Entertain the Possibilities - Home cooking becomes a special occasion; Get recipes, photos, tips and playlists
  • Blog
  • About

Sweet Bites: Vanilla Bean Shortbread Tea Cookies

4/18/2018

1 Comment

 
Vanilla Bean Shortbread Tea Cookies
How about a nice spot of tea with some Vanilla Bean Shortbread Tea Cookies? Mmm
The Occasion: It’s right there in the name. These cookies were made for tea time, a coffee break, or perhaps a late night snack with hot milk or cocoa. They’re a little on the dry side (on purpose) and not too sweet – the perfect go-with for a cuppa something warm. 
The Recipe: This recipe for Vanilla Bean Shortbread Tea Cookies comes from the food blog The View From Great Island. This blog is just brimming with tempting recipes – I will be back, and you should check out the site too. 
Vintage Tea Party with Vanilla Bean Shortbread Tea Cookies
Treat yourself with vintage tea cups and a nice table setting
What Makes it Special? Luscious fresh vanilla beans scraped right from the pod in addition to vanilla extract gives these cookies a double-whammy of flavor. 
But what your guests will remember is how rich and buttery these shortbread cookies are. And even better, there’s only 1 cup of butter (2 sticks) in the recipe, which yielded @ 50 cookies. That’s not bad at all for shortbread. 
Vanilla Bean Shortbread Tea Cookies
Kitchen Tips: I’m often intimidated by cookies that require a rolling pin and cookie cutters. I find it challenging to manipulate the dough to a specific thickness without tearing it and/or sticking the whole thing to the counter. For me, having the right tools and the right attitude makes it easier.

Tool #1: A large, clean counter or workspace. Take a few minutes to clean up and clear the space in advance.

Tool #2: Flour, lots of it. Toss generous handfuls on the counter before rolling out the dough with a thoroughly dusted rolling pin. Dust your hands too so you can press torn pieces of dough together and smooth out the seams.

Tool #3: Use a pastry scraper to lift the dough from the work surface. I do this several times during the rolling process, sometimes flipping the dough like a pancake so I can roll on the other side.

As for the attitude? A laissez faire approach works best for me regarding dough thickness and cookie yield. I always intend to do what the recipe says, but I refuse to freak out if my dough is a touch thicker or thinner. In this case, the recipe called for ¼-inch thick dough and a yield of 2 dozen cookies. My dough was thinner and my cutters were on the small side, so I got about 50 cookies from my batch. Be sure to adjust your baking time though! I watched carefully and shaved a few minutes off the oven time. 

Click on the photos to enlarge them and read the captions.

Vanilla Bean Shortbread Tea Cookies
Vanilla Bean Shortbread Tea Cookies
Vanilla Bean Shortbread Tea Cookies
Vanilla Bean Shortbread Tea Cookies
Vanilla Bean Shortbread Tea Cookies
Vanilla Bean Shortbread Tea Cookies
The Verdict: For a simple, un-sexy, non-chocolate cookie, these were a huge hit. Many compliments and recipe requests were received. (Here it is!) Vanilla Bean Shortbread Tea Cookies offer the perfect excuse to bring out all the pretty cups and plates for a vintage tea party. Enjoy!
Print The Recipe- Vanilla Bean Shortbread Tea Cookies
File Size: 201 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Vanilla Bean Shortbread Tea Cookies
Recipe source: The View From Great Island
Yield: makes approximately 2 dozen
 
INGREDIENTS:
  • 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup confectioners sugar
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped out
  • 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:
  • Cream the sugar and butter together in a stand mixer with the vanilla bean seeds. Blend in the flour and vanilla extract until the dough comes together.
  • Sprinkle flour on your work surface, then place the soft dough there and divide it into two disks.  Wrap the disks in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about an hour.
  • While the dough is chilling, preheat the oven to 350F.
  • After the dough is chilled, roll it out on a floured surface to about ¼-inch thick and cut out the cookies. Place them on a parchment or Silpat lined baking sheet.
  • Put the baking sheet in the refrigerator while you clean up.
  • Bake the cookies for 10-13 minutes until firm.
  • Cool on a rack.
Vanilla Bean Shortbread Tea Cookies and a cup of tea
Visit Entertaining Vintage for a closer look at the vintage tea cups, tea pot, and cookie server. EntertainingVintage.Etsy.com
1 Comment
rushessay link
2/18/2020 07:16:56 pm

I know that it has been a while since the last time I tried making cookies, so I definitely miss digging myself into the process of it. That's why when I saw that you are trying to teach us how to make a Vanilla Bean Shortbread Tea Cookies, I realized that I need to do and learn it so I would have something to give to my nieces! They love eating cookies and it seems like they have tried most of the cookie types that they want. Hopefully, they will love Vanilla Bean Shortbread Tea Cookies too!

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    When home cooking becomes a special occasion - Recipes, playlists, table tips and more
    Picture

    ​
    Entertaining Vintage

    Vintage treasures for the kitchen, home, collectibles, and gifts

    Categories

    All
    Afternoon Dance Break
    Birthday Greetings
    Cookbook Road Test
    Cool Tunes
    Drinks
    Entertaining Vintage
    Fish
    Kitchen Reno
    Kitchen Tips
    National Days
    Party Planning
    Pop Culture
    Recipe
    Savory Bites
    Supper Club
    Sweet Bites
    The Arts
    Travel
    TV
    Video

    Archives

    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    August 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015

    RSS Feed

    Subscribe to our mailing list

    * indicates required
Proudly powered by Weebly