Earl Grey Coconut Sugar Shortbread Cookies

My Earl Grey Coconut Sugar Shortbread Cookies are the perfect holiday cookie. They’re not overly sweet, they’re very buttery, and they can stand up to being dunked in tea, coffee or cocoa. I love the flavor that Earl Grey tea infuses into the cookie and the texture and depth that the coconut sugar provide. Don’t bring these to your cookie exchange, you’ll want to keep them for yourself! This recipe is gluten-free.

Something in my brain just clicked recently. I think I realized that I just don’t have time to be messing around anymore.

I’m having a baby in literally a handful of weeks. I have a little boy with a birthday in a couple weeks. There’s a big holiday right after that, which requires me digging through boxes of decorations ASAP. And it’s cookie season. Time to snap-snap, get to it!

And thus, there’s a naked Christmas tree in my living room (to be adorned tomorrow…hopefully) and I have a counter covered in cookies.

Total side question: real tree or fake? Which camp are you in? I’m a die-hard real tree girl. My husband thinks he’s just one year away from a glorious plastic one…he’s wrong.

Ok so now we can talk cookies, right?

For some reason I’m obsessed with Earl Grey lately. Like, in everything. I ate an Earl Grey macaron and it just snowballed from there. There was a white chocolate bar from Trader Joe’s…about 20 different cups of hot tea…two batches of infused shortbread… I have a problem.

But at least I can share my problem with you now!

These Earl Grey Coconut Sugar Shortbread Cookies are just everything right now. They truly taste like a warm cup of tea, they have the perfect bite and crumble, and they’re nothing but buttery goodness.

Let’s be honest, you can’t do shortbread without butter. You can’t. Sorry. Not sorry.

I’ve sweetened them with coconut sugar for two reasons: depth of flavor AND texture. If you’re more of a brittle and delicate shortbread fellow, then swap it for the traditional powdered sugar. But I love the bit of texture and the deeper flavor you get from coconut sugar.

Ready to whip up a batch and pour a cuppa?

Earl Grey Coconut Sugar Shortbread Cookies
Recipe by Melissa @ Treats With A Twist
Yields 14-16 cookies

INGREDIENTS
½ cup unsalted butter, room temp
½ cup coconut sugar
½ tsp. vanilla extract
2 Earl Grey tea bags (I used Trader Joe’s brand)
¾ cup + 2 Tbs. brown rice flour
2 Tbs. almond flour
2 Tbs. arrowroot starch (or another starch)

METHOD
In the bowl of your mixer (or in a bowl with a hand mixer), combine the butter and coconut sugar; beat for 2 minutes, until well creamed together. Then, add the vanilla and the contents of the tea bags (just snip the top off the tea bags and dump them in) and mix until completely combined.
Finally, add the flours and starch and carefully mix until the dough comes together.
Lay out a sheet of plastic wrap and dump the dough onto the plastic wrap. Wrap the dough up tightly into the shape of a log, approximately 1 ½ “ in diameter. Place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment. Take your dough out of the fridge and slice with a sharp knife into ¼” thick slices. Place the cookie dough on your baking sheets, well spaced. Bake for 16-18 minutes, rotating the cookies once during their baking time and making sure they don’t get too dark around the edges.
Let the cookies cool completely on a wire rack. Serve, enjoy!

Note: baked cookies should be stored in an airtight container on the counter for 2 days or in the fridge for up to a week. You can make logs of cookie dough ahead of time and keep them in the freezer until you’re ready to slice and bake them.

To Print this recipe, simply copy and paste the text into a new document on your computer and hit print. I know it’s old school, but that’s just how it is for now. Thanks!

 

For my Holiday Gift Guide for Toddlers, click here! 

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