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.