Earl Grey Sugar Cookies

My boyfriend is a HUGE fan of earl grey cookies and sadly our local coffee shop stopped making them (apparently he was the only one buying them). So I have made it my mission to attempt to recreate his fave Saturday morning treat. And according to him, I succeeded. Yay! 

Although I must say I never tried them at the coffee shop, they definitely have a unique subtle early grey flavor and are pretty dang good. It's not an overwhelming tea flavor, which is what I expected using the actual tea leaves but it's subtle and tastes great with an afternoon cuppa tea. Better yet I made a large batch and froze half to make whenever we feel like more. It's a great make-ahead cookie dough. 

Earl Grey Sugar Cookies 

Fridge:

8 tbs unsalted butter, softened

1 egg

Pantry:

6 bags or about 2 tbs earl grey tea leaves 

2 1/4 cup ap flour

1 1/2 tsp cornstarch 

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup white sugar plus 3 tbs extra 

3/4 tsp vanilla extract

1/3 cup condensed milk 

1/2 tsp salt

Tools:

Measuring cups/spoons

Immersion blender or food processor 

Handheld mixer 

2 large bowls

Spatula

Cutting board or clean counter 

Plastic wrap 

Sharp knife 

Baking tray 

In one bowl cream together the butter and 1/2 cup of white sugar. Once well mixed add the condensed milk and egg. Blend for a minute more and then add the vanilla extract. Mix for a few seconds more and then set aside.

In other bowl or inside your food processor add the ap flour, baking powder, salt, cornstarch and earl grey tea leaves. Using the immersion blender or food processor- blend until the dry ingredients look speckled with tea leaf dots. 

If the dry ingredients are in a food processor- pour them into the other large bowl. Add the other bowl of wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. I prefer to mix this all by hand. But feel free to use a wooden spoon also. This will be your cookie dough.

If you want perfect circles or squares (rectangles?) like in my photos, you need to chill the dough in order to cut it. If you want drop cookies or don't have the time- feel free to bake as is- but the cookies will spread out more. 

I lined my cutting board with plastic wrap and made the dough into a log. I wrapped it up and pressed each side of my log hard into the cutting board to create four sides. And I shaped it as best I could into a long even square log. I placed it in the fridge for four hours to chill. At this point I removed the log and sprinkled my cutting board with the extra 3 tbs of white sugar and rolled my log into it. I sliced the pieces into 1/3 inch slices and baked half of the log for my boyfriend, saving half for a future craving. These do not spread or need a lot of room on your baking tray. 

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and bake for 12 to 15 minutes. I did not use baking spray but you can line your baking tray with parchment paper for easy clean up. The cookies do not take on a lot of color- barely golden on the edges. They come out a little soft but harden when cooling- making them perfect for dipping into your afternoon tea! Enjoy! Xo