By Wheeler Cowperthwaite

Ever have one of those moments where something new fills you with a sense of awe?

I had that when a friend brought over a fresh baked batch of Earl Grey cookies, which have become all the rage once they were popularized in the New York Times in a recipe from Yossy Arefi.

The concept, whether it’s these sugar cookies or shortbread cookies, or baked into a cake, is to use tea leaves to infuse flavor into the baked good.

Forget my Thai grilled pork or the German potato salad or any of the other innumerable dishes brought — these cookies were the star of the show.

Once you try them, and their flavor, it’s like a whole door opens to a world of tea-infused cookies, presumably each with their own flavor profile.

The cookies are easy to bake and don’t take very long. At their heart, they’re sugar cookies with a few extra steps and a little extra flavoring.

They use baking powder and baking soda as a leavener, and man, do they rise into picture-perfect half-rounds. The tea and orange zest give them just a hint of color.

In all, they’re very easy to make. The only complicated step is preparing the tea leaves: you melt the butter and steep the leaves in it. If you have loose tea leaves, that’s the easiest way. Otherwise, remove the contents of three tea bags.

The major change to the recipe here is to double the amount of orange zest used, which really comes through. The original calls for ½ a teaspoon of orange zest, so go to a full teaspoon.

Take it from me, and my friend, these cookies are worth trying and then adding to your baking rotation. From there, the world of tea is the limit.

Perhaps on the second or third time baking them, consider adding some spices like nutmeg, cardamom, allspice or ginger.

Earl Grey tea sugar cookies
Ingredients

1 1/3 cups granulated sugar

2 sticks unsalted butter

1 tablespoon Earl Grey tea leaves, finely ground, about 3 tea bags

½ cup brown sugar

¾ teaspoon kosher salt (Diamond brand)

1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest

1 large egg

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line two pans with parchment paper. Put ½ a cup of granulated sugar into a shallow dish, to be used later to roll the cookie balls in.

2. Add the tea leaves and butter to a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter until it begins to “sizzle around the edges.” Take off of the heat and let it sit for 5 minutes.

3. In a large bowl, mix the tea butter, brown sugar, salt, orange zest and remaining granulated sugar until “grainy and separated.” Then add the egg and vanilla and mix until smooth.

4. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and baking powder, then add to the large bowl with the sugar and butter mixture. Mix until combined.

5. Create balls of dough the size of 2 tablespoons, roll in the granulated sugar in the shallow dish, place on the baking sheet 2 inches apart.

6. Bake the cookies until light golden and cracks form on the top, an estimated 16 to 19 minutes. Midway through, rotate the two sheet pans from top to bottom and front to back.

Recipe adapted from the New York Times.