When you’re making shortbread, you basically have three opportunities to add flavor: The first, via what flour you decide to use, is the most simple. You just swap your standard all-purpose out and reap the nutty, buttery rewards of alternative grains as Dorie Greenspan does in her iconic spelt-flax shortbread. The second, via the fat, is another common route. Rachel Gurjar’s chile-cheese cookies call upon sharp cheddar to push the shortbread into a sweet-and-savory world that completely changes their vibe. But the last way to add flavor, via the sugar, is a severely underrated and uniquely helpful route; especially when trying to infuse the tannic, floral, rich flavors of coffee or tea.
Most coffee- or tea-flavored desserts are made through some type of steeping or infusing process. But in the case of shortbread, where there is no liquid, we look to the sugar to carry their flavors. This might sound complicated, but it’s as easy as grinding the sugar with the tea in a food processor. Here’s how to do it.
You’ll combine granulated sugar and the coffee or tea of your choice in a food processor or blender; then process them together until the coffee and tea have broken down into a fine powder. (This will take a minute or two.) This blending process stains and scents the sugar, coaxing out the oils from the coffee and tea and unleashing its full flavor. You will see the color of the sugar darken slightly and take on the hue of whatever tea or coffee you’re grinding it with. This process also breaks the leaves and beans down into such tiny particles that you can throw it into any baked good without it adding a gritty texture.
As for what types of coffees or tea you can use: Well, just about any. For a bold tea flavor, try using black tea blends such as English breakfast or Earl Grey. You can use whole leaf tea or cut open tea bags and measure out what you need. For a more subtle tea profile, experiment with green varieties like jasmine or herbal blends with hibiscus or chamomile. Any ground coffee—from espresso blends to your everyday breakfast variety—work wonders. Powdered varieties of both coffee and tea are also fair game, including instant coffee, espresso, matcha, hojicha, Thai tea powder, or any other powdered variety. If you’re using a powdered coffee or tea, you can skip the food processor step; just mix it directly into the sugar.
Once your sugar is blended, you can make your shortbread dough with it by creaming the scented sugar with butter, powdered sugar, an egg yolk, and vanilla. Add some flour, roll the dough into a log, chill, slice, and bake for delightfully caffeinated cookies that are buttery, tender, and boldly flavored thanks to the tea-stained sugar.
Keep in mind, if using matcha powder or hojicha powder (roasted green tea powder) you’ll need to decrease the amount of flour in the shortbread dough by two tablespoons. This is because these types of powdered teas cause the dough to dry out, so in order to preserve the buttery, crumbly texture of your cookies, you need to account for this. The easiest way to do this is to measure out the written amount of flour in the recipe, then use a tablespoon measure to remove two tablespoons.
Whether you’re team espresso, chai, English breakfast, or jasmine, turn your favorite brew into a custom-flavored sweetener for baking. The sugar can be used to make shortbread, but also an array of recipes from cakes to scones. Earl Grey blueberry scones perhaps? Coffee bean coffee cake? Just infuse the amount of granulated sugar called for in any recipe with tea or coffee using the same process, and bake away.
