESS I’M MISSING! I know it is! Huzzah! 🎉 🥰🥰🥰 THANK YOU! This really means a lot. You’re the best! 😘 Weeee! 😆
It’s an honor John Kanell, my daughter as a Christmas present gave me your incredible cookbook “Preppy kitchen!” Which I’m fascinated & just estatic with thank you so much sweetheart for sharing your talent & recipes with us! Yes I have been baking your recipes, right now I have been baking mostly your desserts cookies & cheesecakes. I can’t afford a “Kitchenaid” but sweetheart I’m enjoying myself! DELICIOUS all of your recipes are incredibly delicious & you’re the BEST teacher! Thank you again sweetheart may God continue blessing you & your’s 😇💙🙏🏼💐
In Greece we call them kourabie(singular) kourabiedes(plural) it’s turkish word for cookies but for Greeks is just for these and we use only almond not any other nut. Typical Christmas cookies. Before the powder sugar on top, we sprinkle them with rosewater or better yet blossomwater, so aromatic. Like it that you like it. We die in Greece for those
I made this recipe for the Christmas Holidays this year as gifts. I think I made about 6 batches with various nuts, Almond, Walnuts, and hazel nuts. They were and are a HIT. I now have to make them on a regular basis.. Thank you for an easy and LEKKER (delicious) in Dutch. Elliott expat living in the Netherlands
These are my favorite cookies and I’ve been making them since the 1970s. I find with my recipe it helps to not only shape it into a ball but then squish the ball and re-shape it again. I also do the first coat of confectioner’s sugar shortly after they come out of the oven, but they’re so fragile at that point I stack them on a plate, leave them overnight, and re-roll them the second day in the morning. Perfect. My mom made them and I’ve made ever since high school. Emeril Lagasse’s recipe is just like ours.
Yes, like almost everybody already said, we know them as Polvorones here in Mexico 😁🇲🇽 I’ve actually made them, but I do let the dough in the refrigerator for about 30min, and I cover them with powdered sugar after they cooled down. The sugar does stick to the cookies so no problem 😁 I’ll try your recipe of course! They look more soft and absolutely delicious 🤤💜 Thank you for sharing your recipes! Happy holidays 🙆🏻♀️💜🎄
Hi John, thank you for sharing this childhood memory cookies. My Oma used to make this and we called it Queen Snow, we just make little balls. She used vanilla bean. After using the beans, my Oma didn’t discard the vanilla pods, she put them in her sugar jar. Happy baking and happy holidays with your wonderful family! I love your website. Would you mind teach us how to make Rosca de Reyes? ♥
Aaah at home my mum puts either Turkish delight or mix of sugar, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and walnuts in the center of the cookie. And she puts cinnamon in the confectioners sugar to roll them in. We always called them orehovki, which literally means walnut cookies, but if there were with Turkish delight we called lokumki, from locum, meaning Turkish delight. 🥰
Hmmm just when you’re sat here thinking i’m feeling really hungry for something yummy, and up pops a notification from John. I knew it would be a bad idea to look in on him. Now i’m even more hungry, oh and mardy as it’s too near bedtime to get in the kitchen and make these waaah tomorrow it is then.
In Russia these guys are usually made with ginger (taste like gingerbread cookies) or with mint extract. The most popular – cause they are orgasmically delicious:) – are with cranberry marmalade filling and cover with a thin layer of classical royal icing. Those that are mint flavored, are covered with white mint royal icing. When I finally brought my Ecuadorian husband to Russia, he was consuming those gingerbread ones with marmalade and mint ones without stop:) By the way, if u want to show off just a lil bit, u may call them ‘priániki’ (пряники) — that’s how we call them in Russia;)
We call these Italian tea cookies. I am also a huge fan of Italian Anise cookies. I think people either love them or hate them. Living in Western Massachusetts, we used to have snowy winters and white Christmas’s. This year is going to be different not only because of COVID, but we got a puppy last January. I have heirloom blown glass ornaments and am a little scared he will get excited and knock into the tree. Being very particular about the way I decorate might be a challenge… mostly because I don’t let anyone in my family touch the tree. I hope I am not the only neurotic person that has to have color schemes and perfectly balanced decor 😬 We do have two other trees in the house that I let my husband and step kids decorate, haha ! I think John might understand 😉 Happy Holidays everyone 🎄❄️ ⛄️
I stumble across your recipe the other day. Cooked these babies up and gave them to my 90 yo mamma. Well, she almost had tears in her eyes when eating them. She told me the taste brought her right back to her childhood when her and her mamma used to go to the local patisserie in Northern Italy and buy these. Thank you for taking my mamma back to a beautiful time in her life. Much gratitude!!
No way! I didn’t know anyone else made these except for my mom, who’s made them for Christmas every year for the last 30 years or so probably, except she uses really finely crushed pecans. I think she calls them snowballs. She also makes a slightly different variation that uses sliced almonds broken up a little and formed into a crescent instead of a ball. Both versions are awesome… instant nostalgia.
