Name: Glazed Paris in a Teacup Cookies
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 12 min
Ingredients: 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour; 3 teaspoons Paris in a Teacup tea leaves; 1/4 teaspoon salt; 1/2 cup butter, room temperature; 1/4 cup brown sugar; 1 cup confectioners' sugar

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Glazed Paris in a Teacup Cookies

These amazing little cookies are beyond tasty. Made with our signature Paris in a Teacup tea leaves, they are fragrant, full of flavor and unlike any cookie you've ever had before. This recipe is easy to make and yields about three dozen cookies. Substitution information follows to make this cookie either gluten-free or vegan; or, both as we did at Sisters Tea Parlor. Any version of this cookie is a treat you will find irresistible. Pair with Paris in a Teacup for double the flavor. English Breakfast black tea would also be a lovely pairing or the naturally caffeine-free version of Paris, a rooibos named French Caramel Creme Brulee would be wonderful. Any tea or beverage you choose, these cookies are irresistible.

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Prep Time 20 mins

Cook Time 12 mins

chill 4 hrs

Course Dessert, Snack

Servings 3 dozen

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons Paris in a Teacup tea leaves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup confectioners' sugar

Instructions

Using two teaspoons of tea leaves, steep Paris in a Teacup tea in 1/4 cup boiling water for five minutes. This infusion will be very strong. Set aside and allow to cool.
Take the remaining teaspoon of tea leaves and, using a sharp knife, finely chop the tea leaves.
Mix the chopped tea leaves, flour and salt together in a small bowl. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the softened butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. This will take at about five minutes on medium high to high speed. A hand mixer may also be used.
Beat in one teaspoon of the cooled tea until fully incorporated.
On low speed, gradually add flour mixture just until blended and dough pulls away from the side of the mixing bowl.
Transfer dough onto a piece of plastic wrap or parchment paper. Roll dough into a log shape about 8" long and wrap tightly.
Chill four hours or overnight.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Unwrap chilled dough and slice into 1/4" disks. Place 1" apart on ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake 12-14 minutes or until cookies are lightly golden brown and set.
While cookies are cooling, prepare glaze. Mix together confectioners' sugar and pinch of salt in a small bowl.
Transfer glaze into a small food storage bag and make a small snip in the corner. Drizzle glaze over cookies. Sprinkle with raw sugar if desired.
All glaze to set before transferring to airtight container for storage. Cookies keep well for up to three or four days.

Notes

Sisters’ Signature Paris in a Teacup Cookies with rich Paris Glaze

Over the years of planning menus for Sisters Tea Parlor, I learned to love cooking with tea and tea leaves. At first it seemed so daring! Then it became a natural inclination to ask myself how I could incorporate tea into a recipe or how to create a recipe around a special tea. That’s how this recipe came to be.

Our beloved Paris in a Teacup tea was never intended to be our signature tea in the tea parlor. We originally added a black tea we named Sisterhood to our vast tea menu and touted it as our signature tea. It was a delightful tea, but Paris blew past it in popularity and quickly became the most obvious winner of the title Signature Tea. Sisterhood is no longer even on our tea menu and if you pressed me I would have to admit I don’t really remember exactly what flavor it was. Paris in a Teacup, though, I know so well. The flavor of this tea converts those I-don’t-like-tea folks into OMG-this-is-the-best-tea-I’ve-ever-had folks. It’s true, it happened countless times in the tea parlor and it made my heart happy every time. For the record, there is a HUGE difference between luxury loose-leaf teas like our Paris in a Teacup and grocery store teas. If you think you don’t like tea because you didn’t like what you were offered growing up, reconsider your stance and try some really good quality tea. It’s worth taking the chance. Even if you aren’t willing to try a cup of tea just yet, you have to try these cookies–you will love these!

Strongly steeped Paris in a Teacup tea — Forget the traditional tea to water ratios. We’re steeping a whopping two teaspoons tea leaves to 1/4 cup water.

To make these cookies, we must first make the tea. Using the infused tea is one part of flavoring these cookies. Be aware, we aren’t using the usual ratio here. We are going to make a super strong infusion of this tea. To be clear, we are actually creating something akin to an extract out of this tea. To prepare, measure two teaspoons of the tea leaves and put into an infuser or filter like the TeaBrew filter pictured here. Pour 1/4 cup boiling water over and steep for five minutes. Two teaspoons of tea per 1/4 cup of water is a whopping amount of tea to water ratio, but we want a very rich infusion to lend its flavor to our buttery cookies. After five minutes, remove the infuser or filter and discard spent tea leaves. Set the tea aside and allow to cool.

Meanwhile, mix the flour and salt together in a small bowl. Take the remaining tea leaves and using a sharp knife, finely chop the leaves and toss into the flour mixture. Set to the side for now.

Add the tea to creamed butter and sugar — Add the strongly steeped tea to the creamed butter and sugar, just as you would a flavored extract.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. This will take at least five minutes at medium high to high speed. A hand mixer can also be used. Be patient, this step will ensure a light texture to your cookies. Once the butter mixture is light and fluffy, beat in one teaspoon of the cooled tea.

