Description
Earl Grey lemon shortbreads are buttery, crisp, and light with just a hint of brightness from the lemon zest and the comforting subtle smell of tea. Pairs perfectly with (surprise!) afternoon tea or coffee.
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons loose leaf Earl Grey or Lady Grey tea (see note)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 8 oz room temperature unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- zest of one large lemon
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and loose leaf tea.
- Zest lemon with a microplane grater and set aside.
- Using a stand or hand mixer, cream together the room temperature butter and sugar on high for 2-3 minutes, or until light and fluffy.
- Add vanilla and lemon zest and incorporate, scraping down sides as needed.
- With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture in slowly, a bit at a time. This will prevent flour from flying all over your counter! Mix until the dough has just come together.
- On a clean work surface, shape the dough into two roughly equal halves, and form each into a log, then roll the sides until smooth. Wrap the two logs in wax paper. If you are leaving in the fridge overnight (or longer), wrap again in a layer of plastic wrap. If you’re baking after an hour, you can just wrap the logs in wax paper and twist off the ends.
- Place the logs in the freezer for a minimum of one hour to harden up.
- Once you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350° F and line your baking sheets with parchment or a silicone baking mat.
- Slice the logs into rounds of even thickness, aiming for around 2 dozen (24) cookies from each log. Space evenly on the baking sheets and bake for 12-14 minutes, turning the baking sheets halfway through. Remove when the shortbreads are just beginning to lightly brown around the bottom edges. Let cool and enjoy!
Notes
Tea Bags: I use loose leaf tea for this recipe, but you can use the tea from your single serving tea bags! If you have Twinings tea bags, for instance, 2 tablespoons is roughly equal to the contents of 6 tea bags. Just snip open the bags and use the contents.
Orange Spice Variation: Try substituting Earl Grey with Constant Comment, which is slightly spicy and orange-y. Sub the lemon zest for the zest of one half of an orange.
Chai Tea Variation: Love chai? Try subbing the Earl Grey with loose leaf Chai tea!
- Category: Baking
- Cuisine: Dessert
Keywords: cookies, shortbread, tea biscuits
