Earl Grey Cookies

I love tea.  I spend way too much time and money buying tea.  (Especially at Teavana!)  If I can't get to Teavana, or just don't want to spend the money, I like to try to find other types of teas.  I especially like loose-leaf tea.  I found this one a while back.   It has lavender, orange, and bergamot in it.  It's a delicious and fragrant tea.

 

I also really love cookies.  I thought it might be interesting to combine the two.  It turns out that I wasn't the first person to think of this, as I found many, many Earl Grey Cookie recipes.   My favorites of the ones that I found were http://foodloveswriting.com/2008/12/15/theres-time-for-these/ and  http://doughalsorises.wordpress.com/2012/08/24/the-picture-of-dorian-earl-grey-cookies/

I combined the ideas from those two, and tweaked it a bit and came up with this:

1/4 Cup Butter (1/2 stick)
a little bit less than 1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. orange extract (one recipe called for orange zest and one called for vanilla extract.  I used orange extract.  Next time I might try using Gran Marnier (orange liqueur) as I just found some in the cabinet.)
a dash of salt (or a few twists, if you're using a grinder)
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp loose tea, ground with a mortar and pestle

1. Preheat oven to 375
2. Using a stand mixer, combine butter and sugar
3. Add remaining ingredients (extract, tea, flour, baking soda)
4.  Mix to combine
5.  Roll dough into 1-inch balls and roll in sugar to coat.
6. Place on ungreased cookie sheet, approximately 1 inch apart
7.  Bake for 10 minutes












Makes 9 cookies.  I think I might double the recipe next time.