Earl Grey Tea Sugar Cookies

I can’t stop browsing the web. There are too many lovely Christmas posts, especially about holiday cookies! There are cookie swaps, cookie parties, cookie goodie bags, cookies cookies cookies everywhere! It’s my favorite time of the year.

Here are some that I particularly love:

• Rosemary salted caramel linzer cookies by Cynthia of Two Red Bowls
• this ah-mazing-ly jaw dropping gingerbread farm constructed by Molly of My Name is Yeh
• another incredible gingerbread teepee by Thea of Baking Magique
• magic flying cookies by Nik of A Brown Table
• something I simply have to try with my new bundt pan: holiday butternut cake with cranberries and apples by Dolly and Oatmeal
• A wonder cookie using the only nut I am not allergic to (which means I have to make this), Rose Pistachio Shortbread cookies by Sini of My Blue & White Kitchen

I’m literally swimming in beautifully photographed posts of holiday treats. And I won’t have it any other way. These posts are inspirations, both for recipes, food styling, and food photography. Well, here’s my little contribution: earl grey tea sugar cookies. A little twist on a classic holiday treat. For fun, I crushed up some candy canes and sprinkled it on half of the sugar cookies.

This little dog here? This formed, magically, from the scrapping after cutting out cookies. It almost resembles my dog Annie.

There’s a little bit of a resemblance right?

I found these cookie cutters from Target. ‘Tis the season!

Last week I volunteered for a children’s holiday party at work. It was lovely and I was overwhelmed by the cuteness of the toddlers. I can’t wait to roll out sugar cookies during Christmas time with my future kids. :).

Save the scraps – you can reform and roll out again!

The trip to soft and chewy sugar cookies is to undercook it a little. You want just the edges to be lightly golden brown.

For icing, I used a simple royal icing recipe by Food and Wine. It’s simply egg white and powdered sugar.

To crush candy canes, I put them in a zip log bag, place it on a cutting board, and just hack away with a rolling pin.

RECIPE: Earl Grey Tea Sugar Cookies
*I used 3/4 cup brown sugar because I love the caramel-y hint that brown sugar gives a cookie, plus it goes well with earl grey tea flavor. I add the earl grey tea leaves in when the butter is being creamed because this helps the flavor bloom out. All that creaming really massages the flavor out from the leaves.
Adapted from this awesome article by Food52.  (great tricks and tips in here!)

 Ingredients
15 oz all purpose flour (this is about 3 cups + 2 tbsp, but I recommend weighing this out)
pinch salt
pinch nutmeg
2 tsp baking powder
2 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature (should be soft to touch)
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg, beaten
2 tsp vanilla extract
1.5 tbsp ground up earl grey loose tea leaves

1| Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg.
2| Using a stand mixer or hand held mixer, cream the butter (this is easier if it is at room temperature), brown sugar, granulated sugar, and ground up earl grey tea leaves until mixture is light and fluffy. Beat for 5 minutes. The mixture should be pale and look very soft.
3| Add in the egg and vanilla and combine. Make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl!!!!
4| Add in the flour mixture. Stir on lowest, slowest setting for a few seconds, until flour is incorporated. Continue to mix on low speed until the flour is just incorporated. Alternatively, you could fold in the flower. Do not overmix, otherwise this will form a more crunchy cookie. Shape dough into a disc and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill for at least one hour. This lets the flour hydrate completely.
5| Preheat oven to 350F. On a lightly floured surface, roll out doll to about ¼ to ½ “ thick. Try to get the dough as even as possible across the surface. Use a cookie cutter to cut the dough and transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet. I usually have two ready. When I’ve filled one up, I stick it in the fridge, then I continue to fill the other sheet up.
6| Bake for 9-10 minutes, until the cookies are JUST lightly golden on the edges. Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely before you ice!

 Royal Icing Recipe here.