Chef John, you’re the best! I’ve been subscribed to your website for several years and my husband and I now have a tradition to watch your newest articles together. Between your website and allrecipes, I’m happy with the variety of dishes in my house! This cookie has been my husband’s food wish for some time and he was so excited to find this old article! I just made them within the past hour and they turned out perfectly, I think even better than my grandmother’s version of these “snowball cookies”. I made a half batch to test it out and will probably be making this several times over for Christmas. Thank you! My food wish is for a good fried zucchini plank, preferably with a light, somewhat fluffy beer batter. 🙂
I’ve made this recipe for thanksgiving and Christmas for the past 3 years and this is still my favorite recipe. It is so easy and yummy!!! I have tried other recipes that are good too but the ease of this one makes it so much more superior! Just made 2 more batches. One for now and one for the freezer 🙂
I made these today! They were SUPER good. They’re so aromatic and yummy without being too sweet. 😮 I think roasting the nuts really brings out the flavors better. The Some changes I did: – I used almonds instead of walnuts. I roasted and shredded my almonds into smaller pieces. – I upped the amount of vanilla needed (although I’m believe it’s fine as it is. The only reason I increased the amount of vanilla is because I added more flour/butter). – I added one more stick of butter, as well as one more cup of flour (they weren’t sticking together well. I think it’s because I added way too many almonds, since I wanted to use the leftover almonds I had). **Note: When I baked the cake for about 20-25 minute-ish, it may not look like it’s baked well, but the bottom looked golden-brown, so it’s actually fine. It kind of has a crumbly texture.
This is a great article! The best tool you have in the kitchen for mixing these is your hands. I make these cookies for special occasions. I use finely ground toasted nuts, almonds or walnuts. With walnuts I use vanilla extract, and with almonds, almond extract. After baking I let them cool completely and put then into a plastic bag with powdered/confectionery sugar and toss them ever so gently. I store them in this bag in a metal container. Just before serving I toss them gently.
Wow! These cookies are soooo good!!! I made them with roasted pecans. A little dry but still melt in your mouth! I made four-double batches for a cookie exchange….It was a lot of work but well worth it. I had so much left over that I sent some with my husband to the office and his coworkers really enjoyed them too. Thanks for the great and easy recipe!
“And no this article isn’t sponsored by the powdered sugar industry. (It should be, but it’s not).” and “But I’m going to finish up with a little bit of HOT tea. Well, actually room temperature prop tea-” I love this wonderful honesty and it makes me love your articles more. Thanks for the delightful looking cookie recipe. Looks so easy to do that I might even try this one.
Am russian,lived long life in Russia but never heard of particular “tea cakes or wedding cookies”……Or may be that because of walnuts in it? )) But russians also very fond of hazelnuts, peanuts ( arahis), sunflower seeds, almonds and more and not todays modern times – always/ Anyway I love you chef John
Like uxm2009, I use almonds, not walnuts, and I use almond extract. Also, like uxm2009, these cookies are only made for Christmas. My friend’s grandmother’s recipe had you roll them into balls then roll in sugar, and that means that recipes is from the 19th century. I have never toasted the almonds but I think that’s a wonderful idea. Chef John rules. You add a lot of laughter as well as good food recipes to my life. Both you and uxm2009 are great! xoxo
My Ukrainian-American family has been making these for about 100 years. I’ll have to try this way next time! We can also use almonds or pecans. We use almond extract, not vanilla. And we melt the butter before mixing — it mixes exactly the same. Otherwise we do it exactly the same. Everyone should try these at least once!
Chef and Crush, this is the first recipe I’ve tried of your’s and I have to say it turned out well. My only critique is that this cookie is quite dry so you definitely need tea (hence the name of the cookie) or a big glass of milk or water. I only ate one cookie and had to drink almost 2 cups of milk just to get the dryness out of my mouth. lol.
Great recipe and ideal for tea, indeed!!! I read in the comments below about the Greek style of them. And I want to recommend that you should try to make the ”kourampiedes” because are not exactly the same. The difference is that are made with sheep butter(the one that almost immediately melts outside the fridge)!!! And the whole house smells fantastic while baking because of this ingredient!!! I hope to watch it soon from you!!! Thank you so much!!!
Delicious! They are so easy to make. Different countries have their own unique variations. You can add crushed almonds, pistachios etc. for variety. Someone mentioned that in Greece they are only made durring Christmas, not so. They are quite popular in weddings and other holidays as well. I have really enjoyed this article very much!
I made these tonight with pecans, and they were quick and easy. They went together so fast, the hardest part is waiting while they bake. A friend taught me to make these when I was in college, it was the first time I had them. We named them after him, Fred’s Disgusting Cookies, because they were disgustingly good, you could eat ten of them at a time. I haven’t made them in awhile and didn’t have the recipe. This is it, tho, and they’re delicious.
Hello John, lots of country’s make these snow Balls in my country ( Greece) haha goes with My last name Lol any way, We call them kourambiedes and when they come out from the oven with a spray bottle We litley spray with rose water and continue Ur way thanks John though with ur recepies They are simple with the mesurments cups,tbs,tsp,not going crazy with ml. Grams. And try to measure Love the old fashion healthy way THANKS
Good article, though I don’t know why I’m even perusal this one because I never liked these types of cookies. Someone would always put cloves galore in it. Oh by the way, have you ever heard of or could consider making Polish kiffles? I adored those pastries but I never see them anywhere. You can make them with loads of fillings but my favorite were walnut and apricot. They were delicious for the holidays too. Hope you enjoy them and consider making more ethnic holiday recipes!
Years ago, my mother brought home what was essentially the same recipe, only with a Hershey’s Kiss (foil removed, of course) secreted in the middle. For some reason (I’ve always suspected that it has something to do with the butter) the chocolate center never entirely hardened. With all the varieties of Kisses out there, the possibilities…
My mom made these every year for Christmas and Thanksgiving. The only difference is she called them Christmas Snowballs or nutballs. I now make them for my grand kids and kids. 😉 Sometimes I use different nuts than Walnuts. I sometimes make batches with Cashews, Black Walnuts, Pistachios, Pecans or Chestnuts. . Mix the batches together when baked and powder sugared. It’s fun perusal people guess which one is which. btw.. I have never heard them called Russian Tea Cakes.