This year’s cookie swap was just as much fun as the one in
2011. I received three delicious shipments of homemade cookies, and also had an
opportunity to bake and to share my creations with three other food bloggers.
Thank you, Candy from Candy Girl, for peanut butter and chocolatechunk cookies; we received your package first, and the cookies were gone within
couple days. My family loved them. Very very good.
Thank you, Alissa from Sweet Tea and Sunshine, for
strawberry – thyme shortbread cookies, dipped in white chocolate and chopped
walnuts. The cookies were super delicious! I was having them as a
treat every morning with my tea, and then was packing one with me to work, to
have with my afternoon coffee.
Thank you, Kasha from The Farm Girl Cooks, for spicedmolasses cookies – they were perfect! Soft
and chewy, not too sweet and pleasantly spicy; Kasha’s cookies looked great too: flawless, all the same size, perfectly
round, stacked nice and snug in a fancy box;
they looked like cookies one would buy in an expensive bakery.
My cookies were Earl Grey tea sablés, recipe adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s book “Paris Sweets”, and the decorating idea from Caitlin Dunn’s blog teaspoon.com. Cookies
are sweet and buttery, with a potent taste of tea and dipped in dark chocolate.
I thought they were delicious. I hope my matches: Allison from Creative Crops, Laura from Maine Line Feast, and Anna from
Anna Dishes, liked them too.
Ausra
Earl Grey Tea Sablés
Recipe adapted from Dorie Greenspan “Paris Sweets”
Decorating idea from teaspoon.com
4 ounces butter, at room temperature
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 egg yolk
1 cup flour
2 tablespoons Earl Grey tea leaves
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
In a medium size bowl sift powdered sugar.
Pulse flour, salt and tea leaves in a food processor until tea is finely ground.
With electric mixer beat butter until smooth. Add sifted powdered sugar and beat again until the mixture is smooth and silky. Beat in yolk, then vanilla. Reduce mixer speed to low and slowly add the flour mixture. Mix just until all flour is incorporated. Turn the dough onto a dry surface, gather into a ball, flatten it slightly to make a thick disc, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350oF.
Line baking sheet with parchment or Silpat.
Roll out the chilled dough between two sheets of parchment into a 1/4 inch-thick rectangle. Cut out rectangular cookies about the size of a teabag, 1 1/2” X 2”; cut off the top corners (to create a shape of an actual teabag); using a round pastry tip punch a hole for a string. Place cookies onto prepared baking sheet, spacing them 1 inch apart. Bake until the edges turn lightly gold, about 10 – 12 minutes. Let cool on the sheet for couple minutes, then transfer to the cooling rack and to cool completely.
When cookies are cool, put the string with the tag through the hole. Dip the bottoms of the cookies into melted dark chocolate. Place dipped cookies onto a baking sheet and refrigerate until chocolate hardens.
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 egg yolk
1 cup flour
2 tablespoons Earl Grey tea leaves
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
In a medium size bowl sift powdered sugar.
Pulse flour, salt and tea leaves in a food processor until tea is finely ground.
With electric mixer beat butter until smooth. Add sifted powdered sugar and beat again until the mixture is smooth and silky. Beat in yolk, then vanilla. Reduce mixer speed to low and slowly add the flour mixture. Mix just until all flour is incorporated. Turn the dough onto a dry surface, gather into a ball, flatten it slightly to make a thick disc, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350oF.
Line baking sheet with parchment or Silpat.
Roll out the chilled dough between two sheets of parchment into a 1/4 inch-thick rectangle. Cut out rectangular cookies about the size of a teabag, 1 1/2” X 2”; cut off the top corners (to create a shape of an actual teabag); using a round pastry tip punch a hole for a string. Place cookies onto prepared baking sheet, spacing them 1 inch apart. Bake until the edges turn lightly gold, about 10 – 12 minutes. Let cool on the sheet for couple minutes, then transfer to the cooling rack and to cool completely.
When cookies are cool, put the string with the tag through the hole. Dip the bottoms of the cookies into melted dark chocolate. Place dipped cookies onto a baking sheet and refrigerate until chocolate hardens.
Sausainiai su Earl Grey arbata
Receptas pagal Dorie Greenspan “Paris Sweets”
Dekoravimo idėja iš teaspoon.com
115 g sviesto, kambario temperatūros
1/3 stiklinės*
cukraus pudros
1 kiaušinio
trynys
1 stiklinė miltų
2 šaukštai Earl Grey arbatžolių
1 šaukštelis vanilės esencijos
Žiupsnelis druskos
*1 stiklinė
= 236 ml
Į vidutinio dydžio dubenį persijoti cukraus pudrą.
Virtuviniame kombaine sukti miltus, druską
ir arbatžoles kol arbatžolės smulkiai susimals.
Elektriniu mikseriu išsukti
sviestą iki vientisos masės. Suberti persijotą cukraus pudrą ir toliau sukti, kol masė taps vientisa. Įmaišyti kiaušinio trynį ir vanilę. Mikserio
greitį sumažinti iki minimumo. Pamažu berti miltų mišinį.
Sukti tik tol, kol tešloje nebeliks sausų miltų.Tešlą išversti
ant sauso paviršiaus,
rankomis suspausti į
rutulį, lengvai suploti į gana storą diską, įsukti
į maistinę plėvelę
ir įdėti į šaldytuvą mažiausiai pusvalandžiui.
Orkaitę įkaitinti iki 175oC.
Plačią kepimo skardą iškloti
sviestiniu popieriumi arba silikonine Silpat plėvele.
Atšalusią tešlą
iškočioti tarp dviejų sviestinio popieriaus lakštų į maždaug 3 – 4 mm
storio stačiakampį. Supjaustyti į 3 X 5 cm stačiakampius sausainius, nupjauti
kiekvieno sausainio viršutinius kampus, kad forma taptų panaši į arbatos maišelio.
Apvaliu konditeriniu antgaliu išspausti skylutę siūlui. Sausainius dėti ant
paruoštos kepimo skardos, tarp jų paliekant poros centimetrų tarpus. Kepti kol
krašteliai lengvai paruduos, maždaug 10 – 12 minučių. Įštraukus iš orkaitės
sausainiams leisti porą minučių atvėsti skardoje, po to perkelti ant grotelių
ir palikti, kad pilnai atvėstų.
Į atvėsusius sausainius įverti siūlą su prikabintu popierėliu (kad atrodytų kaip
arbatos maišelis). Kiekvieną sausainį iki pusės panardinti į ištirpintą
šokoladą, dėti ant skardos ir kišti į šaldytuvą, kol šokoladas sukietės.
