These buttery jasmine shortbread cookies are subtly flavored with ground jasmine tea leaves, making them the perfect complement for a hot cup of tea on a cold winter day.
Note: We partnered with Frontier Co-op to bring you this Jasmine Shortbread Cookie recipe. As always on The Woks of Life, all opinions are our own. Enjoy!
Let the cookie competition commence!
There are two types of people—the ones who compete to bake the best cookies during the holiday season, and the ones who simply sit back and eat said cookies.
We’ve been to some cookie exchanges in the past, and we take our cookie game very seriously! (No surprises here.) While many of our neighbors came with the same recipe each year (many of which we did look forward to), we’ve never made the same cookie twice.
Indeed, this time of year is great for trying out something different and unique to help you stand out amidst all the holiday sweets.
Consider this simple little shortbread cookie—elevated with the fragrance of jasmine tea—a contender for your cookie proceedings this year!
Honestly, though, these cookies aren’t really a holiday cookie. They’re an all-year-round-cookie. Perfect for an afternoon cup of tea. (Incidentally, they do go great with jasmine tea, though any cup of tea will suffice!)
A Unique, Yet Simple Cookie Recipe
If you’re looking for a dessert that’s not too sweet, but still rich and satisfying, then shortbread is your cookie. I love an all-butter plain shortbread, but adding ground tea leaves to the dough gives the cookies an extra delicious fragrance.
For some reason, jasmine tea is my favorite tea to go with desserts. It’s floral—but not as strong as say, rose or lavender—and its delicate flavor has the perfect mellowing effect on sweets.
If you happen to be one of those people looking for a unique yet easy recipe to make for a neighborhood cookie exchange, this jasmine scented shortbread can be made in one bowl, with just 6 ingredients. And you definitely won’t be bringing the same cookie as anyone else!
For the cookie pacifists out there, this is also a great recipe just for filling the cookie jar for cozy afternoon tea by the fire.
Find High Quality Jasmine Tea & Vanilla
Jasmine tea is actually green tea that has been scented with jasmine flowers. The actual potency of jasmine flavor can vary widely. To get good jasmine fragrance in your cookies, you’ll need to find a high quality jasmine tea.
We used tea from Frontier Co-op, a member-owned company that makes high-quality spices, herbs, and teas in cooperation with organic growers. My mom smelled their jasmine tea, and proclaimed it very fragrant!
Other than butter, sugar, flour, and salt, the only remaining ingredient is vanilla extract. The vanilla and jasmine flavors go great together.
How to Make Cookies Taste Like Tea
To impart the flavor of the tea to the cookies, you’ll need to grind the tea into a powder (in a mortar and pestle or spice grinder), and then mix it with the butter, allowing it to infuse overnight.
I got the idea from this Sugar and Soul recipe for Early Grey Shortbread. In my early tests of the recipe, I didn’t grind the tea as finely. However, I realized that I prefer the texture of the cookies when the tea is ground into a fine powder.
Furthermore, because jasmine tea is more delicate than Earl Grey, I decided to add more of it and emphasize that the tea has to infuse the butter overnight (rather than a minimum of 2 hours, as described in the Sugar & Soul recipe).
After infusing the butter with the tea, you combine that mixture with the other ingredients in a bowl with a rubber spatula (no special equipment needed!), cut out cookies, and bake! That’s it.
The recipe is also easy to scale up or down. Just click on the number of cookies in the recipe card and move the slider up or down to scale the ingredient amounts.
Recipe Instructions
Grind the jasmine tea leaves in a spice grinder or mortar & pestle until you get a fine powder (a few remaining bits of leaf is fine). Blend the butter and jasmine tea together with a rubber spatula, and allow to sit at room temperature overnight.
Preheat your oven to 350°F/175°C, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Combine the butter mixture with the vanilla and powdered sugar in a large bowl using a rubber spatula, or in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Then add the flour and salt. Continue mixing until a soft dough forms.
On a lightly floured surface, with a lightly floured rolling pin, roll out the dough to a 1/4-inch to 1/3-inch (0.75cm) thickness. (The thinner the cookie, the less time it will take to bake).
Cut out cookies using a 2-inch (5cm) rectangle or round (or whatever shape you like) cookie cutter.
Transfer to the parchment lined baking sheet, and bake for 10-14 minutes, or until the edges are just beginning to turn golden brown.
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Recipe
Jasmine Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons jasmine tea leaves
- 2 sticks unsalted butter (at room temperature)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2/3 cup powdered sugar
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Grind the jasmine tea leaves in a spice grinder or mortar & pestle until you get a fine powder (a few remaining bits of leaf is fine). Blend the butter and jasmine tea together with a rubber spatula, and allow to sit at room temperature overnight.
- Preheat your oven to 350°F/175°C, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Combine the butter mixture with the vanilla and powdered sugar in a large bowl using a rubber spatula, or in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Then add the flour and salt. Continue mixing until a soft dough forms.
- On a lightly floured surface, with a lightly floured rolling pin, roll out the dough to a 1/4-inch to 1/3-inch (0.75cm) thickness. (The thinner the cookie, the less time it will take to bake). Cut out cookies using a 2-inch (5cm) rectangle or round (or whatever shape you like) cookie cutter.
- Transfer to the parchment lined baking sheet, and bake for 10-14 minutes, or until the edges are just beginning to turn golden brown.
