tea cookies

so to kick off this bake-off, i decided to try making some tea cookies. the recipes i used were adapted from here (earl grey tea cookies) and here (green tea cookies(further adapted from the previously mentioned earl grey recipe)). the strangest thing i found about the recipes was that they didn't call for baking powder or baking soda at all - resulting in flattish cookies that were slightly crunchy.

first off, here's what i'll call The Earl's Breakfast Tea cookies:

"The Earl's Breakfast," you ask? it's a mixture of earl grey and english breakfast teas. i ran out of earl grey and had to improvise, but if you ask me it tastes pretty good. instead of butter i used an equivalent of olive oil, which added a nice zing to the taste. the texture is slightly crumbly and goes well with a mug of tea (pictured above). not bad! 

secondly, the green tea cookies:

in all seriousness these cookies were more fun to shape and lay out than to bake and eat. the little lumps of green flour remarkedly resembled wasabi...

unfortunately i hadn't added enough green tea for the cookies to actually taste of it. for now, they are a novelty green cookie. improvements to follow.

RECIPES:

The Earl's Breakfast Tea Cookies:

1 C AP flour

1/4 C sugar

1/4 C confectioner's sugar

2 packets of tea (1 Earl Grey, 1 English Breakfast)*

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp water

1/2 C unsalted butter (or equivalent)**

preheat oven to 350F

mix dry ingredients (flour, sugar, confectioner's sugar, tea, and salt) together. blend them well.

add vanilla, water, and butter and mix well.

drop and pat down on ungreased cookie sheets (about 1/3 inch thick, according to the references). the cookies do not rise or spread very much.

bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes.

remove from oven and let cool for about 5 minutes.

*evidently (according to the websites referenced) cheap tea packets work remarkably well for these cookies. the type of black tea can be varied according to your preference, and an additional tea packet can be added for extra flavor.

**olive oil can be used and baked at 375F. butter should be baked at 350F due to its smoke point.

For the Green Tea Cookies, replace the packets of black tea with packets of matcha green tea. About a tablespoon should be sufficient, although additional green tea can be added because of its slightly weaker flavor.

-KiO