Sweet, Buttery, Nibbly and Crispy, with Floral Perfume
By Sam
A couple of weeks ago, before I darted out of a genteel cocktail soiree, the hostess handed me a small cookie to try. It was simple and plain, but delightful all the same. “It’s an Earl Grey tea cookie”, she told me, “it’s the easiest recipe in the world to make”. She told me she had found it online ‘somewhere’.
I was in a cookie-making mood this morning so I went to hunt for the tea cookie recipe on the interwebs. I think I found it here. I am not quite sure why I didn’t have any Earl Grey in the house, it’s my favourite of all teas, so I scrambled to search for a substitute. My feeling was that these little biscuits are better suited to a tea with a strong, heady perfume. Luckily, in the back of my pantry I found a little sample tin of Jasmine Dragon Pearl Tea. The floral wafts that escaped as I poked my nose inside the caddy confirmed that the jasmine would likely make a great alternative to Earl Grey in this recipe. And it did.
Jasmine Tea Cookies
Makes 72 small cookies, 1 WW point per cookie
2 Tablespoons Jasmine Dragon Pearl Tea
2 Cups All purpose flour (I used ’00′ Superfine)
1 Cup Bakers (caster) Sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 Cup Chilled Butter
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
2 teaspoons Iced Water
1) In a processor or grinder, pulse the tea until powder-like. Use a pestle and mortar to break down any resistant buds remaining.
2) In a stand-mixer stir together the flour, sugar, salt and the tea.
3) Dice the cold butter into tiny cubes. Add this to the mixer along with the vanilla extract and water.
4) Using the paddle attachment, gently stir the ingredients together on your machine’s slowest setting until a loose dough is formed.
5) Divide dough into two equal pieces. Without over-handling, press each to form a dense ball and then roll each into a 12″-long log.
6) Wrap each log in plastic wrap and then chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
7) Preheat oven to 375F with a shelf located in the centre.
One log at a time – remove from the fridge, slice 1/3″ rounds, place on a baking tray and bake on the middle shelf for 16 minutes until the edges of the cookies just start to colour brown.
9) Remove from the oven and leave on the tray for 5 minutes before removing to a cooling rack.
10) Enjoy.
