Almond Tea Cakes with Wild Blueberry Jam

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.

Little Almond Tea Cakes with Wild Blueberry Jam

Some of the best cookies we’ve ever made!

I couldn’t be more proud of this new delicious recipe for Almond Tea Cakes. Developing recipes in my head is always a lot easier than making those dream recipes come true in my kitchen. However after a few variations, this recipe exceeds all my expectations by a mile!

These cookies are like a cross between Russian Tea Cakes, Mary Berry’s Viennese Whirls, a Russian Tea Cake Cookie and a buttery jam filled shortbread thumbprint. This hybrid is truly one of the best cookie recipes to ever come out of the SRFD kitchen!

I adore these tender little buttery gems with loads of flavor from the almond extract and almond flour.

The combination of almond and blueberry is classic and so delicious. These tea cakes are an instant favorite and I’ve already thought of a dozen variations I can’t want to try.

The texture is wonderful with a little nuttiness from the almond flour.

I always keep a bag of almond flour on hand and store leftovers in the freezer.  It keeps for up to a year when sealed in a ziploc container in the freezer. If you don’t have almond flour, grind blanched almonds into almond meal instead.

Ingredients overview

For the cookie dough:

• all-purpose flour
• almond flour or blanched almonds ground into a fine meal. You can also use other kinds of nuts like pecans.
• granulated sugar
• baking powder
• salt
• unsalted butter
• vanilla or vanilla bean paste
• almond extract

For the filling:

• wild blueberry jam
• powdered sugar for dusting

You’ll also need 48 mini muffin paper baking cups.

Baking in small confectionary mini muffin baking cups prevents the dough from spreading which is a common challenge when making thumbprint cookies. These bake up beautifully and are easily removed from the paper wrapper. No sticking, I promise!

You may have noticed these shortbread style cookies do not include eggs in the dough. This is correct, no eggs.

This simple cookie dough is a breeze to make right in your food processor.

There’s no need to refrigerate the dough before rolling into balls, or before baking. Rolling the dough takes a little time, but the results are worth the effort.

Overview: how to make Almond Tea Cakes

1. Prep the pans and preheat the oven

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 24 mini muffin tin with baking cups. Alternatively, line a baking sheet with parchment paper, then mini muffin cups spaced 2-inches apart.

2. Process the ingredients

In the bowl of a food processor pulse the flour, almond meal, sugar, baking powder and salt until blended. Add the butter, vanilla and almond extract. Pulse until the mixture becomes a soft dough. Transfer the dough to a large bowl.

3. Form into balls

Using a small cookie scoop to portion the dough, roll scoops of dough into tight balls. With the cookie dough ball cupped in one hand, make an indention with the pinky finger from the opposite hand into the center of the ball. Make the well half the depth of the dough ball, then place it in the baking cup with the hole facing up.

Continue until the mini-muffin tin is full. Fill each cookie with a heaping 1/4 teaspoon of blueberry jam. The jam should completely fill the indention and be somewhat overfilled.

4. Bake the cookies

Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until lightly browned. Do not over bake! Cool for 5 minutes then remove to a wire rack to cool. Dust with powdered sugar and serve.

Our best tips for making perfect Almond Tea Cakes with Wild Blueberry Jam:

• If you don’t have a mini muffin baking tin you can bake the cookies in the paper cups placed directly on a cookie sheet. The cookies will spread just a little more and be wider on the top. However, this is not a problem and they still look very pretty and bake perfectly. 
• While rolling the dough into balls, it may feel like the dough is breaking apart and crumbling. If so, use a little less pressure and roll again, applying more pressure as the ball becomes firm.
• If the dough ball splits or cracks when creating the pocket for the jam, re-roll the ball applying light pressure at first, then more pressure as the ball becomes firm.
• The cookies are crumbly when they first come out of the oven but firm up as they cool. While they’re delicious eaten warm, they hold together better when cooled.
• Use a small cookie scoop for the perfect size dough ball to fill the mini baking cups.

Change it up and use your favorite jam for these Tea Cakes.

I don’t recommend using jelly in these cookies due to the higher amounts of sugar when compared to most jams. Jelly may burn or get so hot it sinks to the bottom of the cookie.

Our favorite jam is made by Stonewall Kitchen. You can find their quality products in grocery stores, on their website or on Amazon. We use their Wild Maine Blueberry Jam for this recipe but strawberry would be great here, as well as peach.

Or, use a variety of flavors and pretty color variations. It’s all good!

Thanks for PINNING!

Almond Tea Cakes with Wild Blueberry Jam

Prep Time: 10 minutes mins

Cook Time: 15 minutes mins

Total Time: 25 minutes mins

Yield: 48 cookies

Course: Dessert

Author: Tricia

Pin RecipePrint RecipeRate Recipe

5 from 18 votes

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Tender little buttery gems with loads of flavor from the almond extract and almond flour.

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup almond flour (almond meal) or ground blanched almonds
• ⅔ cup granulated sugar
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
• ½ teaspoon almond extract
• ½ cup wild blueberry jam, room temperature, stirred
• powdered sugar for dusting
• 48 mini muffin paper baking cups

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 24 mini muffin tin with baking cups. Alternatively, line a baking sheet with the mini muffins cups spaced 2-inches apart.
• In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the flour, almond meal, sugar, baking powder and salt until blended. Add the butter, vanilla and almond extract. Pulse until the mixture becomes a soft dough.
• Using a small cookie scoop (flat - not heaping) roll balls of cookie dough into tight balls. With the cookie dough ball cupped in one hand, make an indentation with the pinky finger from the opposite hand into the center of the ball. Make the well half the depth of the dough ball, then place it in the baking cup, with the hole facing up. If the dough ball starts to crack or split, re-roll until it’s smooth, tight and pliable. Continue until the mini-muffin tin is full. Fill each cookie with a heaping ¼ teaspoon of blueberry jam. The jam should completely fill the indentation and be somewhat overfilled.
• Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until lightly browned on the edges. Do not over bake! Allow the cookies to rest in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool. Once cooled, dust with powdered sugar. Store at room temperature in an airtight container. Cookies will keep for up to 5 days.

Recipe Notes

• If baking the cookies on a cookie sheet instead of in a mini-muffin tin, the cookies will spread just a little more, be wider on the top. This is not a problem and they still look very pretty and bake perfectly.
• While rolling the dough into balls it may feel like it’s breaking apart and crumbling. Use a little less pressure and roll again, applying more pressure as the ball becomes firm.
• If the dough ball splits or cracks when creating the pocket for the jam, re-roll the ball applying light pressure at first, then more as the ball becomes firm.
• The cookies will be crumbly when they first come out of the oven but firm up as they cool. While they’re delicious eaten warm, they hold together better when cooled.
• Substitute your favorite flavor of jam if desired.

Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate. When multiple ingredient alternatives are given, the first listed is calculated for nutrition. Garnishes and optional ingredients are not included.

Nutrition

Calories: 87kcal | Carbohydrates: 10g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 10mg | Sodium: 18mg | Potassium: 10mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 118IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 10mg | Iron: 1mg

We adore tea cake recipes and this is one of our favorites!

This recipe for tea cakes is easy to make and loved by all who try them. They’re perfect anytime, for any event, but also look wonderful on your Christmas dessert platter.

Make this recipe your own by changing up the jam for your favorite flavor.

Let us know what you think of our recipe!