Sugar-Free Vegan Russian Tea Cakes - Best Christmas Cookies Ever!

Sugar-Free Vegan Russian Tea Cakes 

These Sugar-Free Vegan Russian Tea Cakes are the best Christmas cookie ever!  Just the right blend of what you want in a holiday cookie ~ buttery-rich, with just enough sweetness, and a firm, yet melt-in-your-mouth bite.

When I was growing up, my mom would make Russian Tea Cakes, the best soft, thick Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies, and Bourbon Balls.   Naturally, I loved them all!  (What kid wouldn't???) Those Bourbon Balls certainly aged well!  This year, I had been thinking about making the Bourbon Balls and the Russian Tea Cakes, and had wished I had the recipes my mom used.

A Surprise Find!  My Mom's Old Russian Tea Cakes Recipe

Recently, while moving my mom into another residence, I packed up some of the pictures and items that were on her tall shelving units to bring home, as she was no longer using them. Among those items were her two remaining old classic, 3-ring binder cookbooks, Pillsbury, and Better Homes & Garden.  While those were fun to look through, what was even more exciting were all the recipes that she had clipped from newspapers and magazines, decades back.  Well, some of them anyways, as I recall tossing an entire cookie tin filled with clippings before moving her out of her condo in Chicago.  Thankfully, these were preserved!

While I could have easily done an internet search for the recipes for Bourbon Balls, or Russian Tea Cakes, and just create my own version of Sugar-Free Vegan Russian Tea Cakes, or Vegan Bourbon Balls, I knew that the ones my mom made were already perfect.   Not all Russian Tea Cake cookies are made equally!  

I've had Russian Tea Cakes, also called Wedding Cookies that were too sweet, or too refined / commercial tasting, or good, but nothing to write home about.   Rarely have I actually come across the love-at-first-bite, melt-in-you-mouth good Russian Tea Cakes, as crazy as that seems, as there are only a handful of ingredients in these super delicious cookies!  I mean, what could go wrong?

But, as if right on time for Christmas, these cookbooks filled with her clipped recipes fell into my lap, and lo and behold, look what I found:

My mom's recipe for Russian Tea Cakes, hand written on an envelope, preserved all these decades in one of her old classic 3-ring binder cookbooks!  As a friend said, it's like a family treasure!  The Bourbon Balls recipe was also in there, on an old newspaper clipping.  Bonanza!

Vanilla Wafers for Bourbon Balls

The Bourbon Balls require vanilla wafers.  I looked and did not find acceptable vegan vanilla wafers without corn syrup or added flavorings, so to make the Bourbon Balls, I would first need to bake my own Vanilla Wafers.  Which I did!  I found a very good recipe at ElaVegan, here.  In fact, they taste kind of similar to the Russian Tea Cakes, and are also gluten-free.  They were perfect for bringing with to a family Christmas Eve gathering, for those who are gluten-free and sugar-free.  Easy to make, with only a handful of ingredients, similar to the Vegan Russian Tea Cakes.

Actually, the Vanilla Wafers were so good, I made two batches, and gave several away as gifts.  In lieu of making those Bourbon Balls, I have a thought to experiment with making some of my Dried Fruit Truffles  using dates, nuts, cocoa powder and rum flavoring as I think the flavor will be close enough to satisfy, while being sugar ~ and alcohol-free!  I'll keep you posted.

Vegan Vanilla Wafers recipe at ElaVegan

How Good Are These Sugar-Free Vegan Russian Tea Cakes?

To make cookies or other baked goods vegan typically requires only a couple easy substitutions.  Swapping out butter for vegan butter, swapping out eggs, if needed, with any of a few options, including using a flax or chia 'egg', any egg substitute sold on the market, or other possible alternatives. 

The question was, Was it possible to make Sugar-Free Vegan Russian Tea Cakes using whole wheat pastry flour in lieu of around half of the all-purpose flour, and Swerve confectioners sugar taste as good as I remember mom's were?  You betcha!  

How do I know these Vegan Russian Tea Cakes were that good?  

