Delicately flavoured these cookies are so delicious and exotic, yet so easy to make you’ll wonder why you haven’t baked them earlier.  You can use your favourite tea flavour but don’t veer too far, the Earl Grey taste is made for this and will give it a complete wow factor. 

Time:

45 min

Serves:

8

Good for:

• Afternoon tea
• Ideal for brunch
• Great to make ahead (freezes well)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ¼  cup sugar
• ¼  cup icing sugar
• 1 tbsp Earl Grey tea leaves (just rip open a few tea bags)
• ¼  tspn salt
• ½  tspn vanilla
• 1 tspn water
• ½  cup unsalted butter

Kitchen things you’ll need:

• Cookie baking sheet tray
• Parchment/wax paper
• Small bowl
• Large bowl

Making it:

1. Preheat oven to 175°C (375°F).
2. Pulse together all the dry ingredients in a food processor until the tea leaves are very fine and almost disappear.
3. Add vanilla, water, and butter then pulse together until a dough is formed.
4. Form the dough into a log onto a piece of wax or parchment paper.
5. Wrap the paper around and roll the log smooth.
6. Freeze or chill for at least 30 minutes.
7. When chilled, slice the log into 1/3 inch thick pieces.
8. Place on baking sheets and bake until the edges are just brown, about 12 minutes.
9. Let them cool on sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to completely cool before serving.

Tips:

• Expensive loose leaf tea isn’t necessarily the best to use in this recipe, in fact I would opt for tea from cheap bags that I’ve ripped open. The leaves are more fine and flaky making them perfect for this recipe.
• Keep in mind the tea you use, especially if this is served to kids – you don’t want a caffeine induced riot in your house soon after.