Sunday 13 November 2011

Green Tea and Chai Tea Biscuits

Teabag biscuits?  No way!


I was watching daytime TV the other day.  It's still a novelty to me since I've always had a 9-5 job so I'm NEVER home during the day.  Could daytime TV be one of the perks of having a new baby?  It absolutely doesn't compensate for the endless sleepless nights, but that's another story.  There was a programme on the Food Network about bakeries in the U.S.  They featured a store in Brooklyn that made only biscuits cookies and their range included cookies made from different types of tea.  I had never heard of anyone making biscuits out of tea leaves before (I mean, whats wrong with regular ingredients like chocolate and nuts?) so I decided I'd check out the web and find a recipe to try them out.  I bought Green Tea with Jasmine and Chai Tea and made a batch of each. 

Now, I'm kinda hoping that Santa will come to me at Christmas and buy me a really good flash for my camera and some artistic ability (why stop there, while I'm writing my list I may as well ask for toned abs and the ability to look 10 years younger!) so the pictures don't look amazing.  But I was really happy with these biscuits.  I just used a buttery shortbread recipe but the addition of the tea leaves takes a regular biscuit to another level.  You would have no idea that the black flecks were actual tea leaves .


Green Tea from M&S
Chai Tea from M&S





When I'm making them again, I'll cut them slightly thinner!


This recipe is adapted from www.thekitchn.com. I have kept the American cup measurements as it's easier than converting it!
Tea Biscuits
makes 2 dozen
Ingredients
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon tea leaves of your choice*
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon water
1/2 cup unsalted butter

Method
Preheat oven to 200°C. Pulse together all the dry ingredients in a food processor until the tea leaves are pulverized.
Add vanilla, water, and butter. Pulse together until a dough is formed. Form the dough into a log onto a piece of wax or parchment paper. Wrap the paper around and roll the log smooth. Freeze now, or chill for at least 30 minutes.
When chilled, slice the log into 1/3 inch thick pieces. Place on baking sheets and bake until the edges are just brown, about 12 minutes. Let cool on sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks.
*One would think that expensive loose leaf tea would be best in this recipe. But I've actually gotten the best flavor with tea from cheap bags that I've ripped open. I think the leaves are more fine and flaky.

10 comments:

  1. I love the idea of tea flavoured biscuits...what better way of combining a tea break in one delicious bite?!

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  2. Little Loaf - These biscuits truly are delicious. I just need to work on my photograpy skills ;)

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  3. I love a new biscuit idea - and these look well worth a try. The smell of tea brewing is one of my favorite smells in the world so I can imagine the smell of these wafting from the oven would be a real treat.

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  4. They sound lovely! Seen recipes where you infuse the butter with tea and then strain it out but its all a bit fiddly for me! Love this idea.

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  5. Oh I love the idea of tea-biscuits! My OH is obsessed with tea so I'm going to have to make these for him!

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  6. These look lovely. I can imagine they are excellent with a cuppa. Wish I had one right now!

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  7. Ladies, such nice comments from you all. I have a bit of a thing for biscuits, simple and quick to make and last perfectly well for a few days - great with a cuppa when the mayhem of the day is over!

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  8. Really like the sound of these, might have to give them a go!

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  9. Hi Lottie. Always nice to have something like these in the biscuit tin! Best of luck with your own blog, it looks really lovely. Claire x

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  10. This sounds like a really fun way of doing tea biscuits - to actually include the tea leaves. Green tea and chai both sound good. Will have to try this.

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