Holland Tea Cakes
A proper vegetarian built around all-purpose flour, white granulated sugar and unsalted butter — roughly 60 minutes start to finish, and rated medium to make. You'll find the full ingredient list (with a scaler to change the servings), 6 steps of method, substitutions, and ideas for what to serve alongside.
You'll mainly reach for oven and whisk. At medium difficulty across 6 steps, it's manageable with a little attention. As written, it's meat-free.
What you'll need
Pantry staples (you likely have these)
🔁 Unit converter
How to make it
- Cream the softened butter and sugar together in a bowl until light and fluffy, then beat in the eggs one at a time followed by the vanilla.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt, then gradually stir the dry mixture into the wet to form a soft dough.
- Gather the dough into a disc, wrap it, and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour so it firms up enough to roll.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to about 6 mm (1/4 inch) thick and cut into rounds with a cutter or glass, then arrange them on parchment-lined baking sheets.
- Brush the tops lightly with a little beaten egg or water and sprinkle generously with colored sugar or chopped nuts.
- Bake at 180 C (350 F) for 10 to 12 minutes until the edges are just golden, then cool on the sheet for a couple of minutes before transferring to a rack to cool completely.
You'll use: Oven · Whisk · Baking sheet
Ingredient substitutions
- Butter
- olive oil (¾ the amount) · coconut oil · margarine
- Eggs
- ¼ cup unsweetened applesauce (baking) · 1 tbsp ground flax + 3 tbsp water per egg
Tips & common questions
How long does Holland Tea Cakes take to make?
About 60 minutes from start to finish — an estimate based on the 6 steps and 9 ingredients. Times vary with your kitchen and how much prep you do ahead.
What can I use instead of butter?
Try olive oil (¾ the amount). See the substitutions section above for more swaps.
Can I scale this recipe up or down?
Yes — use the servings control above the ingredients and every quantity rescales automatically (fractions included). Cooking times stay roughly the same; very large batches may need a little longer.
Is Holland Tea Cakes vegetarian?
Its ingredients contain no meat or fish, so it's suitable for vegetarians. Check any cheeses for animal rennet if that matters to you.
Related recipes
Holland Tea Cakes is an original recipe developed in-house by Consomee. Photo: Koningin Juliana en de prinsessen eten cake en drinken limonade en thee, Bestanddeelnr 019-0439.jpg (CC0) via Wikimedia Commons. We add the serving scaler, ingredient tools, timing and structure on top — how we source recipes.