1.12.21
The new year is in full swing. Boy, is it ever. I keep thinking of 2021 as the extended cut version of 2020 because shit is still wild. Last week my eyeballs were glued to the TV, as many people’s were, trying to digest and comprehend exactly what was happening, what it all meant, and the consequences that would follow. Watching angry, mislead, hostile domestic terrorists storm the very building that represents everything they claim to love is quite the ironic pill to swallow. I had plans that day. Cookies to bake, to-do list items to check off, but I accomplished nothing. I just sat, and watched, and texted with numerous friends who were equally outraged and realized that all my plans would just have to wait.
And they did. The next day I baked and ran errands and did some yoga because I needed to ZEN OUT. That evening my husband performed a live streamed concert for one of the venues he would frequent in the before-times. Throughout the livestream, he asked me to make a few cameos with some treats I had baked. These Earl Grey shortbread cookies were one of them! Shortbread cookies are some of the easiest to whip up because they require very few ingredients and have a short baking time. What I love about these, is their pure essence of Earl Grey flavor. Or should I write, flavour? It’s delicate enough to taste but far from over powering. I was truly in love with them after I tasted the first one. You can skip your spot of afternoon tea with these because the flavor is built right in! They melt in your mouth, and the speckles of tea throughout give them an added aesthetic. I highly recommend eating them if you’re stuck on the couch watching your country’s democracy hang by a thread for the all the world to see.
New year, new theme. What do you think? After more than five years, it was time for a little change.
Earl Grey Shortbread Cookies
Makes: About 2 dozen
Ingredients:
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 3 Earl Grey tea bags, tea leaves removed
- 1/2 cup confectioners sugar
- 2 cups flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
Instructions
- Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, or Silpat
- In the bowl of a stand up mixer, use a wooden spoon to cream together the softened butter and tea. Fold in the tea until it is evenly distributed throughout the butter
- Using a paddle attachment, use the stand mixer to beat the infused butter about 3-4 minutes
- Add in confectioners sugar on low speed, allow to combine
- Whisk together flour and salt in a medium bowl and slowly add to mixer, on low speed
- The dough should come together within a few minutes, it will be soft, but shouldn’t stick to your fingers
- On a floured surface, roll out dough to 1/4″ inch thick
- Using a cookie cutter of your choice (mine was flower cutter about 2″ wide), stamp out as many cookies on the rolled out dough as possible, carefully transferring to the lined baking sheets
- Reroll remaining dough to 1/4″ thick once more and stamp out cookies, repeat these steps until all dough is used up
- Place baking sheets in fridge to chill
- Chill cookies for about 30 minutes, meanwhile preheat oven to 350
- Bake for 11-13 minutes, they shouldn’t brown, allow to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to wire rack to fully cool
- If cookies have any air bubbles, as soon as they come out, gently run an offset spatula over the top of the cookie, to flatten them
- Keep in an air tight container at room temperature, these hold up pretty well and should last at least a week
P.S.
*I can’t stress enough how these should be chilled in order to hold their shape in the oven. If you have central air or a cooler kitchen perhaps chilling for so long isn’t needed, but if they’re warm at all they will melt in the oven before fully baking. So I’d recommend chilling them regardless.
