Tea and Cookies (11 page)

Honey Nut Drops

MAKES
2½ DOZEN
COOKIES

If you like to sweeten your tea with honey, you will love these. With their homey appearance, they may not be the prettiest cookies on the tea tray, but their honeyed sweetness will make them a favorite. Honey is a humectant, which means that it absorbs moisture from the ambient atmosphere, so the drops will stay moist for days, making them an especially good choice for when you need to make cookies well ahead of serving.

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons (¾ stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

½ cup mild-flavored honey, such as orange blossom (see Note)

1 large egg, at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

¾ cup coarsely chopped walnuts

1.
Position a rack in the top third and center of the oven and preheat to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

2.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Cream the butter and honey together in a medium bowl with an electric mixer on high speed until the mixture is light in color and texture, about 3 minutes. Beat in the egg, then the vanilla. Gradually stir in the flour mixture and mix just until the dough is combined. Stir in the walnuts.

3.
Using a scant tablespoon for each cookie, shape the dough into 1-inch balls. Place 1½ inches apart on the baking sheets. Bake, switching the position of the baking sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway through baking, until the cookies are light golden brown on the bottom, 12 to 15 minutes.

4.
Let cool on the sheets for 5 minutes. Transfer to wire cake racks and cool completely. (The cookies can be made up to 5 days ahead, stored in airtight containers at room temperature.)

NOTE:
For baking, use a mildly flavored honey. A moderately priced supermarket brand, usually blended from a variety of honeys to give consistent product, is fine. Honeys with distinctive flavors, such as sage, lavender, or chestnut, tend to intensify when heated, and the strong taste isn’t always welcome.

Chai Snickerdoodles

MAKES
3 DOZEN
COOKIES

Snickerdoodles are one of the great American cookies, and there are many stories about how they got their whimsical name. They may be common, but they are one of my favorite teatime treats, as their spiciness is a great pairing with black tea or chai. While they are usually spiced with just cinnamon, my version adds other warm spices that you are likely to find in chai to give them a makeover. If you like these chewy (as I do), bake them at the low end of the baking time, or bake at the high end of the range for crisp cookies.

2¼ cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon, divided

¼ teaspoon ground cardamom (see Note)

¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1¾ cups sugar, divided

2 large eggs, beaten, at room temperature

1.
Position a rack in the top third and center of the oven and preheat to 350°F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.

2.
Sift the flour, baking powder, ½ teaspoon of the cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, and cloves together. Cream the butter in a medium bowl with an electric mixer on high speed until creamy, about 1 minute. Gradually beat in 1½ cups of the sugar and beat until the mixture is light in color and texture, about 2 minutes. Do not overbeat. Gradually beat in the eggs. Gradually stir in the flour mixture.

3.
Combine the remaining ¼ cup sugar and ¼ teaspoon cinnamon in a small bowl. Using a scant tablespoon for each cookie, shape the dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in the sugar mixture to coat. Place 2 inches apart on the baking sheets. Bake, switching the position of the baking sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway through baking, until the edges of the cookies are light golden brown, 12 to 14 minutes. (For crisper cookies, bake until the tops are beginning to brown, about 16 minutes.) The cookies will be puffed, but they will deflate and have crackled tops when cooled.

4.
Let cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes. Transfer to wire cake racks and let cool completely. (The cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.)

NOTE:
Remove the seeds from cardamom pods, and grind the seeds in an electric spice grinder or with a mortar and pestle. The flavor will be fresher than preground cardamom in a jar. You’ll find reasonably priced cardamom pods at Indian grocers.

Bar Cookies

C
hunky bar cookies, which are typically eaten with your fingers, add a casual, friendly note to a selection of tea cookies. They can be homey (as with the moist-and-chewy Granola Bars), creamy (Blueberry Cheesecake Bars), or elegant (Linzer Squares, with a hazelnut crust and raspberry filling).

