Recently I have started to cook and bake with tea. This is the first of two shortbread recipes that use loose leaf teas. Part 1 of this is Earl Grey Rooibos Shortbread – Baking With Tea.
In an earlier post, I shared my foray into cooking with tea in Masala Spice Tea Meatballs. Now I am baking and I think you will find it absolutely delicious.
Earl Grey is one of the teas that I have been sampling. In Fall Tea Tastings, I highlighted Earl Grey Rooibos Tea. Not my first choice in tea but I have been trying different versions of Earl Grey to find one I like. I think I have found my favorite. Its in a cookie! A shortbread cookie and its simple and has only 5 ingredients. So let’s get baking…no steeping involved.
Ingredients
- unsalted butter
- Earl Grey Rooibos loose tea
- powdered sugar
- all purpose flour
- salt
These cookies have a glaze that is just powdered sugar and lemon juice.
Preparing the tea and butter
The first step is to infuse the tea with the butter. For this recipe, you don’t need to grind the leaves unless you have a large leaf. I didn’t and so decided to just combine the leaves. Earl Grey is a beautiful tea and I like seeing the speckles of bergamot in the dough. Once blended, you will want to have the butter and tea sit for 1 – 2 hours. The longer it sits, the more intense the flavor is. This is tea and it will continue to intensify as it sits – even in the baked cookie. And if you don’t have loose leaf tea, you can use tea from teabags. Just open the teabags and measure out what you need.
Just put the tea and the butter in your mixer. Using the paddle, blend the tea and butter and then let it sit.
Preparing the dough
Once the infusing time has passed, you can get ready to prepare the dough. Combine the infused butter with powdered sugar and blend. Then add the flour and salt.
You will initially think that something is wrong with the mixture. It will be very dry and crumbly. But continue to let the mixer work and the mixture will turn into a nice soft dough.
Turn the the dough out on a slightly floured surface and roll out to 1/4 inch thickness. This is a nice dough to work with. I chose to cut the cookies into 1 1/2 inch squares which yields 36 cookies but you can easily use a cookie cutter. A 2 inch circle works well and will yield 30 cookies. If you are doing the squares, get out your ruler and pizza cutter.
Baking the cookies
Place the cookies on a prepared baking sheet. I like to use a silicon pad but you can also use parchment paper. Bake for 15 minutes in a preheated 350 degree oven or until they are lightly brown. For me, it took 20 minutes. The cookies will smell of Earl Grey as they bake…very fragrant.
Remove the cookies and allow them cool completely before you glaze them.
The glaze is extremely simple. Combine the powdered sugar and the lemon juice. Drizzle the glaze over the top of the cookies. Allow them to rest while the glaze sets.
Serving
These cookies have the great flavor of Earl Grey in a nice shortbread cookie. The lemon glaze really compliments the cookie and makes them perfect for an afternoon tea. A plate of these sweet cookies paired with a nice cup of English Breakfast or Lady Londonderry tea will set your day right. Bring along a friend….you will enjoy the afternoon.
Welcome to Earl Grey Rooibos Shortbread…baking with tea. Give them a try – I know you will enjoy them. Now a favorite of mine – I finally have an Earl Grey favorite.
Earl Grey Rooibos Shortbread
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- 2 tbsp Earl Grey Rooibos Tea Leaves
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- ½ tsp salt
Lemon Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1-2 tbsp lemon juice
Instructions
- Using your mixer with paddle, blend the Earl Grey tea leaves with the butter. Allow to sit for 1-2 hours to ensure full flavor of the tea. NOTE – You do not need to grind the Earl Grey Rooibos tea…it will blend well with the butter. If you are using a large leaf tea, run through grinder.
- Once the butter has been infused with the tea, preheat the oven to 350° and prepare your baking sheet with either a silicon pad or parchment paper.
- Cream the butter and tea mixture with the powdered sugar.
- Add the flour and salt and blend until a soft dough is formed. This will take some time and will initially start out very crumbly. Continue to mix and it will turn into a soft dough.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll out ¼ inch thick.
- Cut out cookies in desired shape. If cut in 1½ squares, will yield 36 cookies.
