Luna Lovegood-Infused Sugar Cookies!

[dragoon811]

These delicious cookies took me two days to make and I regret NOTHING. You could probably do it more quickly if you didn't start at 8 o'clock at night. Sorry.

For this, I used Cara McGee's Luna Lovegood tea on Adagio.com. When I first tried & reviewed this tea, I said it would be great in sugar cookies. So I've done it now - sorry it took me so long to do it!

Those unfamiliar with this tea or site or Cara McGee, give it a try. ;) The Luna Lovegood blend is Earl Grey Lavendar, Rooibos Jasmine, and Guanabana (kind of citrus-y). It's light and delicious, and slightly floral. It's PERFECT for sugar cookies!!!!

First step! Infuse the butter with the tea.

Infusing the Butter:

• unsalted butter
• tea
• a sauce pan
• a mesh strainer thing that won't let the tea through!

1. For every tablespoon of butter, you need 1.5tsp of tea
2. Approximately 1c of butter used yields about 3/4c infused
3. 16tbs in 1c of butter. 3tsp per tablespoon. Basically, 1c butter means you need 8tbs, or 1/2c of tea. I used just over 1/2c of tea with 1 and 1/4c of butter, and ended up adding more butter. But the flavor works!

• Step 1 - Melt the butter in a sauce pan, just until it's liquid. Add the tea. I gave it a mix to coat the tea. Step away.
• Step 2 - Heat 5 minutes on low heat.
• Step 3 - Remove from heat, and let it sit for 5 minutes, or until "discernibly tinted". I ended up leaving it around 10 because I got distracted talking with my neighbor. Sorry! (Still worked lol)
• Step 4 - Strain, and bring to room temperature. (I wound up putting it in the fridge overnight, then leaving it on the counter all day until after dinner)
• Use like normal butter!

"Cracked" Sugar Cookies:

You will need:

1. 1 and 1/4c white sugar
2. 1c butter (in this case, Luna Lovegood-infused!)
3. 3 egg yolks
4. 2tsp vanilla
5. 2 and 1/2c flour (all purpose)
6. 1tsp baking soda
7. 1/2tsp cream of tartar
8. 1/4tsp salt (I used kosher)
9. *if using unsalted butter like I did to infuse, add another pinch of salt*
10. sugar for rolling the cookies in!

Note - For some reason, my dough was all crumbly. I ended up adding 2x 1/4c of 2% milk to get the right consistency. Maybe my flour was just really thirsty. Maybe the butter loses something in infusion. I don't know, but it was an easy fix.

• You will need a cookie sheet, ungreased. I used a nonstick pan with parchment paper.
• I also used a medium ice cream scooper thing for uniform cookie dough amounts. You know, one of the scoopers you squeeze and the thingie goes "clickclick" across the scoop and knocks the goodness out of the scoop. Handiest thing EVER.
• You're supposed to roll in coarse sugar. I do not have any, nor did I find any at 2 grocery stores (wtf, Canada?) and ended up using all of my purple decorative sugar.
• The yield, using my scooper, was 3 dozen cookies.

Steps:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F
2. Cream together the butter and sugar
3. Mix in 1 yolk at a time, and the vanilla
4. Add the dry ingredients, mix completely (this is when I ended up using the milk)
5. Form balls (or use scooper), and roll in sugar
6. bake 12-14 minutes, or until surface is "cracked"
7. Cool 5 minutes before moving off of cookie sheet
8. EAT THEM AND ENJOY!
9. **In between batches, I covered my dough with a damp paper towel. Good idea if it's hot or dry where you are!**

In all honestly, these are DELICIOUS!!!!

There's the crunch of the sugar, the cookies are slightly firm, and then soft soft soft on the inside, with that sweet vanilla and the floral... they're absolutely PERFECT! My mouth is so very happy ♥♥ @_@.

Comments

[dragoon811.livejournal.com]

For tea infusion, you can use this recipe --> http://www.cupcakeproject.com/2010/05/baking-with-tea-how-to-get-flavor-of.html

It's really very simple and works really well! (I don't have a food processor with me to grind up the tea lol.) You can use any tea type, as long as you have a strainer small enough. :)