French tisane shortbread cookies (with lemon verbena)
There are few cookies I love more than shortbread, from homemade melt-in-your-mouth buttery awesome goodness to the hard, crunchy Girl Scout Trefoils I look forward to every year. I saw this recipe on Serious Eats and was intrigued by the use of tea in shortbread, and had to try it. I decided this was to be the first thing I tried in my new kitchen with my new ancient, super-tiny, it-doesn’t-even-have-a-preheated-signal oven. They (thankfully!) turned out to be one of the most fragrant, buttery, lemony cookies I have ever tasted, and outside of finding the lemon verbena, they were also crazy easy.
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Baking mis en place.
Tisane Shortbread Cookies (with lemon verbena)
Based on the recipe from Serious Eats
I got almost 3 dozen cookies from the recipe.
Ingredients
- 2 sticks butter, room temperature
- 3/4 cup sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
- Zest of 2 lemons
- 2 cups flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 heaping tablespoon finely ground verbena
A note about lemon verbena – I had to call a dozen grocery stores, tea shops, herbalists and whatnot until I found it. I was told you can find it in teashops more than any place, but I found it at a local apothecary here in Boulder. Mine was loose leaf (pictured above) so I had to grind it and then use a large sifter to remove the stems.
Directions
1. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter, sugar, and lemon zest until just combined.
2. Sift the flour and salt together, and stir in the verbena. If you are using whole leaf verbena, and not tea verbena, you’ll want to run it through the food processor to get it very fine. Add the dry ingredients into the wet in three batches, restarting the mixer on low speed, and then raising it to medium. When everything is just combined, stop mixing.
3. Separate the dough into two parts, and place each half on a large sheet of plastic wrap. Roll the dough into two logs about 2 inches in diameter and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate until cold throughout, about an hour.
4. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Take the dough out of the fridge.
5. After the dough has sat out for about 10 minutes, carefully cut the dough into 1/2-inch thick discs, trying not to crumble the dough. Lay the discs onto a baking sheet. Sprinkle lightly with a dusting of sugar to form a sparkling, firm crust on the top of each cookie. Bake for about 20 minutes, until golden and firm. Allow to stand for a few minutes, until they are firm enough to move. Remove to a wire rack to cool, and serve with tea.
