The only thing that I love more than snuggling up with a hot cup of tea is adding a plateful of cookies to that combination.

These tea-laced shortbread cookies are surprisingly easy to make and subtle in sweetness, but balanced in flavor. They get that satisfying, melt-in-your-mouth texture when dunked into a hot cup of tea or coffee, and also look pretty photogenic in a holiday tin (if you don’t eat them all yourself, that is).

4-Ingredient Earl Grey Shortbread Cookies

  • Prep Time:10 minutes
  • Cook Time:20 minutes
  • Total Time:30 minutes
  • Servings:2 dozen
  • Easy

    Ingredients

  • 2 sticks salted butter
  • 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
  • 1 tablespoon Earl Grey tea leaves
  • 2 cup flour
  • Step 1

    Preheat oven to 350°F.

  • Step 2

    Cream butter and confectioner’s sugar in a large bowl until smooth.

    Photo by Amy Yu
  • Step 3

    Add in flour gradually and continue to mix. 

    Photo by Amy Yu
  • Step 4

    Add in tea leaves and mix until soft dough forms. The mix will be crumbly and dry at first — be patient and wait for it to come together.

    Photo by Amy Yu
  • Step 5

    Form balls of dough about the size of a quarter. Place on baking sheet and flatten into circles about ¼ inch in thickness.

    #SpoonTip: Using a cookie cutter about 2 cm in diameter will give cleaner edges.

    Photo by Amy Yu
  • Step 6

    Garnish cookies with extra tea leaves or other toppings of your choosing. Here we’ve topped each cookie with some lavender bulbs.

    #SpoonTip: Experiment and pair different toppings with different tea flavors, like chocolate chips or caramel chips with chai tea leaves.

    Photo by Amy Yu
  • Step 7

    Bake on parchment paper lined baking sheet for 18-20 minutes or until edges are a golden brown.

    Photo by Amy Yu