Mrs. Crist's Tea Cookies
Submitted by martibeth on February 22, 2010 at 8:51 am

DESCRIPTION
Mrs. Crist's Tea Cookies

SUMMARY
Yield 0 File under Family / Ethnic / Regional

INSTRUCTIONS
I put this recipe for tea cookies under ethnic category, because it is such an old recipe that was given to my Hungarian grandmother by her Russian neighbor, Mrs. Crist, over 70 years ago, in western Pennsylvania. I have never tasted anything like it.

1 cup of butter
2 cups of brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup nut meats (walnuts - do not chop too finely)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cream of tartar mixed with
4 cups of flour
1 teaspoon soda dissolved in small quantity of hot water

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, vanilla, nut meats and dissolved soda. Then add the flour and cream of tartar. Add enough extra flour to make into rolls. Set in a cold place overnight, and then slice and bake in a moderate oven (375).

I wrote the above recipe exactly as my mother had written it, who had gotten it from her mother. Following are my notes:
1. I used to always cream the butter and sugar by hand, but the last time I made it, I used a stand mixer; it certainly cuts down on the time.
2. I usually use dark brown rather than light brown sugar.
3. Use just the ittiest bit of water to dissolve the baking soda. Also, you can substitute Bakewell Cream for the cream of tartar.
4. You probably will not need to add any extra flour - I can't remember ever having to add any myself.
5. The last time I made these, I divided the dough into 4 rolls, about a foot long, and each roll weighed about 12 ounces. I double wrap them in plastic wrap and put them overnight in the refrigerator. Do not freeze.
6. Slice them no thicker than 1/4 inch. Try even thinner if you can. They slice very easily once the dough is cold.
7. Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet about 7-8 minutes. This cookie recipe is one of the very few recipes in which I don't line the baking sheets with parchment paper, but you really don't need it. Watch the first batch and see how long it takes. When they cool they will be crisp.
8. This recipe makes about 200 cookies. My husband likes them particularly because they are not real sweet.
9. I'm not sure how long the unbaked rolls could stay in the refrigerator. I believe I've had them in there close to a week, but I'm not sure I would advise that long.