Baked: Earl Grey Shortbread Cookies

I used Clipper Earl Grey tea leaves because it is strong, aromatic, and most importantly fine. If you have the original Earl Grey loose tea leaves, you need to put it into a food processor first because the taste will come through when the texture is fine.

(Note, for cupcakes / cakes, earl grey are usually melted and cooked in butter for the flavor to come through. For cookies, fine tea leaves would be sufficient)

What the batter looked like before putting it into the oven. Sorry for not editing the lighting!

What the shortbread cookies looked like after coming out of the often... As you can see, they are quite thick. Try to get them to be slightly less than 1cm in height when you pop em into the oven.

Earl Grey Shortbread Cookies (Makes about 45 bite-size pieces)

- 2 1/4 Cups all purpose flour

- 2 teaspoon of earl grey tea leaves (fine)

- 3/4 cups of caster sugar

- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

- 1/2 teaspoon salt

- 1 cup of butter (room temperature)

Instructions

1. Mix the the butter (must be room temperature) with the sugar for about 5 - 7 minutes (you can use electric mixer on low or by hand because cookies do not have to be extremely smooth like cupcakes/cakes)

2. Add the vanilla extract, mix well.

3. Add the flour and the salt in, until it is slightly tough and easy to knead.

4. Lastly, put in the fine earl grey tea leaves into the batter. Mix with spoon (do not use electric mixer here because you might change the texture of the batter)

5. Knead. Yes, knead. I tried to use my non-stick roller pin to no avail. Knead the dough because it requires warmth from the hands. Knead for about 10 minutes until the dough is slightly 'flexible' but firm.

6. Make the dough flat (about 1cm in height for your own convenience) and put in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for only 20 minutes*. Anything beyond that makes the dough really tough and requires more time to thaw before baking.

7. Have fun cutting them out and bake them at 360 degrees F or 180 degrees C for about 12 minutes until edge becomes golden brown.

8. Leave it to cool on the parchment paper for 5 minutes, before putting them in cooling racks.

P.S. I will be trying earl grey BUTTER cookies in the future, but I need to get on experimenting matcha and tiramusi cupcakes because it was highly recommended by friends who would like to try and order :). 

Hope you guys will like this recipe! Enjoy with tea, milk or coffee in the late afternoon. Cheerios 

*Note: The reason why you need to refrigerate for 20 minutes, cut them out and pop em into the often is to make sure that the cookies are consistent. If you put them in the refrigerator for too long, then the dough might rise and you will have uneven cookies when you bake them in the often. Although this only affects cosmetic purposes, the taste is still the same.