I absolutely adore shortbread - that sweet, buttery, melt-in-your mouth piece of heaven that goes perfectly with your favorite cup of tea. The only thing that could make it better, in fact, is if you could include your cup of tea in the shortbread…

Enter this easy shortbread cookie recipe! With lashings of a gorgeous Earl Grey tea blend and a hint of lavender, you’ll find it hard to hold off devouring all the cookies at once. I’ll be sharing:

 

• The easy, step-by-step method for making my Earl Grey lavender shortbread
• Which ingredients to swap out for vegan and gluten-free versions
• Some recommendations for teas to drink alongside these cookies

 

Turns out, baking with tea is easier than you think. Let’s get started!

 

My Earl Grey Lavender Shortbread Recipe

As written, this recipe makes 16-20 cookies. It takes 15 minutes prep, 2 hours infusing (optional, but recommended) and 30 minutes baking.

 

Ingredients 

As you prepare for this lovely bake, note that I recommend letting the batter stand for 2 hours!

• 2 tbsp Matcha Alternatives’ Classy Earl Grey Rooibos
• 1 cup softened butter
• ½ cup powdered sugar
• ½ tsp salt
• 3 cups flour
• Matcha Alternatives’ Pretty in Purple Lavender Chamomile OR culinary lavender

 

 

Method

1. Put the butter and loose leaf Classy Earl Grey Rooibos into a bowl. Before you ask, yes, it is safe to eat loose leaf rooibos tea! (It’s not very nice on its own, but we’re going to fix that when we add the rest of the ingredients.)

2. Add lavender to taste - I used about half a tablespoon of the lavender from Pretty in Purple Lavender Chamomile. While culinary lavender works fine, I find that the chamomile shavings add an extra floral twist that tastes great with the Earl Grey. I recommend trying not to get any of the bigger chamomile pieces in the batter to avoid causing lumps.

3. Beat the butter-tea mixture with an electric mixer until well combined.
   
   
4. The key with tea-infused recipes is to let the tea, well, infuse! Thus, I recommend leaving the batter to stand for two hours at this point. This helps the flavor of the tea seep into the butter. You can also skip this step if you’re short on time, but the flavor won’t be as strong.

 

 

5. Once the infusing period is up, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and add the salt and powdered sugar to your bowl

6. Break out that electric mixer again and beat everything together.

7. Then, slowly beat in the flour. This will make the dough pretty stiff and crumbly - the mixture should resemble large breadcrumbs.

 

 

8. Roll the dough ¼ inch thick onto a floured surface. I recommend dusting your rolling pin with flour to make sure the dough doesn’t stick to it, but it’s usually pretty easy to make it behave regardless.

9. Cut out the cookies using whatever cutter you like. I just used the rim of a small glass, and it made for perfectly-sized cookies!

10. Place the cookies onto a tray lined with parchment paper. Shortbread doesn’t expand in the oven like other types of cookies might, so there’s no need to space out the cookies by a huge amount.

 

 

11. Bake the cookies for 30 minutes or until the edges turn golden. Be sure to only let the edges turn this color - any more, and you’ll burn the bottom of the cookies.

Once the cookies have cooled, enjoy your delicious aromatic treat!

 

Vegan and Gluten-Free Substitutes

Of course, the recipe as stated above won’t work for everyone, but there are a couple of switches you can make to create a shortbread that is right for you.

For vegan diets, the main issue here is the butter. However, you can easily swap out regular butter for a vegan butter substitute like margarine. Just make sure the margarine you use is actually vegan, since some margarines still contain dairy.

For gluten-free diets, there are a plethora of gluten-free flour substitutes available. Almond flour’s mildly sweet taste can work really well when baking treats, but pretty much any flour alternative will do just fine.

 

Which Teas Should You Drink With These Cookies?

Of course, cookies are a million times better with tea, so let’s look at some lovely teas that pair perfectly with these shortbread treats.

If you’re an Earl Grey fiend like me, why not go ahead and pair this dessert with the same Classy Earl Grey Rooibos? There’s honestly nothing better than floating in a sea of Earl Grey heaven, and this combo is the perfect way to do it!

These cookies also go really well with fruity teas. Sticking with the Earl Grey theme, Matcha Alternatives’ English Garden Earl Grey Rooibos has strong orangey notes, which goes perfectly with the lavender. This tea isn’t a typical-tasting Earl Grey like the Classy Earl Grey Rooibos is; rather, it’s a gorgeous blend of rooibos, orange, and thistle petals that goes great with many a dessert.

Finally, most any chamomile tea blend will work beautifully with the flavors in this shortbread. If you’re a citrus fan like me, try Matcha Alternatives’ Citrus Beauty Lemongrass Chamomile for a beautiful, zingy, honey-like taste that will perfectly complement the lavender.

And heck, if you love lavender, use some of your leftover Pretty in Purple Lavender Chamomile to make yourself a cuppa and pair it with a shortbread cookie or two. Pure flowery bliss!

 

 

 

A Note From Lauren

Shortbread has been one of my favorite things to bake ever since I was a kid. Growing up in the U.K. I was able to taste some of the best shortbread in the world, and I was thrilled when I found out it was so easy to make at home. Combine it with one of my favorite teas, and you’ve got straight-up Kryptonite!

If you make yourself a batch of these delicious cookies, we’d love to see it, so be sure to post it on Instagram! Tag us @matchaalternatives and use the hashtag #matchaalternatives, and you might get a feature :D