Gluten Free Russian Tea Cakes

These gluten-free Russian tea cakes are everyone’s favorite cookies, made with almond flour and spicy chai spices. They are always a hit!

Ready for the tastiest Russian tea cakes? These gluten free Russian tea cakes are super delicious and made with cozy chai spices. When I was growing up, my mother used to make Russian tea cakes as a treat, especially since my sister and I were always throwing tea parties for our dolls (ha!). This version is a little more nutritious than our family recipe and even tastier! The addition of chai spices gives them a spiciness and they completely melt on the tongue. Best of all, they’re completely gluten-free, so work for a lot of eaters! Here’s how to make these tea cakes, aka snowball cookies.

The secret of gluten-free Russian tea cakes

Gluten-free cookies can be tricky because gluten is so important in creating the standard cookie structure. What’s the secret of these gluten-free Russian tea cakes? almond powder. Almond flour consists of finely ground, blanched almonds and is often used in gluten-free baked goods.

The problem with almond flour is that it can be very dense. Finally, Those are just almonds! Therefore, it is important to get the right texture in a gluten-free biscuit. Here, Alex and I used cornstarch with almond flour to give these cookies a lighter texture. Since Russian tea cakes are typically denser than most cookies, the cornstarch is enough to blend into that crumbly, melt-in-the-mouth texture.

Add chai spices…why not?

For our take on gluten-free Russian tea cakes, Alex and I decided to add a little twist. Because we love chai spices so much, we decided to throw them in these cookies! With a few simple spices, they succeed irresistibly well. Here are the spices that make up chai spices:

• Cinammon
• Ginger
• cloves
• cardamom

Where can I find cardamom?

Ground cardamom can sometimes be hard to find, although it should be available at most grocery stores. If you can’t find it in stores (or if you think it’s too expensive), you can buy cardamom online here. Cardamom is absolutely essential for chai spices: this gives chai its characteristic taste! We therefore advise you to find it for this recipe.

Almond flour: no almond flour!

An important note about these gluten-free Russian tea cakes: Be sure to use almond flour, not almond flour! What is the difference? Both are made from ground almonds. almond powder is made from blanched almonds (almonds without the shell) and ground very finely. almond dish contains the almond shells that make it brown instead of cream and has a coarser grind than almond flour.

To give these tea cakes the right consistency, you need almond flour. Almond flour would be way too dense! Learn more about the differences here: Almond flour vs. almond flour.

Where to find almond flour

Almond flour is easy to find in many grocery stores these days. If you can’t find it, you can Order almond flour online.

More gluten free cookies!

Are you looking for other gluten-free cookies besides these Russian tea cakes?

This recipe for gluten-free Russian tea cakes is…

Vegetarian and gluten free.