Gluten Free Russian Tea Cakes

Ready for the tastiest Russian tea cakes out there? These gluten free Russian tea cakes are seriously tasty, made with cozy chai spices. Growing up, my mom made 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 nutrient-dense than our family recipe, and even tastier! Adding chai spices gives them a warmth, and they totally melt in your mouth. Even better, they’re totally gluten free so work for lots of eaters! Here’s how to make these tea cakes—also known as snowball cookies.

The secret to gluten free Russian tea cakes

Gluten free cookies can be challenging, since gluten is so important in making the standard cookie structure. What’s the secret to these gluten free Russian tea cakes? Almond flour. Almond flour is just finely ground blanched almonds, and it’s popular for using in gluten free baked goods. The problem with almond flour is that it can be super dense. After all, it’s just almonds! So getting the right texture in a gluten free cookie is important. Here Alex and I used cornstarch along with the almond flour to help these cookies have a lighter texture. Because Russian tea cakes are generally denser than most cookies, the cornstarch is enough to come together into that signature crumbly, melt-in-your mouth texture.

Adding chai spices…why not?

For our version of gluten free Russian tea cakes, Alex and I decided to add a little spin. Because we love Chai spices so much, we decided to throw them into these cookies! They turn out irresistibly good by adding just a few simple spices. Here are the spices that make up chai spices:

CinnamonGingerClovesCardamom

Where to find cardamom

Ground cardamom can sometimes be hard to find, though it should be available in most grocery stores. If you can’t find it in the store (or it seems overly expensive), you can buy cardamom online here. Cardamom is absolutely essential to chai spices: it’s what gives chai it’s signature flavor! So we’d recommend finding it for this recipe.

Almond flour: not almond meal!

One important note about these gluten free Russian tea cakes: make sure to use almond flour, not almond meal! What’s the difference? Both are made from ground almonds. Almond flour is made from blanched almonds (almonds with their skins removed) and is ground very finely. Almond meal contains the almond skins, making it brown in color instead of off-white, and has a coarser grind than almond flour. To get the right texture in these tea cakes, almond flour is required. Almond meal would be much too dense! Read more about the differences here: Almond Meal vs Almond Flour.

Where to find almond flour

It’s easy to find almond flour in many grocery stores these days. If you can’t find it, you can order almond flour online.

More gluten free cookies!

Looking for other gluten free cookies outside of these Russian tea cakes?

These Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies are also made with almond flour, as is this Almond Flour Skillet Cookie. Another great option is our no bake cookies! Try our Tahini No Bake Cookies or popular Bliss Bites.