Earl Grey Tea Cookies

This is my recipe for Earl Grey Tea Cookies. They’re not too sweet and are great to eat on their own or with tea, of course. This time, though, in an effort to empty the pantry, I made them with a strawberry-black currant herbal tea; in hindsight, orange zest was a little too sweet, and lemon zest would have been better. But the orange zest is best if you’re actually using Earl Grey.

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp finely ground Earl Grey tea leaves (about 8 bags)
½ tsp salt
1 cup unsalted butter (softened) or margarine
½ cup confectioners’ sugar
1 Tbsp finely grated orange zest

Whisk together flour, tea and salt in a small bowl; set aside.

Put butter, sugar and orange zest in the bowl of an electric mixer. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in flour mixture until just combined.

Divide dough in half. Transfer each half to a piece of parchment paper; shape into logs. Roll parchment to 1 ¼ inches in diameter, pressing along the edge at each turn to narrow and force out air. Freeze one hour.



Preheat oven to 350 °F. Cut logs into ¼-inch thick slices. Space 1 inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheets.



Bake until edges turn golden, 13-15 minutes.