Earl Grey Tea Shortbread

Buttery complex cookies with a hint of smoky bergamot flavor from Earl Grey tea.

Buttery complex cookies with a hint of smoky bergamot flavor from Earl Grey tea.

About 32 cookies
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2 sticks unsalted butter

¾ cup sugar

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

2 TBL Earl Grey tea

In a medium-sized bowl, cream together

  • 2 sticks (8 ounces, 1 cup) unsalted butter
  • ¾ cup sugar
  • 1 tsp salt

with a mixer or by hand. Add

  • 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 2 TBL Earl Grey tea (about 6 teabags if you don’t have loose tea)

and blend until the mixture resembles fine cornmeal. Form the dough into a long roll, 1 ½ to 2 inches in diameter, cover with wax paper or parchment paper, and freeze until very firm.

When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 300° F. Slice the roll into cookies no thinner than ¼ inch and prick each cookie twice with a fork. Bake on ungreased baking sheets for about 25 minutes. Watch the cookies carefully. When the bottoms are a light sand color, take them out of the oven and put them on a rack to cool completely.

You’ll find that shortbread improves with a little age. If you can resist eating them all.

Adapted from a recipe from the King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion.