It’s Juneteenth, so you can bet these Old Fashioned Southern Tea Cakes are on food blogger Monique Kilgore’s table. Described as a “cross between a sweet cornbread, a pound cake, and a biscuit, but in cookie form,” the recipe dates back to Kilgore’s great-grandmother Eubenia, who baked them in her tiny farmhouse kitchen in Georgia.
Still supremely simple, they don’t require any fancy techniques or equipment — just pantry staples you likely already have, all coming together to create buttery, vanilla bean-speckled cookies that somehow taste even better the next day.
And then there’s this: “It amazes me to think about how far this recipe has traveled through the generations and how many hands have made it before mine,” says Kilgore. “There's something almost magical about that connection to family history.” We couldn’t agree more.
The Time Commitment: About 30 minutes.
Key Tips: Don’t add extra flour even if the dough feels sticky — it could dry out the cookies. Instead, roll the dough out between two sheets of parchment paper. Also, be careful of overbaking, warns Kilgore, who pulls them out “when the edges are just lightly golden.” The centers might look slightly undercooked, but they’ll continue to set as they cool.
Other Takes: To round out your Juneteenth menu, Kilgore recommends…
Southern BBQ Ribs. If fall-off-the-bone beef ribs sound out of your wheelhouse, this foolproof recipe will trick your friends — even yourself — into thinking otherwise. Just serve with a ton of napkins.
Baked Macaroni & Cheese. Rich, creamy, and undeniably comforting, this is “usually the first dish to disappear at family gatherings.”
Fresh Strawberry Soda. Red drinks are a Juneteenth classic, and this no-machine-necessary recipe is so refreshing it might become your go-to all summer.