Earl Grey Shortbread Cookies

These fancy, dainty Earl Grey shortbread cookies will make you feel like you are at a tea party. They are so buttery that they literally melt in your mouth. They are not too sweet, a little salty, a little lemony, and have a full herbal flavor of Earl Grey tea! These Earl Grey shortbread cookies are so dynamic in flavor and so delicately balanced! You are going to feel so fancy eating them! They pair perfectly with a hot cup of tea, morning or night.

So I almost always have shortbread cookies in my house. There is something about them that I LOVE. Part of it may be that they are so simple to make but I think more than that is that they are not too sweet! Because of this I love to have one or two (or three...) of these cookies for breakfast with my tea. And for some reason I don't feel guilty because I don't feel like I'm eating a cookie? or at least that's what I tell my self.

So long story short I am always coming up with new shortbread cookie flavors. I usually like to pair them with delicate flavors since they are delicate cookies. Since I always eat these for breakfast with my tea, it hit me one day...why not put my tea in my cookies?... killing two birds with one stone. The best kind of morning is going to be the ones with these cookies.

HOW TO MAKE SHORTBREAD COOKIES

Making homemade shortbread cookies is so EASY! This is secretly why I love them so much. They have very few ingredients and are done in minutes! You simply add all of your ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer and combine until the dough is crumbly.... almost like wet sand. Then knead together with your hands. You may think the dough is too dry but trust me its not. This makes for a very crumbly delicate and soft cookie. From there, roll out your dough to about ½ an inch thick and cut out your cookies! I use a small biscuit cutter to get a simple circle shape but you can also use any cookie cutter. The next step is crucial: make sure to put your cookies in the freezer before you bake them. This helps the cookies hold their shape in the oven. If you don't do this, your cookies may spread to a thin mess. Then bake and eat!

HOW TO BAKE WITH TEA LEAVES

Baking with tea is more of a new trend...but for good reason....it adds a unique herbal flavor as well as a touch of elegance to your baked goods. The first thing you need to know when baking with tea is that some types of tea can actually go bad if they get too old. They can lose flavor and the essential oils held in the dried leaves can actually go rancid. Using old tea can result in a flavorless or even a slightly bitter taste, so be sure that you are using good quality fresh tea leaves. The fun thing about baking with tea is that there are thousands of different types of tea... the flavor options are entirely endless. Everything from earthy herbals to fruity and sweet to smoky, deep and even spicy flavored teas. So get creative and experiment. You can use this same recipe with a different type of tea to completely change the flavor profile. Earl Grey tea is one of my favorite teas to bake with but other popular ones are matcha, green tea, and herbal tea.

I suggest serving these cookies at your next fancy tea party or just to yourself for breakfast!

Lastly, if you try out this Earl Grey Shortbread Cookie recipe, be sure to leave a comment/rating on how they turned out. I love hearing from you guys and will try my best to reply to every comment! And don’t forget to tag me on Instagram!