The cookie dough should cling together — When the dough comes together it will pull away from the sides of the mixing bowl.

Set the mixer speed to low and gradually add the flour and tea mixture to the butter mixture. Continue mixing on low to medium speed until both mixtures are completely blended together. A sure sign the dough is completed is when it begins to pull away from the side of the mixing bowl and leave it relatively clean. The dough should be soft, but still hold its shape. If your dough is dry and crumbly, add 1/2 a teaspoon of the tea and mix slowly. (If your dough is too dry and crumbly, don’t give up, you may have inadvertently added too much flour. Next time, be sure to carefully measure your flour in a measuring cup meant for dry ingredients. Never tamp your flour down to gauge the amount. Instead, use the back of a knife to level off any excess flour. This method will prevent adding too much flour into your recipes.)

Turn the dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap or parchment paper. Use your hands to roll the dough into the shape of a log about 8” long. Wrap in plastic wrap or parchment paper, secure ends and chill four hours or overnight. TIP: This dough freezes incredibly well and is ideal to prepare ahead. To freeze, roll the dough into a log shape, wrap tightly with parchment paper or plastic wrap and secure the ends. Place the wrapped dough into a freezer storage bag and label and date. When ready to bake, simply remove the dough from the freezer and thaw overnight in the refrigerator. Once thaw, bake according to the recipe directions. I freeze cookie dough all throughout the year just to have a batch of cookies on the ready, but I find this method of preparing ahead incredibly helpful in easing the stress of holiday baking and meal planning.

Slice and then bake the cookie dough — Slice the chilled cookie dough into 1/4″ rounds.

Bake cookies until lightly golden around edges. — Bake cookies until they are lightly golden around the edges.

To bake the cookies, preheat oven to 350°F. Unwrap the roll of cookie dough and slice into to 1/4” rounds. Place 1” apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. I prefer to line my cookie sheets with a piece of parchment paper. Bake cookies 12-14 minutes or until lightly golden brown around the edges and the cookies are set. When cookies are finished baking, remove from oven and allow to cool on the cookie sheet.

While the cookies are cooling, prepare the tea glaze. In a small bowl, mix together one cup confections’ sugar and a healthy pinch of salt. Mix together well so that the salt is evenly distributed and any clumps of sugar are broken down. Add one tablespoon of the cooled Paris in a Teacup infusion and mix until smooth and creamy. Add enough of the remaining tablespoon of tea to make a thick glaze. This glaze will set up over the course of an hour or so depending on the humidity in your kitchen.

We have to pause and take a moment here so I can point something out. This glaze, this glaze! What can I say about this glaze? It is glorious. It is caramel-y and utterly delicious. Definitely sweet, but just enough to balance the flavor of the not very sweet cookie base. This tea glaze is the crowning glory of this cookie. However, if glaze is not your thing (but I can promise–it’s somebody’s thing!), you can leave it off. I will usually leave about one quarter of my cookies bald. Yes, bald…no glaze. It seems wrong, but my husband likes to feel good about his choices and it helps his conscious to eat a few without the glaze. I know him so well.

Glaze the cookies with the beautiful, and tasty, tea glaze.

Once the cookies have completely cooled, transfer the glaze into a zip-lock bag and cut off a small corner. Drizzle the rich glaze over the cookies in any pattern you desire. I simply covered the tops, but I’ve also draped zig-zags across them that I thought were interesting. Sprinkle the tops with raw sugar or sparkling sugar sprinkles if you care to. I, personally, am crazy for sprinkles and sparkles. There have been many times that a few sprinkles covered a multitude of sins. LOL. I always had a huge collection of sprinkles at Sisters. I called it my Library of Sprinkles. It was awesome. Have I mentioned I love sprinkles?

Allow the glaze to dry before transferring to an airtight container. Cookies will keep about three days. That’s an estimate. They’ve never lasted that long in my house.

I hope you enjoy these cookies and give them a special place in your recipe collection. They are so good and really quite easy to make. If you or someone you love has any food sensitivities, some substitutions are suggested below. We don’t want anyone left out.

Gluten-free /Vegan Versions

To make a gluten-free version of these cookies, replace the traditional all-purpose flour with your favorite 1:1 ratio gluten-free flour. Follow the directions as listed. The gluten-free version of these Paris in a Teacup cookies were regularly featured on our gluten-free tea tray menus in the tea parlor. It was hard to recognize they were gluten-free at all!

To make a dairy-free/vegan version of these cookies, replace the softened butter with coconut oil, vegetable shortening, or a dairy-free butter that contains at least 80% oil. The texture will be slightly different than cookies made with butter, but they will still be every bit as delicious. Just make the swap and follow the recipe as directed.

If it is required, it is also absolutely possible to make this recipe both gluten-free and vegan using the substitutions listed. Someone with multiple food sensitivities will thank you.

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Sisters’ Signature Paris in a Teacup Cookie with Tea Glaze