Welsh Tea Cakes
Sweet, crumbly, buttery goodness, anyone? Grab yourself a cup of tea and cozy up with some Welsh Tea Cakes!
These traditional Welsh treats are the perfect combination of scones and shortbread, having both a bread-like crumble and a tender, melt-in-your-mouth, buttery richness. If you’ve never heard of or tried Welsh Tea Cakes, heck are you missing out! My grandma (who’s father was from Wales) has made this recipe for my family since before I was alive, possibly even before my parents were too, and it’s since been our most cherished treat.
Jump to RecipeIngredients & Inspiration
I cannot even begin to tell you how elated I am to be able to enjoy my grandma’s Welsh Tea Cakes again now that I’ve made her recipe vegan and GF! She was the first person I called when I successfully made my first batch. 🙂 There’s just a simple kind of magic in biting into a buttery, chewy, tender, sweet and melt-in-your-mouth tea cake that words can’t describe!
Welsh Tea Cakes are traditionally made with copious amounts of butter and lard (well, at least my grandma’s recipe is). So, we’ve tweaked this recipe to be vegan by swapping out butter and lard for just vegan butter. It can be made gluten-free as well by using gluten-free all-purpose flour (which is how we roll here at SVK!).
- Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour + Baking Powder: Provides a crumbly bite and lift to the tea cakes.
- Vegan Butter + Flax Egg: Acts as our binding ingredients, adding a delicious buttery richness!
- White Sugar: 1/2 a cup provides just the right amount of not-too-sweetness.
- Currants + Nutmeg: The perfect amount of fragrance, chewiness and bursts of sweetness.
How to Make Welsh Tea Cakes
The Deets
These crumbly delights take only 20 minutes to prepare and 8 minutes to cook, so when that sweet and crumbly craving hits you’re ready! Side note: For this recipe you’ll need either an electric skillet or 1-2 large frying pans, no oven required!
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, nutmeg and salt, and set aside.
- In another large mixing bowl, cream the vegan butter, sugar and flax egg together using a hand- or stand-mixer.
- Add the dry ingredients plus the currants to the butter mixture and mix well with a wooden spoon. Continue working the mixture with your hands until it forms a dough. Wrap the ball of dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Roll out your dough on a floured surface and cut out your tea cakes with a 2-2.5″ circle cookie cutter.
- Cook the tea cakes on a hot skillet for 4 minutes on each side, until golden brown. Remove and place on a cooling rack, letting cool for 15-20 minutes. Eat up and enjoy!
These are by far one of my favourite treats to enjoy during the holiday season, but they’re a wonderful anytime treat as well. They never go out of style! Put on a pot of tea, cozy up under a warm blanket and indulge in these little cakes of happiness and joy. Or, you know, just eat them straight off the cooling rack!
Welsh Tea Cakes freeze wonderfully (straight out of the freezer they taste incredible), and can be stored for a month or so, but I highly doubt they’ll last that long 😉 Short-term they can be stored in a the fridge in a sealed container if you plan to consume them within 3-5 days.
Looking for more delicious vegan and gluten-free treats? Check out my Candy Cane Shortbread or Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Chip Mini Scones recipes!
Lastly, if you make this recipe and decide to share it on Facebook or Instagram, don’t forget to tag me @SteamyVeganKitchen + #SteamyVeganKitchen! I can’t wait to see your yummy recreations 🙂
Welsh Tea Cakes | Vegan & Gluten-Free
Equipment
- Electric Skillet or 1-2 Large Frying Pans
Ingredients
- 1 cup vegan butter, cold
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1 flax egg (1 tbsp ground flax + 3 tbsp water, sit for 10 mins)
- 2 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1 cup currants
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, sift in the flour, baking powder, nutmeg and salt. Mix well to combine.
- In another bowl, use a hand- or stand-mixer and cream the butter. Add in the sugar and flax egg and continue mixing until white and fluffy peaks begin to form.
- Add the dry ingredients plus the currants to the butter mixture. Using a wooden spoon, stir until the mixture begins coming together into a crumbly dough. Now use your hands to continue working the dough until you’re able to form it into a large ball without it crumbling apart (this may take a few minutes of working with it!).
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Flour your work surface and a rolling pin and roll out half the dough into a 1/4” thick sheet. Cut out the dough with a round cookie cutter.
- Plug in an electric skillet and set the temperature to 380F, or heat a large skillet on medium-high heat. Once hot, place the circles 1 inch apart and cook on both sides for about 4 minutes, until they begin to turn golden.
- Remove from the skillet and place on a cooling rack. They will be VERY fragile when hot so handle them gently. Let cool for 30 minutes before eating, so they can firm up a bit.
- Repeat with the remaining dough, and enjoy!
