My Mom always made these cookies for Christmas and I know why ~ they’re easy!!  With 5 kids clamoring for attention and basically freaking out during those last few days before the arrival of the ‘big guy’, she’d escape to the kitchen and throw a few batches together.  Now that I’m older (and perhaps a bit wiser) I think I understand another reason she chose to whip these up….Rum!  Hey, if you had to work as hard as she did, you’d take a few nips from the bottle, too!  Thanks, Mom:)

Russian Tea Cakes

  • 1 cup butter
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 6 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts
  • 1/3 cup confectioners’ sugar for decoration
  • 8 Cups of Rum (kidding, just a few eye droppers full)

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
  2. In a medium bowl, cream butter and vanilla until smooth. Combine the 6 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar and flour; stir into the butter mixture until just blended. Mix in the chopped walnuts. Roll dough into 1 inch balls, and place them 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
  3. Bake for 12 minutes in the preheated oven. When cool, add a few squirts of spiced rum and roll in remaining confectioners’ sugar.