Crisp and buttery shortbread cookies with a hint of Earl Grey, with just 5-ingredients, they’re perfect for parties, tea time, or scarfing down all by yourself! <—- Like I did!
Earl Grey Cookies
Alright, I must admit, like Mad Men, I’ve only watched the first episode of Downton Abbey. I just wasn’t that intrigued, but everyone tells me I need to watch the whole first season before I pass judgment. With so many other things to watch on tv, it’s going to have to wait until some downtime in the summer months.
However, I love posting pop culture inspired recipes, so I decided to bring you this fun Downton Abbey inspired recipe and link party in anticipation of tonight’s premiere!
Okay, so a may not be a die-hard fan of Downton, but I do love me some tea and cookies. I post a lot of cookie recipes on here but have yet to post a recipe for shortbread cookies and they’re my favorite! I know, I know… I say every cookie is my favorite… but I REALLY love cookies!
Matt and I will literally kill an entire box of Lorna Doone’s in one sitting, they’re just so addictive. I always thought they’d be difficult to make, but when I stumbled across this three-ingredient recipe from Dine & Dish, I was floored! No Way! Just three ingredients and a half hour? That’s easier than a trip to the store and about $3.00 cheaper too!
With three ingredients, you’d think maybe they were lacking. Nope, not at all. These simple shortbread cookies are everything I dreamed they would be! I decided to adapt the recipe a bit by adding Earl Grey Tea leaves and using unsalted butter and adding my own salt for more control over the flavor. My version is just 5 ingredients and can still be made in 30 minutes, no chill time required!
The end result is perfectly crisp shortbread cookies that are so buttery they almost melt in your mouth. The essence of Earl Grey tea takes them to a whole new level of flavor and fun! They’re so good, I’m not even willing to share, you’ll all just have to make them yourselves! They’re just the thing if you’re looking for a slightly sweet cookie fix or preparing for a Downton Abbey party!
More Delicious Cookie Recipes:
- Vanilla Chai Shortbread Cookies
- Classic Sugar Cookies
- Irish Cream No Bake Cookies
- Chocolate Chip Cookies
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 bag Earl Grey Tea Leaves 2 bags can be used for a stronger flavor
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- Cream butter and confectioners sugar in a large bowl or stand mixer.
- Add in flour, salt, and tea leaves. continue to mix until a soft dough forms. The mix will be dry and crumbly at first but will come together.
- Roll dough out on a lightly floured surface until it's 1/4 inch thick.
- Cut out cookies using a 2 in round cookie cutter.
- Bake on a parchment lined baking sheet for 20-22 minutes or until edges are a golden brown.
For a stronger initial flavor, mix the butter and tea leaves together about 6 hours ahead of time to infuse.
Slightly Adapted from Dine & Dish.
1 cookie is 3 WW PointsPlus.
Kate @ Babaganosh.org says
Ooh, these look great. I’ve always wanted to make Earl grey cookies and just never got around to it. I think I’ll actually do it tonight, since I have everything I need for these cookies (so few ingredients!)…. and tonight I will be watching last night’s season premiere since I didn’t get a chance to watch it yesterday!
fickrj5@gmail.com says
That’s what I love about this recipe, everything is already in the kitchen, no need to make a special trip to the store!
Heidy@The McCallumsShamrockPatch says
Downton Abbey Earl Grey Shortbread Cookies sound like a wonderful match made in heaven. I am so glad I stumbled on your blog post. I’m definitely in need of a good quality cup of tea this morning!
fickrj5@gmail.com says
Thanks so much for stopping by, you definitely can’t get the day going without a cup of tea!
Susie Gall says
Love, Love, Love!!
Linda @ForkandForage says
I absolutely love this idea. Earl Grey is my go-to flavor of tea and shortbread is such a wonderful indulgence. What a perfect duo! Beautiful photos too. 🙂
fickrj5@gmail.com says
Thank you, Linda! I had so much fun with this photo set and I’ve been savoring the cookies, so good!
Patricia @ Grab a Plate says
These look & sound amazing! Love the addition of the tea – brilliant! And you *must* watch! Never thought I’d like it, but I love it 😉
fickrj5@gmail.com says
I know, I’m adding it to my summer watch list, too many of our other shows to catch up on right now!
Del's cooking twist says
They are so beautiful. I would love to grab a few of them while reading a book and drinking some tea!