Because I watched every person as they took their first bite.  They all had that same look on their faces of pure blissful satisfaction, and that nod that said, "Oh yeah, these are exactly as I remember mom making!"

Apparently, there are more than a few of us who had mom's that made Russian Tea Cakes at Christmas time!

Well, move over Russian Tea Cakes, a new kid is in town!  Sugar-Free Vegan Russian Tea Cakes, made sugar-free using Swerve Confectioners Sugar made from Erythritol, derived from fruits and vegetables, instead of confectioners (powdered) sugar are every bit as memorable, nostalgic and delicious, and every bit as easy to make.  So, let's do this!  

Oh, and by the way, if you prefer to use regular confectioners sugar, have at it.  I used Swerve Confectioners because that was all I had on hand.  Plus, I was bringing them to our family Christmas Eve party with a few folks who abstain from sugar.  They were definitely a hit!

Sugar-Free Vegan Russian Tea Cakes

Vegan Russian Tea Cakes foreground, Vegan Vanilla Wafers
(recipe at ElaVegan) background

Sugar-Free Vegan Russian Tea Cakes Recipe Ingredients + Steps

Ingredients:

• 1 cup vegan butter such as Smart Balance or Miyoko's Creamery, softened 
• 1/2 cup Swerve Confectioner's Sugar, or regular confectioners (powdered) sugar
• 1 tsp. (or a bit more) vanilla extract
• 1 & 1/4 cups organic, unbleached all purpose flour (I actually prefer King Arthur or other brands that are not enriched with synthetic vitamins.)
• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 3/4 cup finely chopped pecans
• Pinch of salt if using unsalted butter, otherwise, can be omitted

Steps: (Also see notes, below.)

1. If the butter is hard, soften in a microwave for about 20 seconds on a low power, such as power level # 4 or 5, or put butter on a plate on top of the oven if the oven is on, until it begins to soften. Once softened, add to a large mixing bowl, and SIFT Swerve or sugar into the bowl, along with the vanilla, and stir until well combined.
2. SIFT the flours into a separate bowl.  Add salt, if using.
3. Mix the flour into the butter, about 1/4 to 1/3 at a time.  Stir well.  You'll get a little bit of a workout here, as the batter is stiff.
4. Stir in pecans.
5. Preheat oven to between 390º - 400º.  The original Russian Tea Cake recipe calls for 400º, but I rarely use that high of a temp on my oven.  It seems to set off the fire detector.  I set my oven for 390º, but go according to your oven.
6. Line a baking pan with parchment paper for easy clean up.  Roll about a teaspoon worth of dough into a ball between your palms, and place on the baking sheet.  Repeat until all the dough is used up. I made mine to be a bit smaller than a golf ball size.
7. Bake about 10 minutes.  The bottom of the cookie will be lightly browned.  When pressing the cookie with a finger, it should spring back.  They can go from not quite looking baked enough to being almost over baked quickly, os once ten minutes are up, keep setting your timer for one more minute at a time, to keep checking on them.
8. Grab a shallow bowl or plate, and add more Swerve or confectioners sugar.  As soon as it's safe to handle the cookies from the oven, roll in the sugar, and place on a plate.  Once done rolling each of them once, start over, and roll them a second time.  I had to tap the cookies a bit to keep the Swerve from being really thick in some spots, trying to keep it even around the cookie.

NOTES:

• Don't skip on the sifting!  I think it makes a big difference keeping these cookies so delicately sweet and buttery, yet light tasting.
• If the Swerve comes out looking a little lumpy when ready to roll, just break it up with a fork.
• The dough may be easier to use if you chill it first.  I made these the night before I baked them.  I wrapped them tightly in Saran wrap, and kept them in the refrigerator until ready to bake.  You can even bake half the batter at at time, and keep the other half for a few days in the fridge.
• Once baked, these Vegan Russian Tea Cake Cookies keep well in a container with a tight fitting lid. I line the container with wax paper, put a layer of cookies in, then fold the wax paper over to stack another layer.