I'm so excited to publish my first food post! Aside from photography and design, I also really love cooking and baking and knew that I wanted to incorporate these hobbies into my blog. I can't do very many food posts while school is in session because I don't have the time to deliver quality images for you all, but my spring break is coming up very soon and summer a month after that, so you can expect more food posts in the future!
From seeing some of my work from this year, it may not be a surprise that I love tea. I started drinking it five years ago when I had braces, because my orthodontist said that warm drinks help make the wires a little more flexible and therefore not as painful. It actually works, and I started drinking lots and lots of tea from then on. One of my favorite little traditions of mine is afternoon tea. Most days, at four in the afternoon I like to make myself a cup of tea and half a snack with it, usually a cookie or some other sweet. Over the past year, my parents have also started this routine with me and I really love that we can share that.
The three of us are big fans of shortbread with tea, so by now I've made quite a few varieties.There's the classic recipe of butter, sugar, and flour, but lots of other ingredients can be added to make different flavors. I personally really enjoy adding different types of tea to infuse the cookie with that flavor, I've made Earl Grey, Irish Breakfast, and matcha-flavored shortbread! I have a new flavor to share today though, and it's a new favorite. Vanilla chai shortbread is infused with the sweet spiciness of chai tea and the warm, familiar flavor of vanilla. It's a really easy and quick recipe to follow and if you make them, I hope you enjoy them!
You will need:
1 cup of butter at room temperature
1 3/4 cup of flour
1/2 cup of sugar
1 vanilla bean
1 chai tea bag (I love a brand called Stash, but Tazo, Bigelow, or any other brand works)
Start with preheating your oven to 350F and then start scraping out your vanilla bean. Make a long slice down the middle, peel it open and use the edge of a knife to scrape out the inside. It won't look like a lot, but pure vanilla bean packs a punch and you won't need a lot.
Then, add your butter, vanilla bean, and the contents of one chai tea bag to a bowl and combine. If you wanted to use a mixer for this, you could, but if the butter is soft enough it can easily be done by hand.
When combined, it will look creamy and delicious and smell amazing. Next, you will add the half cup of sugar and stir to combine.
When all those ingredients are well incorporated, add the flour in two smaller batches so it's easier to combine. Your dough will be crumbly but that's okay, it will come together!
Use clean hands or a spoon/spatula of some sort to squish the dough into a ball and then roll it out on a floured surface. I rolled mine to about 1/4 of an inch thick, but whatever your preference is works. I used a jar lid to cut out even shapes and re-rolled and cut the excess dough so that none would go to waste.
Place the cookies on a baking sheet that's been greased or has a piece of parchment paper on it, you don't want your cookies to stick.
Make sure your oven is preheated to 350F and bake for 15 minutes, the minimum time. You're looking for just the tiniest bit of browning on the edges of the cookies, so check them at 15 minutes and if they're not there yet, keep going in segments of two or three minutes until you deem them to be done. Since these cookies don't contain any egg, we're not worried about making sure that they're completely cooked, but a longer cook time will give you a crispier cookie.
Let them cool on the tray for 5 minutes, and then transfer to a plate to serve or box them up in an airtight container and they'll last for a solid couple of weeks! They go fast though, so I wouldn't worry about it too much. My favorite way to enjoy them is with a hot cup of chai tea while I watch a tv show or read a book.
Here's the recipe all in one spot:
Vanilla Chai Shortbread
Ingredients
1 cup of butter at room temperature
1 3/4 cup of flour
1/2 cup of sugar
1 vanilla bean
Contents of 1 chai tea bag
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350F.
Scrape out vanilla bean and combine with tea and butter in a bowl.
Add sugar and combine.
Add flour in two batches and mix until combined.
Turn out onto floured surface, roll out to desired thickness, and cut into shapes.
Grease a baking sheet or use parchment paper, place the cookies on the sheet and bake for at least 15 minutes.
Let cool on tray for 5 minutes, then transfer to plate to serve or a wire rack to continue cooling. When completely cool, store in an airtight container for up to three weeks.
I hope you all enjoy the recipe, I enjoyed writing the post! If you make these cookies, drop a comment and let me know how they turn out and keep an eye out for some more food posts coming soon!
Thanks for reading,
xx, Hannah
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