Jackie says
sounds delicious but am wondering….do the tea leaves break up after the cookies are cooked? duh
fickrj5@gmail.com says
What do you mean by break up? You should use a tea where the leaves are small and fine like Bigelow or Twinings and they just blend into the dough and bake up as pictured.
Beauty Follower says
Earl Grey is my fave every day tea… must try your cookies 🙂
Cate says
I love Earl Grey, I will definitely try these this weekend! When you say one bag of tea, do you mean one teabag cut open? Or an entire package of looseleaf tea leaves?
Rebecca says
I mean one bag of tea like Bigelow cut open and then the leaves mixed into the dough. Enjoy!
Julia says
I’m really excited to try this recipe, but I’m a little confused about how much tea to use, can you give a teaspoon/tablespoon measurement?
Rebecca says
I’m not able to measure out the exact amount right now as I’m at work, but It’s probably around 1 tbsp.
Kate says
I love Downton so much, can’t wait to try out this recipe, thank you!
Miss Diane says
I really don’t know how come I landed here but I immediately fell in love with your cookies. I will make a gluten free version of it as soon as we finish the banana and tofu ones I made today.
We are fans of Downton Abbey and we watch it in french every Saturday night.
Rebecca says
The Bob’s Red Mill 1-for-1 Gluten Free Flour should work wonderfully!
Kathleen says
I’ve made this recipe several times over the past few weeks and have gotten rave reviews every time! The only tweaks I’ve made is using 2 bags of earl grey instead of 1 a the first time I made the cookies we couldn’t really taste the earl grey, and I also add a little less salt, otherwise I find you can really taste it. Making another batch right now!
Rebecca says
I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed them. I’ve made them with 2 bags before too, but find that as time passes they can become very strong. The flavor of the cookies becomes stronger with time. But it’s a good idea to add that note to the recipe! I have a Chai Tea version coming up on Wenesday and you might like the Black Tea and Cinnamon Shortbreads as well! http://www.sugarandsoul.co/2015/11/cinnamon-black-tea-shortbread-cookies-recipe.html
Stellina says
can these cookies be frozen? they look amazing
Rebecca says
Most definitely!
APRIL says
Making these as a thank you gift to a tea lover. I used a teapot cookie cutter, they are adorable! Trying other teas later with this recipe.
Rebecca says
Oh those do sound adorable! You’ll love other teas too! Black Tea with Cinnamon seems to be a favorite and I have a couple other recipes here on the site with some variations!
Rhyss says
I just made these today and they are delicious! They are going fast and I will have to make them again soon. I wanted to tell you that instead of using confectioner’s sugar I made a sugar free version using Splenda and cornstarch mixed in a food processor.
Thanks for a great recipe.
Rebecca says
Hey Rhyss, I’m so glad you enjoyed them! I don’t do artificial sweeteners, but maybe you’d be kind enough to pass along the ratio of Splenda and cornstarch that you used for other readers that might be interested?
Rhyss says
Rebecca,
Unfortunately, being a diabetic I have to restrict my sugar intake and so far Splenda seems to taste the most like sugar to me, but opinions vary. I use the ratio from the Splenda website:
3/4 cup SPLENDA® No Calorie Sweetener, Granulated
2 tablespoons cornstarch
https://www.splenda.com/recipes/powdered-sugar
Rhyss
Rebecca says
I completely understand and I’m so glad you were able to make this recipe work for you!
Cookie Monster Mom says
My kids thought the cookies were too dry, too bland and didn’t like them. It needs more butter or something. The dough would crumble and fall apart during the cutting process and made it difficult to form the heart shapes with the cookie cutter. Didn’t really taste much tea flavor in it but liked the fact that it was not overly sweet.
Rebecca says
Hi Cookie Monster Mom, I’m sorry to hear that these didn’t turn out for you. A couple things – these are shortbread cookies so they should be slightly dry and flaky. Also, I’m wondering if you may not have mixed the dough long enough. The dough starts off pretty crumbly and looks like it will never come together, but then it does and it should be reminiscent of sugar cookie dough. It will pull away from the sides of the bowl and bond together. Do yours do that? If so, I’m not sure why it was crumbly when you rolled it out, I’ve made this recipe numerous times without issue, as have many readers. The tea flavor strengthens over time, that’s what I love about them. They last a really long time and the flavor just gets better and better!
