Chai Spice Star Tea Biscuits
I’m determined to continue my October theme of all things spice (plus I may have made a little purchase of some cute star cookie cutters!). So today I’m bringing you these delicate chai tea biscuits. Perfect with a cup of tea, the spice is gently enough not to overpower but tasty enough to give the sweet biscuit flavour another dimension.
With these I added in a couple of extra ingredients - the bicarbonate of soda and egg - which take the biscuits from the crumbly shortbread texture to one with a bit of crispness and snap. I can’t promise you’ll achieve an extended tea dunk time (haha!) but they’ll be an extra special treat for these cooler autumn afternoons.
And as you know I always enjoy taking recipes to the next level so drizzle these little biscuits liberally in white chocolate and allow them to set before indulging.
I purposefully haven’t added in a yield to the recipe as it really depends on the size and shape of cookie cutter you use but I managed around 30 biscuits of different stars so it’s a good sized batch.
Why do you chill the dough?
It’s important (but not imperative) to chill your dough before baking as it allows the gluten to relax. You’ll also see less spread and loss of shape in the oven during baking. You don’t have to follow this step if you’re in a hurry but it does help to achieve a better texture and aesthetic if you have the time. If I’m particularly organised I’ll make the dough the night before, chill overnight and bake the next morning. You will need to allow time for the dough to come back to room temperature though as it will be too stiff to roll out straight from the fridge.
Chai Tea Biscuits
Author Ella Nurse | Date 21/10/2019
prep time: 40 minutes
cook time: 10 minutes
total time: 50 minutes
Ingredients:
300g plain flour
100g caster sugar
200g butter
4 teabags / 4 tsp chai tea
1 large egg
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
50g white chocolate
Instructions:
Using a food processor, blitz the flour, sugar and butter together until a breadcrumb texture is formed. If you don't have a food processor use a large bowl and rub the ingredients together using your fingers
Add the eggs, bicarbonate of soda and chai tea and blitz again until a dough is formed
Wrap the dough in cling film and chill for 15 minutes
After this time thoroughly flour your work surface and roll out the dough approximately 5mm thick
Line a couple of baking trays with non-stick grease proof paper
Using your selected cookie cutter, cut the desired biscuit shapes out and lay them on the baking trays. Keep rolling out the dough and cutting until all the dough is used
Chill the trays once again for 15 minutes
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C fan
After the final chill place the trays in the oven and bake for 10 minutes until the biscuits are a pale golden colour
Remove from the oven and cool
Meanwhile melt the white chocolate in short bursts in a microwave
Once the biscuits have cooled, drizzle over the white chocolate and allow to set
