English tea infused shortbread cookies. When butter was substituted for yeast in the recipe, the traditional shortbread cookie was born. With this in mind, the recipe was flavored perfectly. Making cookies and customizing them with tea is so much fun! The possibilities are endless, especially if you grab a basic cookie recipe like a shortbread and add different kinds of tea. This recipe is so easy and the cookies are so basic that it's a perfect choice to customize and make different types of tea shortbread cookies.

My friend over at Mamacat's Q Tea asked me this spring to help out with a gift basket for a fundraiser. I wanted to come up with something that I could make ahead of time and that would complement her incredible flavors of tea, so Ina Garten's shortbread cookies came to mind. Shortbread is one of the most famous Scottish cookies. You can have English tea infused shortbread cookies using 10 ingredients and 7 steps. Here is how you achieve that.

Ingredients of English tea infused shortbread cookies

Prepare 2 cups of all purpose flour.
It's 1/2 cup of granulated sugar.
Prepare 1 cup of softened unsalted butter.
It's 1 of tspn vanilla essence.
Prepare 1/2 of ginger powder.
You need 1/2 of fennel seeds powder.
Prepare 1/2 of tspn cinnamon powder.
It's 1/2 of tspn salt.
It's Leaves of 1 English tea bag(any brand).
You need 1/2 of tspn green cardamom powder.

It is eaten around Christmas and is also an essential part of a traditional Scottish New Year ( called Hogmanay). The success of a "shortie"—the Scottish nickname for shortbread—is to handle the dough with care and work it as little as possible. Combine the dry ingredients (flour, cornstarch, salt) in a medium bowl. A buttery lavender-flavored dough that can be made into round shapes using a biscuit cutter, or various shapes using cookie cutters.

English tea infused shortbread cookies instructions

Beat butter, sugar, salt, and vanilla in a large bowl with a mixer until smooth..
In another bowl, stir together flour, cinnamon, ginger, fennel, cardamom, and tea leaves. Mix well.
Add to butter mixture and beat on low speed until blended..
Set 1-tbsp. balls of dough 1 in. apart on sheets and flatten them slightly.
Bake until cookies are light golden for 10-12 minutes at 180 degree celcius.
Store airtight..
Tips: you may choose to add white Choco chips to the dough before baking for extra sweetness.

You can also roll the dough into a log, chill, and then slice and bake. Place the cookies on an ungreased baking sheet and sprinkle with sugar. Allow to cool to room temperature. I decided to take cue from my friend Emily's recipe for Rosemary Lemon Shortbread and add in loads of fresh orange zest. This butter citrus combination paired perfectly with Twinings Extra Bold Earl Gray which was only enhanced by the natural orange flavor in the orange shortbread cookies.