Lavender Earl Grey Shortbread Cookie Recipe

Spring is showing it's colors and moods this month! Rain, flowers, and budding trees! I have an urge to go outside for tea and cookies- quick before it rains!

Shortbread is my favorite cookie to make. It only takes three ingredients, the dough is safe to eat raw, it's a great one to have kids help make, and while it is marvelous on it's own, it is also fun to play with flavoring! What better flavor than one of my favorite teas? Follow along to see my favorite shortbread cookie recipe! 

• Start the night before, melt the butter on the stove or in the microwave, and stir in about a tablespoon of Lavender Earl Grey tea per half cup of butter. 
• Let it sit, covered, overnight. I do this in the microwave on the way to bed at night and just leave it in there, safe from cats and housemates. 
• The next morning, heat it up just to liquid again, and strain out the tea. 
• Let the butter re-solidify in a cool spot for a few hours. It will separate into a solid and a somewhat milky tea colored liquid. Don't worry, it will all mix back together when you make the dough.

I have used non dairy vegan butter substitutes for this, make sure to use the solid stick type, not the stuff in a tub, and look for one that is meant for baking. You can also make these gluten free- my favorite way to do that is use Buckwheat flour (which is not actually a wheat, it is distantly related to rhubarb) in a 1:1 substitution, the nutty flavor of the buckwheat would go well with a robust black tea.

Shortbread dough is done by percentage measured by volume. As you go down the list of ingredients you double the previous measurement.

• 1 part sugar
• 2 parts salted butter
• 4 part all purpose flour.

I find it easiest to do this in a large bowl with my hands. When I do it with kids we call these playdough cookies! Mix the tea infused butter (along with the liquid at the bottom) and sugar together until smooth, add the flour and mix. If you are using an electric mixer be sure not to get it fluffy, these are a rich dense cookie.

On a floured board pat or roll flat. I like them to be about 1/4 inch thick, but these are pretty flexible and can be made to taste. You can even just pat it into a cookie sheet with edges, bake the whole thing, and cut them into lozenges when they are hot out of the oven. 

Use your favorite cookie cutter, or cut circles by tracing a knife around a plate, and then cut into the traditional wedges. 

Bake at 350 until barely golden at the edges. The ones shown here took 8 minutes in my oven.

The tea flavor will become more pronounced as the cookies cool... assuming you managed to bake them and not just eat the dough!