EARL GREY TEA COOKIES

 

Earl Grey Tea Cookies
Recipe as seen in Real Simple magazine, May 2005
Total Prep Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes (includes chilling time)
Makes 6 dozen cookies

I have experimented the last 2 days with a couple of different Earl Grey Tea cookie recipes and I like this one the best. I ended up rolling and cutting the dough out verses slicing it. Next time, I think I will try using a scalloped biscuit cutter. I also found that the cookies turn out more crisp when baking them on baking sheets lined with parchment rather than using silpat. These tea speckled cookies have a rich butter taste and a very delicious fragrance.

2 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons Earl Grey tea leaves, from approximately 6 tea bags
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon water
1 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1. Heat your oven to 375 degrees.
2. Pulse together all the dry ingredients in a food processor until the tea leaves are pulverized.
3. Add the vanilla, water, and the butter. Pulse together until a dough forms.
4. Divide the dough in half. Place each half on a sheet of plastic wrap and roll into a 12-inch log, about 2 inches in diameter. Wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
(I rolled dough a 1/4 inch thick, then chilled the dough between parchment paper. Then I cut the dough out using a glass into 2 inch rounds.) The rolled and cut cookies were more uniform than the ones I sliced and baked. However, it would be convienient to make a log of dough and freeze it for future use.


5. When ready to bake, slice each log into disks, about 1/3 inch thick. Place on parchment or foil-lined baking sheets, roughly 2 inches apart.
6. Bake until the edges are just brown, about 12 minutes. Be careful not to overbake. Let cool on sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks.


These cookies are quite easy to make and they are delicious in a very simple way. There’s a subtle elegance about the Earl Grey flavor they possess.

If you would like to have these at the ready for future use, I’d recommend making the dough then storing the dough logs in the freezer until you are ready to bake them. Just wrap them very well in plastic wrap and they should hold up fine until you are ready to take them out, slice them up, and bake.