- Bake on prepared cookie sheet for 15 minutes or until lightly brown.
- Allow to cool on rack.
- Once cooled, prepare the glaze. Combine the powdered sugar and lemon juice until thin stream.
- Glaze top of cookies. Allow to rest until glaze sets.
54 Comments
Alyssa
Yummy!! These look easy and scrumptious!
Beth
Hi Alyssa – These were surprisingly very easy. Its a great dough – I am anxious to do more with it. Glad you enjoyed the post and thank you for your comment!
Barbara
Look wonderful and easy! I have never tried baking with tea. I need to try these.
Thanks for also suggesting a tea to enjoy along with these cookies. A nice way to spend
the afternoon with a friend.
Beth
Hi Barbara – Yes these were very easy and delicious. Thanks for your comment and glad that you like the suggestions on a tea.
Holly B
I love your new recipes that include teas! This really is amazing and a great idea for a perfect baked item that will enhance the tea you are drinking!! Love this series of recipes!@
Beth
Hi Holly – Thanks so much for your comment. And I am delighted that you enjoyed the post. Yes, these turned out delicious…and I can tell you from experience (ha) that they taste amazing with English Breakfast Tea!
Sandi
Beth, these look so delish! I love a good shortbread, and the tea addition is genius.
Beth
Hi Sandi – Thanks so much for your comment. People are enjoying the tea recommendation. This was so easy – I was very pleased. Glad that you enjoyed the post.
Laurie Janssen
These look & sound delightful…I have wondered about such cookies so I printed your recipe & plan to share them with a friend this week…of course we’ll have some tea too. I bet they’d be pretty in a fun fall cookie shape. thanks, L
Beth
Hi Laurie – Thanks so much for you comments and running off the recipe. I found this recipe to be very easy to work with. Glad that you enjoyed it. Let me know how your friend likes it.
Debbie
Cooking with tea sounds awesome. This looks like a pretty quick and easy recipe to try too. Thanks!
Beth
Hi Debbie – Yes I was very pleased with the recipe. I will be using it for some other things as well. Glad that you enjoyed the post and thank you for your comment.
Kristin
I had never heard of cooking with tea before your meatball recipe and now I am intrigued with this one. Looks so good!
Beth
Hi Kristin – Well I know someone who has made a smoke rub for meat with tea..and this set me off on the course of what else can you do with tea. This turned out deliciously. Glad you are intrigued – that’s a good place to be. Thanks for your comment.
Cindy
This looks like such an elegant treat.
Beth
Hi Cindy – Elegant but very easy. Thanks for your comment and glad that you enjoyed the post.
Lisa Manderino
They look wonderful! Perfect for a tea party.
Beth
Hi Lisa – They are delicious and easy. And yes, perfect for a tea party – just had a little tea yesterday and served them. Glad that you enjoyed the post and thank you for your comment.
Sabrina DeWalt
I do love shortbread.
Beth
Hi Sabrina – I do as well and was used to using regular sugar and working it into a pan. This is an extremely easy and very good recipe as well. Glad that you love shortbread! Thanks for your comment.
Tiffany
Yum! Never thought to infuse tea into anything! How yummy!
Beth
Hi Tiffany – Yes, it was an adventure that I think has started a new phase for me. And yes, that are YUM! Thanks for your comment and glad that you enjoyed the psot.
Bonnie
I’ve never cooked or baked with tea before but these look delicious…and I love tea!
Beth
Hi Bonnie – I had not either but I will definitely be doing these cookies again. They were delicious! Glad that you enjoyed the post and thanks for your comment.
Amanda
Wow! I’d never heard of cooking with tea leaves like this! Neat idea. These sounds delicious.
Beth
Hi Amanda – These were very delicious and I was pleased at how easy to work with. Glad that you enjoyed the post and thank you for your comment.
Tiffany Smith
I am loving your recipes!
Beth
Hi Tiffany – Thank you so very much. Glad that you are enjoying them.
Chelsea
I could totally make this dairy free. Just have to use plant-based butter! Shortbread and earl grey are two of my favorite things. Why didn’t I think of combining them? Love this!
