Earl Grey Tea Cookies

Last week I made some delicious cookies that encompassed several of the things I look for in a favorite cookie recipe. The cookies were delicious, easy to make, able to be frozen for later use, and appropriate for either a casual snack or a more festive, formal get-together with friends. These little wonders are 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

2 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons Earl Grey tea leaves, from approximately 6 tea bags ( I used Trader Joe’s Organic Earl Grey tea)
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. (Note: I chilled mine for several hours just because I got busy and had to wait until much later in the day to bake the cookies and that worked out fine.)



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.



As I mentioned earlier, these cookies are quite easy to make and they are absolutely delicious in a simple way. I haven’t had this type of tea cookie before and there’s a subtle elegance about the Earl Grey flavor they possess. It’s a certain je ne sais quois that makes them special and unique.

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.

If you like this recipe, I bet you’ll also like the recipe for Lime Shortbread Cookies from the At Our Table archives.