Earl Grey Butter Cookies

Crisp, tender, and buttery Earl Grey Butter Cookies with a hint of tea and chocolate. They are an easy and delightful sweet treat that’s perfect for afternoon tea, holiday cookies, and the cookie jar at home!

I just found my new-found love, butter cookies. They have a rich buttery flavor and a satisfying crisp and tender texture. In addition, these cookies keep well longer than most cookies, they are perfect for gifting and they are such a pretty cookie.

I add earl grey tea into the cookie batter, which takes these yummy delights to the next level. It is amazing how so few ingredients can go towards making such a delicious treat. I also love the fact that these Earl Grey Butter Cookies are very easy to make. You don’t need any mixer and this recipe does not require any chilling at all. They are even easier and taste better than my previous Earl Grey Shortbread Cookies in my opinion.

Do you see the chocolate chips there? I thought the cookies looked plain and a bit boring as they were. Therefore, I added a chocolate chip in the middle of each cookie to make them prettier like flowers. It turns out to be a brilliant idea because earl grey and chocolate taste absolutely great together.

This recipe is perfect for tea lovers, and those who typically enjoy their coffee and tea with a side of something sweet. They will disappear in no time, so make sure to prepare an extra batch.

Best Tea to Use

These cookies are primarily flavored with earl grey tea. Earl grey is a black tea blend that is flavored with bergamot orange oil. You can use both loose leaf earl grey tea or tea bags for this recipe. However, I highly recommend the loose leaf tea form.

The differences between loose leaf tea and tea bags are numerous, and it goes far beyond the surface. The leaves used in most bags are actually the dust and fannings from broken tea leaves. Finely broken tea leaves have lost most of their essential oils and aroma. More importantly, most tea bags constrain the tea leaves, keeping them from expanding to their full flavor and aroma potential. That is why I love using loose leaf tea for making baked goods because it is fresher and more flavorful.

Best Piping Tips to Use

The cookie dough is thick, so make sure to use a large piping tip with at least a 1/2-inch opening. The smaller the size, the harder it will be to pipe. I highly recommend an open star piping tip. For this photo, I use a French star piping tip which cuts produces fine, deeply-grooved patterns.

Pro Tips For Making Earl Grey Butter Cookies

• Use room temperature butter. It refers to soft and pliable butter, but still cool to touch. There should be an indent when you press with your finger.
• Measure your flour correctly. Adding too much flour to the recipe is the most common mistake. To best and easiest way to measure flour is by using a scale. If you still insist on using volume measurement, make sure to fluff your flour and spoon it into your measuring cup. Then, use a knife to level it off.
• Add more milk if your dough is too hard. Finding the right consistency of cookie dough is very crucial for butter cookies since you need it to be creamy enough to pipe. I find the recipe ratio is perfect for me, but if your dough is too hard to pipe, try to add a teaspoon of milk to the dough.
• Blend the tea finely. To do this, I blend the tea with a little bit of flour in a food processor until the tea is spotted throughout the flour. Then, make sure to sift the flour to filter out the large particles.
• Use a cookie press to shape the cookies. if you are not confident about your piping skill, you can alternatively use a cookie press to shape these cookies.
• Use a good quality baking chocolate to decorate the cookies. You can use baking chocolate chips or chocolate callets (what I used here). You can use dark or white chocolate for these cookies.

More Tea Desserts

If you love tea as much as I do, make sure to check out also these tea-infused dessert recipes!

• Masala Chai Shortbread Cookies
• Zebra-Striped Matcha Shortbread Cookies
• Eggless Matcha Tiramisu Cake
• Honey Chamomile Panna Cotta
• Earl Grey Burnt Cheesecake

Yield: 25 cookies

Earl Grey Butter Cookies

Print

Crisp, tender, and buttery Earl Grey Butter Cookies with a hint of tea and chocolate. They are an easy and delightful sweet treat that's perfect for afternoon tea, holiday cookies, and the cookie jar at home!

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 17 minutes

Total Time 32 minutes

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup unsalted butter (150 gr), room temperature
• 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp confectioners' sugar (75 gr)
• 1 tbsp milk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/3 cups cake flour (165 gr)
• 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp cornstarch (45 gr)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp loose earl grey tea 
• 25 chocolate chips/callets (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 340°F/170°C and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat.
2. In a food processor, blend half of the flour and tea together until the tea is spotted throughout the flour.
3. In a medium bowl, mix the tea-blended flour, with the remaining flour, cornstarch, and salt until well combined. Set aside.
4. Using a mixer or spatula, cream together butter and confectioners sugar until well incorporated. Add milk and vanilla extract. Mix until well combined.
5. Sift in the flour mixture and mix with a spatula until well incorporated.
6. Add your large star piping tip to the piping bag. Spoon a little bit of dough into the piping bag and try piping on the prepared baking sheet. If the dough is too thick to pipe, transfer the dough back to the mixing bowl and add 1 tsp of milk. If the dough is creamy enough to pipe, continue piping the dough, leaving 2-inch apart on the baking sheet. (*see video for a visual guide)
7. Place a chocolate chip/callet in the middle of each cookie.
8. Bake cookies for 15-17 minutes or until the edges are light brown.
9. Remove from the oven and immediately transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Notes

This recipe will make crisp and tender cookies with a snap. If you prefer chewier cookies, substitute the milk with 1 egg yolk and substitute cake flour and cornstarch with the same amount of all-purpose flour.

Make sure to measure the flour correctly if using volume measurement. The cookies will end up too hard to pipe if you are adding too much flour. Use a spoon to scoop the flour into the measuring cup. Then, level the top with a knife or other straight-edged utensil.

If you don't have a large piping tip, you can alternatively use a cookie press to shape the cookies. If you don't have a cookie press or large piping tips, snip 1/2-inch corner off the end of a plastic bag and pipe lines/flat swirls.

Did you make this recipe?

Please leave a star rating or review on the comment section and tag @jacintahalim on Instagram. This provides helpful feedback to both me and other readers. Happy cooking!