Russian Tea Cakes

Russian tea cakes are an easy-to-make cookie that because of their snowball-like appearance make a perfect addition to your holiday cookie rotation. Are Russian tea cakes actually Russian? No. Are they cakes? Also no. But are they delicious? YES!!!

Russian Tea Cakes

Cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature

1/3 packed cup confectioners sugar

1 cup lightly toasted* walnuts, finely chopped 

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Coating

Additional confectioners sugar

1. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone cooking mat.
2. Add all cookie ingredients to a large mixing bowl.
3. Use your hands to mix together until all ingredients are incorporated into a dough.
4. Use a 1-inch scoop to portion dough and roll into balls.
5. Place balls a few inches apart on the cookie sheet to allow for spreading while baking.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-25 minutes, checking at the 15 minute mark. Remove from oven when cookies are light golden brown on the bottom.
7. Let cool for 5 minutes.
8. Toss cookies in additional confectioners sugar and return to baking sheet to continue cooling. The first coating of sugar will melt into a glaze as the cookies continue to cool.
9. Let sugared cookies cool completely, then toss in confectioners sugar again to ensure the finished cookies have a generous coating of confectioners sugar.
10. Store the Russian tea cakes in a shallow, airtight container at room temperature for up to one week.

Notes:

Toast the walnuts on a dry pan over medium heat, tossing frequently for about 5 minutes or until nuts are lightly golden and fragrant then remove to a cutting board to cool and chop. Toasting the nuts will bring out their best flavor and will make your cookies even better.

Nuts can burn very quickly. Never walk away from the pan, and be sure to toss the nuts frequently. As soon as you can smell the aroma of the nuts, they are done toasting.

Recipe makes between 28 to 32 Russian Tea Cakes.

Cherry Vanilla Jam

Who has cherry lovers in their family? We have them on both sides of our family so this homemade cherry jam recipe was a real hit! Today we're sharing our quick and easy cherry jam recipe that's a beautiful deep red color (so it's perfect for Christmas gift-giving).

This particular recipe is a mix of cherry and vanilla flavors, and it tastes delicious slathered on a warm, buttered biscuit. (And, here's another secret about this recipe, it's made it with frozen cherries, which means NO extra time pitting cherries and no stained hands!)

If you have never used a water bath canning method to can jams or jellies before, you'll want to read the complete instructions online before you start making your Cherry Vanilla Jam.

Cherry Vanilla Jam

3 pound bag frozen mixed cherries

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2, 1.75-ounce packages pectin 

1 tablespoon vanilla 

6 cups sugar

9 half pint (8 oz.) glass preserving jars with lids and bands

1 4 oz. glass preserving jar with lid and band

1. Pulse cherries in a food processor and then place prepared fruit into an 8 quart pot. 
2. Add lemon juice, pectin, and vanilla and stir. 
3. Bring mixture to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down, over high heat, stirring constantly.
4. Add sugar, stirring to dissolve. Return mixture to a full rolling boil. Boil hard exactly 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim foam if necessary.
5. Ladle hot jam into hot jars, leaving 1/4-inch head space. 
6. Follow water bath canning directions to complete the canning process. Process Cherry Vanilla Jam 10 minutes. 
7. Recipe yields 9 half pint jelly jars plus 1, 4-oz. jar for taste-testing.

Notes:

Jam and jelly recipes are finicky, so these types of things can cause your recipe not to set:

• Doubling the recipe.
• Measuring less than the full amount of sugar listed in the recipe or using a sugar substitute. If you want to use less sugar, use a recipe specifically developed for low sugar. 

Other Jam & Jelly Recipes You Might Enjoy:

• Blueberry Jam
• Spiced Christmas Jam
• Spiced Apple Pie Jam
• Apple Scrap Jelly
• Pineapple Habanero Jelly
• Ghost Pepper Jelly
• Habanero Pepper Jelly

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Sausage Balls

This is the Sausage Ball recipe that The Harris Sisters family made growing up. If you look up "Sausage Balls Recipe" today, you'll find many different variations of this savory appetizer recipe, including ingredients like pimento cheese, cream cheese, onions, and all sorts of spices. 

But the recipe we used was made with only these three simple ingredients: Bisquick, cheddar cheese, and sausage, and those sausage balls were a hit every time.

We usually made this recipe at Christmas time, but this Southern snack food is also perfect for game day, wedding or baby showers, or breakfast or brunch potlucks.

Sausage Balls

3 scant cups Original Bisquick Pancake and Baking Mix*

1 pound pork sausage* at room temperature

16 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded* (4 cups)

1. Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl then mix by hand* until all ingredients are evenly combined.
2. Roll dough into 1 1/2 inch balls and place one inch apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
3. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned on the bottom.
4. Serve sausage balls warm or at room temperature.

Notes:

To measure a scant cup of flour, scoop the flour into the cup using a spoon. Scant means almost a full cup, but not quite. Do not use the cup to scoop the flour and level it as you would normally do with baking, or you will use too much flour for this recipe.

We use Jimmy Dean Hot Sausage.

Make sure to shred your own cheese for this recipe versus using bagged cheese. Bagged cheese is drier than freshly shredded cheese and will contribute to a drier sausage ball.

The dough for this recipe is very stiff, which may make mixing it difficult to do with a spoon. You may have the most success kneading the dough with your hands as you would with bread dough.

The original back-of-box recipe (shown below) also includes the addition of Parmesan cheese, milk, and herbs, as well as sauces for dipping. We have never included those in our recipe. However, if after mixing your dough, it seems dry, you may want to add a splash of milk to help incorporate the ingredients.

Recipe makes approximately 4 dozen sausage balls.