earl grey tea biscuits

Is anyone else finding it a little cold? My way of combating the cold is by drinking heaps of tea. I think I've had about three today which is a bit more than usual; two were much needed to keep me warm and get me into working mode and my third cup was my obligatory 3pm cup of tea. Is that too much?

Aside from drinking tea, I find that tea makes for a great baking ingredient. I previously made an earl grey tea cake and earl grey has possibly one of the most amazing flavours. I recently stumbled across a recipe for tea biscuits using a blend called 'lady grey' but thought it was just easy enough to substitute with earl grey.

Here are all the ingredients. As you can see, it's a bit of a mixed bag of premium and no frills ingredients that I use. I can comfortable say it's perfectly alright to use no frills ingredients and deliver a spectacular product.

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees. Line 2 baking tins with baking paper. In a large bowl, beat 150g softened unsalted butter with 115g light muscovado sugar until light and creamy. Stir in 2tbsp earl grey tea leaves until well combined. Add 1 beaten egg, then carefully fold in 200mL sifted plain flour. Using your hands, roll the dough on a lightly floured surface into a log about 25cm long. Gently press down on the top of the log with the palm of your hand to flatten slightly. Wrap the dough in cling wrap and chill for 1 hour. 

Using a sharp knife, cut the dough log widthways into 5mm slices.

Place slightly apart on the prepared baking trays. Sprinkle the cookies with a little demerara sugar, then bake for 10-15 minutes until slightly golden brown.

Transfer the cookies to a wire rack and leave to cool.

This recipe is from 'Afternoon Tea' by Antony Wild & Simona Hill (one of my recent finds at Basement Books - this shop really doesn't help my cookbook addiction but I love them nonetheless). Tastewise - these tea biscuits are nicely crispy and buttery. The extended family really loved these cookies and I was a big fan of them too. To be honest, not quite sure how they keep as all of them were gobbled up by the next day. Mum has already requested for another batch.

Since stumbling across this recipe, I've been on the lookout for Lady Grey tea to see what this blend tastes. Have yet to find it, let me know if you spot it anywhere in Sydney.