Russian tea biscuits are a favorite everyday treat from Cleveland, Ohio. Locals eat them for breakfast, for an afternoon nosh, at home and out at their favorite bakeries. If you aren’t from Cleveland, a quick glance at a Russian tea biscuit will make you think they’re rugelach. But don’t be fooled. At four to five times the size of rugelach, Russian tea biscuits are made with a different dough that makes them more like a pastry than a cookie.
This recipe is based on careful research of baking techniques and, of course, taste tests. That said, Clevelanders are quite opinionated about the style of their Russian tea biscuit dough. Some prefer a dough that is crumblier, while others lean towards a flakier dough. You will find this dough is delightfully flaky. Make sure you use full-fat sour cream or, for a slightly denser but still flaky dough, crème fraiche.
Note: The dough needs to chill in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours, or overnight.
Russian Tea Biscuits
These supersized pastries may be even better than rugelach.
- Total Time: 5 hours
- Yield: 8
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 2 cups flour
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 2 sticks room temperature butter
- 1 cup full-fat sour cream or crème fraiche
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 egg yolks (reserve the whites to glaze the pastries)
For the filling:
- 18 oz raspberry jam
- 1 ½ cups golden raisins
- 1 cup chopped walnuts (or shredded coconut)
- splash of orange juice
- grated rind of ½ orange
- dash of cinnamon
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients for the dough.
- Cut the butter into 12 pieces (or more). Then cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the butter pieces are the size of pecan halves.
- In another bowl, mix the vanilla, egg yolks and sour cream. Gradually stir into the dry ingredients until they just come together.
- Form the dough into two balls, flatten into discs, then use your fingers to smear the small pieces of butter to create streaks through the dough. Turn the dough over several times, smearing the butter each time.
- Form the dough back into two balls, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 3-4 hours, or overnight.
- For the filling, mix all ingredients in a bowl. Use enough raisins and nuts (or coconut) to achieve a mortar-like texture to prevent the filling from oozing in the baking process.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator. Flour a surface and roll each ball out into ¼-inch thick rectangles. Slice each rectangle into four equal pieces. Spread filling evenly on each piece, leaving ¼ inch of room on the edges. Roll up, then brush egg white generously on top. Bake for 30 minutes.
Notes
The dough needs to chill in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours, or overnight.
- Prep Time: 30 mins + 4 hours chill time
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Ashkenazi
What is the Russian name for these?
I miss Russian Tea Biscuits so much! I would suggest sprinkling the tops of the pastries with coarse sugar before baking
I live in another country. The product packages do not have the same weight as yours. It would be good to give the recipe in grams. Butter in my country is not sold in sticks. What is the weight of the stick in the recipe?
1 stick butter = 8 tablespoons, 1/2 cup, 113 g
HI Paula, I would love it if they gave the recipes in Grams as well! Happy Baking!
Seems more like strudel than rugelach
Can anyone provide the recipe for the poppy seed filling, please?
Hi Vera, you could use the poppy seed filling from this recipe.
Question: The first photo of Russian tea biscuits, before the story, shows biscuits with poppy seeds included in the filling. But the recipe for the filling does not include poppy seeds. What is the recipe for the filling with poppy seeds? Really curious as my husband loves anything with poppy seeds.
You could use the poppy seed filling from this recipe (or make both, to satisfy all his poppy seed needs!)
I buy it in a can from Solo
The ones we had in Cleveland were parve What do you suggest we substitute to be authentic Also you should publish Cleveland coconut bars
You can substitute the margarine or non-dairy butter of your choice. Please tell us more about Cleveland coconut bars and their Jewish connection!
Salted or unsalted butter?
Unsalted.
Will this work with gluten-free flour, such as King Arthur Measure for Measure?
We haven’t tested the recipe with gluten-free flour but please let us know how it turns out if you do.
I didn’t have sour cream but used full fat Greek yogurt and they were flakey and delicious. I also used poppy seed and chocolate chip fillings.
Made these these other day for a friend from Cleveland. They were flakey and delicious. Almost as good as the Stone Oven, a fabulous Cleveland hts bakery/restaurant.