How to Make the Best Orange Pistachio Tea Cakes
The following post may contain affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra charge to you. To learn more about this, please visit my Disclaimer page. Thank you for your continued support!
As summer rolls in, I like having nice, light, easy cookie recipes on hand. Think bright delicate flavors that won’t melt or get sticky in the sun – things that taste good with a glass of iced tea. So, today, we’re making orange pistachio tea cakes. These are crunchy, fluffy cookies with colorful pistachios and zippy orange flavor, perfect for a sunny picnic.
Confused? Tea cakes are, in fact, cookies not cakes. This is just what they have been called in English for a long time. The word “cookie” actually comes from the Dutch word “koekje” which made it into the American/New England vernacular in the early 1600s. However, the name “tea cake” had been in use for so long, it has stuck.
The Notable History of Southern Tea Cakes
As far back as when the first colonists landed in North America, these cookies were a staple of afternoon tea. While most of the United States has switched to coffee and no one takes an afternoon break anymore, we can still enjoy this classic treat any time.
Most southern tea cakes can be traced back to the “jumble.” Invented before baking soda, this was a hard, dense biscuit. You needed tea to dunk your biscuit and make it soft enough to eat.
Thanks to leaveners, they’ve since evolved into cookies as unique as their families. The trademark characteristics are a crisp, crunchy exterior and a soft interior often with a simple flavor. You can learn more from Ann Byrne’s article in Local Palate here.
And as with most southern specialties, it’s necessary to credit the African-American enslaved people for developing these family-specific recipes. While they were responsible for providing teatime snacks for their captors, they had their own versions, too, using what they had available to them. The recipes live on to feature in family gatherings, holidays, and special occasions.
Where to Learn More About Southern Tea Cakes
Though most bloggers today seem to have agreed that a southern tea cake is a buttery sugar cookie flavored with vanilla and nutmeg, that was not always the case. As you can learn from Grandbaby Cakes’ family story, there could even be molasses in some.
I highly recommend that you research authentic recipes that come from the blogger’s grandmothers. I like this one from Divas Can Cook.
In this post from I Heart Recipes, her grandmother’s recipe was lost, and she worked backward to figure out how to make them again. It’s also a good read!
Today, you can find these unique treats on reception tables after weddings, funerals, church services, baby showers, wedding showers, or just a nice ladies brunch. Family events and holidays are a perfect time to wheel out your favorite tea cake recipe.
These are Orange Pistachio Tea Cakes
Now, I’m officially calling these orange pistachio tea cakes, and I’m dropping “southern.” Why? This is not your classic true-to-form southern tea cake, and I don’t want to step on toes where I don’t belong.
What these are is freaking delicious. I have happily eaten most of this batch by myself. The exterior is encrusted with sugar for the crunchiest bakery-fresh exterior. Inside is a plush, pillowy, orange-scented, pistachio-studded treat. The flavors don’t hit hard, but they dance lightly on your tongue.
Do they sound kind of familiar? Around Christmas, I make pistachio snowballs. These also go by the names Italian wedding cakes, Mexican wedding cakes, and Russian tea cakes. While these are similar, they are pretty different, too.
The texture of my snowballs is softer and crumbles, melting away in your mouth. They have an almost cookie-dough-like vibe. These tea cakes, on the other hand, hold their shape, have a crisp exterior, and the inside is cakier. Plus, they have that orange zest in there so the flavor is citrusy rather than nutty from the almond extract.
If you’re curious, you might even make a batch of each and taste test the differences yourself. This would make a heck of a tea party! All you have to do is get mixing.
How to Make Orange Pistachio Tea Cakes
First things first, you’ll want to zest your orange right into the sugar. I’ve mentioned this a lot recently. You have to make sure all those zesty oils go right into the sugar or else they’ll be lost. Then you cream your orange zest sugar with room temperature butter.
I let the stand mixer do the work because I want my butter and sugar really fluffy. This takes about 5 minutes. After that, you just add in your orange juice, egg, dry ingredients, and pistachios. Chill that dough for an hour to reset the butter.
To form the cookies, I recommend using a cookie scoop. Pack the dough in there really well, and pop it out. This makes the top of the cookie nice and round and smooth, but the bottom will be flat. My orange pistachio tea cakes don’t rise or spread much, so this helps them keep a cute shape.
Once I have all the cookie dough portioned out, I give the tops a roll in sugar. Leave the bottoms bare. They’ll be browner that way, and it helps with the texture. Then, you just bake them! I prefer them cooled to when they are hot out of the oven, which might be the first time I’ve ever thought that about a cookie. But these are tea cakes, not cookies. So, ha!
Also, these are really good paired with my fresh mint iced tea. If you haven’t tried that, it’s really easy to make and so refreshing during the summer. Plus, if you’re growing your own mint, it makes good use of it. You mint growers know you have to keep up with it or it takes over!
Tools You’ll Need
You don’t need a lot of fancy tools to make your orange pistachio tea cakes, but here’s what I use.
Comment below if you have questions, concerns, or opinions. And tag me @ellejayathome on Instagram or Twitter if you share pictures from any of my recipes. I love to hear from you!
Orange Pistachio Tea Cakes
Equipment
- Stand mixer with paddle attachment
- Sheet pan
- Parchment paper or silicone baking mat
- Zester
Ingredients
- 1 cup pure cane sugar
- 1 valencia orange
- ½ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 large egg room temperature
- ½ cup pistachios unsalted, shelled, and chopped
- 1¾ cups all purpose flour
- ½ tsp pink himalayan sea salt
- ½ tsp cream of tartar
- ¼ cup pure cane sugar for coating
Instructions
- Zest your orange into the sugar, and collect 1 Tablespoon of orange juice. Set aside.
- Cream the butter into the orange zest and sugar.
- Add in the egg and mix until smooth. Add in the orange juice and stir to combine.
- Fold in the flour, salt, cream of tartar, and chopped pistachios.
- Cover and chill for 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line your sheet pan with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
- Scoop out 2 Tablespoon sized balls onto your mat. As you scoop, pack the dough into the scoop tightly. The balls should be rounded on top and flat on the bottom.
- Roll just the rounded top of each ball in sugar, and set it back on the pan (flat side down).
- Bake for 15 minutes. Allow to cool for 5 to 10 minutes on the pan before moving to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Store in an airtight container for up to a week, or freeze for up to 6 months.
One Comment
Samantha Reeves
I LOVE how informative this all was! You’ve done a wonderful amount of research, and im so grateful you gave credit to the African American slaves!! Beautiful post! I cannot wait to make these!!