Blueberry Cheesecake Bars

MAKES
16
BARS

Cool, creamy, and bursting with blueberries, these bars are perfect for summertime entertaining. For a smooth, lump-free filling, have all of the ingredients at room temperature, as the cream cheese will firm up if it comes into contact with a cold egg or sour cream. Be sure that the cream cheese is well softened—let it stand at room temperature for at least 2 hours before mixing. And keep in mind that frozen berries will chill the filling batter, and so if they are used, add a few minutes to the baking time. Make these bars with the classic graham cracker crust, or crush store-bought gingersnap cookies into crumbs and use them as a variation.

CRUST

Softened unsalted butter for the pan

1 cup well-crushed graham crackers or gingersnaps

1 tablespoon sugar

4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter, melted

FILLING

8 ounces cream cheese, well softened at room temperature

½ cup sugar

1 large egg, at room temperature

3 tablespoons sour cream, at room temperature

Grated zest of ½ orange or 1 lemon

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

1.
Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350°F. Lightly butter the inside of an 8-inch square baking pan. Pleat a 17-inch-long piece of aluminum foil (preferably nonstick) lengthwise to an 8-inch width. Place in the pan, lining the bottom and two of the sides with the foil, letting the excess foil hang over the sides to act as “handles.” Butter the foil, even if it is nonstick.

2.
To make the crust, combine the crumbs and sugar in a medium bowl. Add the butter and stir until moistened. Press the crumbs firmly and evenly into the bottom of the pan. Bake until the crumbs are set and give off a toasty aroma, about 12 minutes. Remove from the oven.

3.
Meanwhile, make the filling. Mix the cream cheese in a medium bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed just until smooth. Gradually beat in the sugar, scraping down the sides of the bowl often, then beat in the egg. Add the sour cream, zest, and vanilla and mix just until combined. Stir in the blueberries. Spread over the crust in the pan.

4.
Bake until the filling moves as a unit when the pan is lightly shaken (the center may seem slightly unset) and the edges are slightly puffed and barely beginning to brown, 25 to 30 minutes.

5.
Transfer to a wire cake rack and let cool completely in the pan. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled, at least 4 hours or overnight.

6.
Run a knife around the inside edge of the pan to loosen the cheesecake from the sides. Lift up on the foil handles to remove the cheesecake in one piece. Peel back the foil on the sides. Using a thin, sharp knife dipped into hot water, cut the cheesecake into 16 bars. (The cheesecake bars can be stored, covered in plastic wrap and refrigerated, for up to 2 days.) Serve chilled.

Cashew Blondies

MAKES
2½ DOZEN
BARS

Vanilla lovers unite! As much as I enjoy dark chocolate with my tea, sometimes I’m in the mood for one of these chewy butterscotch bars. Cashews, with underlying notes of both vanilla and butter, are the nuts to use here. To complement the blondies’ caramel notes, sweeten your favorite black tea with demerara or muscovado sugar.

Softened butter for the pan

2¼ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for the pan

1½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

12 tablespoons (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, cut up

1¾ cups packed light or dark brown sugar

3 large eggs, beaten

1½ teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups (8 ounces) roasted unsalted cashews, 1½ cups coarsely chopped and ½ cup finely chopped

3 ounces white chocolate, finely chopped

1.
Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350°F. Butter a 9 × 13-inch metal baking pan. Pleat a 23-inch-long piece of aluminum foil (preferably nonstick) lengthwise to a 9-inch width. Place in the pan, lining the bottom and the two short sides with the foil, letting the excess foil hang over the sides to act as “handles.” If the foil is not nonstick, lightly butter the foil. Dust the inside of the pan with flour and tap out the excess.

2.
Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Remove from the heat. Add the brown sugar and stir until smooth. Gradually stir in the eggs, then the vanilla. Add the flour mixture and stir until smooth. Fold in the coarsely chopped cashews. Spread evenly in the pan.