Jeannie says
I made these today and they turned out great. The Earl Grey wasn’t as pronounced as I had hoped so next time I will use two tea bags. Great recipe!
Rebecca says
Hi Jeannie, I’m so glad you enjoyed them. The tea will develop a strong flavor over time, but it definitely won’t hurt anything if you want to use 2 tea bags next time!
Nav says
I was wondering whether one could make these with regular granulated white sugar? Or would that change the consistency of the dough?
Thanks!
Rebecca says
Hi Nav, I’ve never made this particular recipe with granulated, but I have made Scottish shortbread with granulated and used it in my Billionaire Bars. I would say you could give it a try, it will chance the consistency some, but I’m not sure how much, my guess is you might get something more like a butter cookie.
Kate says
I have a looseleaf lavender earl grey tea that I would love to try with these cookies! Would that be ok or do you think the looseleaf tea is too big for the cookies? I’m not sure about the size difference of the tea in a bag or looseleaf tea.
Rebecca says
Looseleaf tends to be bigger than the tea leaves in the bags, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be used! I’d use a mortar and pestle or food processor to get the tea fairly fine and use that.
Holly N @Spend With Pennies says
My daughter made these beautiful cookies for a baby shower this weekend. Not only were they easy to make but they were literally melt in your mouth delicious! We will definitely be making these again!
Rebecca says
Oh, yay, I’m so glad you enjoyed them! They are so buttery and delicious!
Kristin says
Ive made these cookies several times. They are loved by all. And super easy to make!!! My only suggestion is to refridgerate the dough for an hour for easy to roll out. My condo is a sauna always and the dough is to soft to roll out but after refridgerated turn out wonderful 🙂
Rebecca says
Yes, refrigerating the dough can help, especially in the heat! So glad you enjoy this recipe, it’s one of my favorites!
Julia says
It doesn’t say, but I’m assuming the butter should be softened? Cant wait to make these, so excited!
Rebecca says
Hi Julia,
Yes it should be softened, thanks so much for catching that! Glad everyone else figured that out while making these! Enjoy!
Inci says
I was wondering what you thought about adding vanilla extract into this dough?
These cookies look amazing!!!!
Rebecca says
Hi Inci, you could try adding 1/2 tsp to the recipe if you’d like, I actually think vanilla bean paste would be a great addition, I think I’ll have to make those myself real soon!
Kelly says
O.K. my daughter is having a reception and loves Earl Grey Tea, so I tried a batch, with tiny leaf cookie cutters….I have to say…..”BEST SHORTBREAD I’VE EVER EATEN!” Super excited to serve them. So easy to work with, so few ingredients…love, love, love them!!!
Rebecca says
I’m so glad you loved them, Kelly! They really are delicious, aren’t they!?!?
C says
Delicious! I loved these, but the second time I made them I infused the tea into the butter first for a deeper flavor. They don’t last long enough with my eaters to develop flavor over time. 🙂
Rebecca says
That’s a great idea! So glad you enjoyed them!
Anna May says
I tried this recipe last night, along with 2 other earl grey cookie recipes and this came out the sweetest! It kinda overpowered the earl grey, in my honest opinion. I’d probably reduce them the next time. It was also really crunchy, which I liked. 🙂
Thanks for sharing! x
Kathy says
These were ridiculously hard to make. The dough was very stiff initially, then insanely sticky to roll out. It took a roller cover plus a ton of flour to be able to roll it out without tearing it, and then it developed air bubbles while baking. 27 minutes? I’ve been at it an hour, the first batch just baked. After all that work, they’re dry, tasteless, and the kitchen is a disaster. Never again! And I’ve designed and built gingerbread houses from scratch.
Sheri says
Hi!
I LOVE the flavor of these cookies, they made my apartment smell amazing!
My only comment is that I had the crumbly problem that everyone else did. My momma always told me to never overwork something, so instead of mixing until it somehow came together I added just a smidge of water, and that brought the dough together without stiffening the cookie, they were still very “melt in your mouth” by the end.
Rebecca says
Hi Sheri, I’m glad the water trick worked for you and you enjoyed the cookies. The dough does need to be beaten rather well and long for it to come together, and because there’s no egg or leavening agent in the mix, there’s no need to worry about overworking as long as once it comes together you don’t work it much beyond that point.