Beth
Hi Chelsea – Yes you could. Let me know how that comes out. There are several readers looking for dairy-free alternatives. Glad that you enjoyed the post and thank you for your comment.
Kelly
I haven’t eaten shortbread cookies in a long time but this was very interesting to see this recipe making them with tea. You just never know the things you can use when baking, that you normally wouldn’t think you could. Thanks for sharing this, the recipe is very straight forward and something that is probably a big hit with the holidays coming up.
Beth
Hi Kelly – Well they were a big hit for me! Easy to put together and helped me with an excess of Earl Grey Rooibos I had on hand. Glad you enjoyed the post and thanks for your comment.
Melissa Jones
Those look great and like they would be fun to decorate!!
Beth
Hi Melissa – Yes I think there are endless possibilities of what you could do with these cookies. Thanks for your comment and glad that you enjoyed the post.
Adrienne
Your recipes with tea are always amazing! This one looks great too. Perfect comfort food for the cold days ahead.
Beth
Hi Adrienne – Yes, and we are uncharacteristically in a cold spell. Thank you so much for your comment – appreciated. Glad you enjoyed the post!
Barbara
I immediately forwarded this post to my Mom! She is an Earl Grey fanatic! Thanks!
Beth
Hi Barbara – Thanks so much for the forward. I am not an Earl Grey fan…but I am now. These can easily be made with regular Earl Grey (that’s the original recipe platform). Hope your mom enjoys. Thanks for your comment and glad that you enjoyed the post.
Suzan | It's My Sustainable Life
Love adding tea in the recipe! Reminds me of some herbal brownies I may or may not have made in my youth 😉 Definitely on my list of bakes!
Beth
Hi Suzan – Yes, this was fun for me and opened up a whole new avenue of flavors. Easy and delicious. Thanks for your comment.
Ayesha Siddiqui
This looks delicious! Do I need to buy loose tea or can I use the bags I have and just cut them open. Is it the same thing?
Beth
Hi Ayesha – Great question and should have included this in the post. You can absolutely use what is in your teabags. Just cut them open and put in your butter (or whatever recipe for that matter). I just have so much loose leaf tea around that I was wanting to use up as well. But teabags work perfectly! Thanks for the question. Glad that you enjoyed the post and thank you for your comment.
Yvette
All of your recipes look amazing. Any chance you might someday add GF substitutions?
Beth
Hi Yvette – I have not directly substituted GF flour for these recipes but I know that you can substitute some GF flours if they have a binder or Xanthum gum already added. I know that Bob’s Red Mill GF has a mixture that already has it added (my sister has used it before) and so the ratio is 1:1 for replacement. So you should be able to make these. Must admit, I need to do this and see if there is any difference in the dough. Will be doing that soon for sure. Thanks for your comment and glad that you enjoyed the post.
Suz
I’ll bet these have a very unique flavor – love Earl Grey – I guess it’s the bergamot.
Beth
Hi Suz – The flavor is unique but very subtle. And the lemon glaze compliments it beautifully. Thanks for the comment!
Cindy Moore
I’m loving your cooking with tea recipes! I look forward to trying this one…and seeing what else you come up with!
Beth
Hi Cindy – Thanks so much for your compliment. I have been loving them as well. Glad that you enjoyed the post…and I might be adding to the series of cookies for sure!
Maya
Love your tea recipe collection of cookies, they look so yummy !
Beth
Hi Maya – Thanks so much for your comment. And glad that you enjoyed the post. They are yummy for sure.
Justine
This sounds so different! I’ll have to give it a whirl.
Beth
Hi Justine – Thanks for your comment and glad that you enjoyed the post. Fun and easy to do.
Marianne
I have made a tea flavoured shortbread before – actually for a tea-party bridal shower I hosted for my sister. I don’t remember which type of tea I used, but they were a huge hit!
Beth
Hi Marianne – Thanks for sharing your tea baking shortbread fun. Well this was my first but not my last! This particular recipe was great to work with and my imagination is just thinking about all the ways I can use it! Glad you enjoyed the post.