Margaret says
These didn’t work so well for me… dough was WAY too sticky to roll, so I added flour. Ended up with a mess of cookies, way too browned on the edges and some were blackened messes. This was 10 minutes in. Any advice? Could they have been too thin? Is this normal? Could it be my stove?
Rebecca says
I’m sorry it didn’t work out for you, Margaret. Did you use margarine instead of butter? The baking could be your oven, they shouldn’t be blackened after 10 minutes, it’s possible they were too thin.
Elaine says
Could you please clarify how much 1 cup 2 sticks of butter is? Is it 1 cups plus 2 sticks? I’m from Canada and they are available by cups or mL for butter measurements . Thank you.
Rebecca Hubbell says
Hi Elaine, sorry the 2 sticks was supposed to be in parenthesis, but my new recipe card must have removed them. Anyway, to answer your question, it is 1 cup. Here in the states each stick is a 1/2 cup 🙂
Elaine says
Thanks for the clarification, Rebecca. I made the cookies and they turned out great!
Rebecca Hubbell says
So glad you loved them!
Danica says
Made these today and they are delish! I loove earl grey and I LOOVE shortbread, so this was a no brainer. I added the contents of 2 tea bags and I kicked them up a notch by making an earl grey glaze! Inspired me to try other flavours, too!
Rebecca Hubbell says
So glad you enjoyed them!
Elisabeth says
I didn’t have time to search all the comments, so please forgive me if this was already asked, but have you tried adding any lemon zest to these cookies?
Anyhow, I made them as written and I am both sorry for my husband and secretly relieved that he doesn’t like Earl Grey! My house smells amazing and the cookies are delicious!!
Rebecca Hubbell says
Hi Elisabeth, Myself and others have made them with lemon glaze. add powdered sugar, water, and lemon zest together and dip half of the cookies in and then let them set on wax paper to dry.
Evy says
I am so confused. If I left the cookies in the oven for 20 minutes they’d be toast. Right around 9-10 minutes seems good for mine – I left one batch in for ~13 minutes and they’re too done (but I’ll eat them anyways) – but I did everything else the same!
Nevertheless, these are so tasty! I can’t wait to take them to work for an afternoon pick-me-up with tea at that 2 p.m. drag…
As I sat down to type this, I saw the hubs saunter by and pick one up and put the whole thing in his mouth. He caught me watching him and had that mouth-full-of-guilt look. I’m mostly just sad this means I’ll have to share.
Rebecca Hubbell says
Hi Evy, I’m so sorry that you had trouble with the timing, every oven is different, but I’m glad you found a timing that works well for you and I hope you enjoy the cookies!
Amanda says
is it 1 cup OR 2 sticks butter? not 1 cup + 2 sticks?
Rebecca Hubbell says
Hi Amanda, it’s just 1 cup. 2 sticks of butter equals 1 cup.
Patricia says
Thanks so much for this gorgeous recipe. I’m not a lover of Earl Grey tea but it’s so perfect in this recipe. I have made it a number of times and passed the recipe on as well
So so easy.
I have also replaced 1/2 cup of flour with rice flour that gave it a nice crunch.
They are lovely with a cup of tea and part of a high tea that I held for a friend.
Also I served one of these each beside a dessert that was served in a glass of layered whipped cream with yogurt, lemon curd and raspberries. Very decadent and the biscuit on the side provided a welcoming crunch.
Very versatile.
Rebecca Hubbell says
I’m so glad you have been enjoying this recipe and finding so many uses for it! Thank you for your sweet comment!
JansinGA says
I love these cookies! I made them twice this past weekend, once for an event at church and once for home, and here are my experiences: First batch, I mixed with a hand-held electric mixer. The dough was super soft and stuck to my rolling pin like crazy, but still turned out well. Second batch, I used my stand mixer and refrigerated the dough for about 30 minutes before rolling. MUCH better! I used a teaspoon of vanilla bean paste and two tea bags in each batch. I’ll probably omit the vanilla next time to see if I can tell any difference. I’ve already shared your site and the recipe with a few friends who requested the recipe. Love this cookie (or 5!) with a nice cuppa Earl Grey tea while watching, yes, my favorite BBC shows! Thank you for the recipe!
Rebecca Hubbell says
I’m so glad you enjoyed them! A stand mixer is definitely the easiest way to mix these cookies!