Earl Grey Sandwich Cookies
Buttery, crisp, and sweet Earl Grey shortbread cookies are filled them with a creamy vanilla buttercream for delicious Earl Grey Sandwich Cookies. This simple cookie sandwich is easy but impressive! If you don't want them as sweet, feel free to skip the filling for the perfect tea cookie.
If you love sandwich cookies as much as I do, be sure to check out some of my other favorites like Chocolate Peanut Butter Florentine Sandwich Cookies, Strawberry Lemonade Sandwich Cookies, Soft Baked Pumpkin Spice Cranberry Sandwich Cookies, or Soft Baked Snickerdoodle Sandwich Cookies.
A Quick Look At The Recipe
- Recipe Name: Earl Grey Sandwich Cookies
- Ready In: 30 minutes
- Makes: 15 sandwich cookies
- Main Ingredients: salted butter, Earl grey tea, powdered sugar, milk
- Flavor Profile: buttery shortbread cookie with honey and subtle Earl grey notes
- Dietary Info: eggless, no seed oils, gluten free swap available
- Difficulty: Medium
- Why You’ll Love It: buttery, crisp at the edges, tender in the center, and irresistibly tea-time chic
Summarize & Save This Content On
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Light & Sweet: These sandwich cookies are light and sweet, with the addition of honey in the cookies it adds a unique sweetness compared to just sugar.
- Cozy: I love this recipe because they are a cozy companion to a cup of tea. Whether you decide to fill them or not, this flavor profile is light and sweet and it goes so well with a cozy cup of tea. Also try Sourdough Chocolate Shortbread Cookies, Kamut Flour Shortbread Cookies, or Olive Oil Shortbread Cookies for more shortbread cookies that go great with tea!
- Easy: These sandwich cookies are so easy! No eggs and just a few simple ingredients that mix up quickly.
- Naturally Eggless: These shortbread cookies are naturally eggless, making them a perfect choice when you run out of eggs! For more eggless baking tips, check out Easy Egg Replacers for Baking.
- Flexible: These organic cookies are incredibly flexible, you can make them into shortbread cookies or sandwich cookies.
Ingredients
- Butter: I use organic salted butter, but if you are using unsalted butter, just add 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Also, check out Best Salted Butter for Baking for the best kinds of butter for shortbread cookies.
- Powdered Sugar: I use organic powdered sugar in these shortbread cookies and in the filling, make sure it's sifted to avoid lumps.
- Honey: I add a little organic raw honey into these shortbread cookies. This combined with the powdered sugar gives these cookies a delicate crumb and also a lightly sweet flavor that is reminiscent of a cup of tea.
- Earl Grey Tea: I use Earl Grey tea inside these organic cookies. This gives them beautiful speckles and lots of flavor!
- Cane Sugar: I top these shortbread cookies with a dusting of organic cane sugar right when they come out of the oven. This makes them sparkle and gives them a delightful texture. Optional, but totally worth it.
*For a full list of ingredients and measurements, visit the recipe card below.
Baker's Tips
- Always weigh ingredients for the best results.
- Make sure your butter is soft! This is so key for these shortbread cookies. While some shortbreads actually call for cold butter, this recipe requires it to be room temperature soft. The best way to achieve this naturally is to let your butter soften naturally at room temperature. This prevents pockets of butter getting melted in the microwave, resulting in a less than desirable texture in the finished cookies. Leave butter out on the counter overnight for the best success before starting this recipe.
- The dough should feel like play dough in your hands. If it's not smooth and it's not cohesive, mix it a little longer. If you've been mixing it and it's not coming together, it's the butters fault – as it was not soft enough. That's why the butter is so key in this recipe. It should come together very quickly, only a minute or two at the most. So if you're having issues here, then look to the temperature of your butter.
- Use a high quality organic Earl Grey tea that you like for the best flavor! If you have loose leaf tea, you can also use this as we're emptying the bags anyways!
- You can make this recipe with any other black tea or even green tea that you like the flavor of as well.
- You can leave the cookies unfilled if you just want Earl Grey Shortbread Cookies, the filling is totally optional.
- Make sure to allow the cookies to cool completely before filling them, otherwise the filling will melt if the cookies are still warm.
- If you like a little lemon juice in your tea, you can add lemon zest to the filling to mimic this flavor. Orange zest also works and is delicious too.
- Shortbread cookies are supposed to be crisp – so these are best kept at out on a platter or in a cookie jar that is not completely sealed. Unlike a lot of baked goods, which should be stored in an airtight container, these should not be stored in an airtight container because they will soften.
- Gluten Free — Replace the flour with 226 grams (scant 1 ½ cups) gluten free flour blend and 57 grams (½ cup plus 1 tablespoons) coconut flour.
- High Altitude — Bake at 350°F for 13 to 15 minutes or until golden brown.
How to Make Earl Grey Sandwich Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper, you'll need two. To make the dough: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract.
- Mix on low until combined and you don’t see powdered sugar anymore, there will still be a few chunks of butter but that is okay because it’s very soft.
- Add the flour and contents of the Earl Grey tea bags into the butter mixture.
- Mix on low until combined and smooth. The dough should feel like play dough in your hands.
- Using your hands, form the dough into 30 balls and place them on the prepared cookie sheets. Flatten each one slightly so they are a round disk about 1 ¾-inch in diameter.
- Bake for 15 to 17 minutes until golden brown. Sprinkle the tops with cane sugar immediately after coming out of the oven. Allow to cool completely on the cookie sheets. (If you're baking at high altitude, be sure to check the Notes at the bottom of the recipe for high altitude baking instructions).
- To make the filling: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the powdered sugar, butter, and milk and mix on low until combined.
- Speed mixer up to high for 1 minute or until light and fluffy. Put in a piping bag with no tip.
- Turn over every other cookie so they are all paired. Pipe a dollop of filling onto each cookie.
- Sandwich them together.
Recipe FAQ's
Earl grey gives these shortbread cookies a sophisticated Bergamot flavor combined with a little honey and a creamy milky filling. Think if your favorite Earl grey tea or a London Fog was a cookie!
No, it's subtle. They are still sweet, buttery and delicious cookies!
Honey adds a slightly sweet flavor and it also helps these cookies get a golden brown color.
Yes, just add ½ teaspoon of fine sea salt to the recipe.
Yes, you can since we empty the tea bags anyways that works.
Yes, this recipe would be delicious with any other kind of tea you like! Try it with green tea, chamomile, or even a peach tea.
This is a reference for 80s and 90s kids so you know what the dough should feel like. It should be soft, smooth, pliable and not sticky. If it doesn't feel like this, something went wrong. This usually happens when people don't let butter soften properly or enough. Or if you measure incorrectly and have too much flour.
Yes! Just replace the flour with 226 grams (scant 1 ½ cups) gluten free flour blend and 57 grams (½ cup plus 1 tablespoons) coconut flour. I find that using this mix of flours gets the best texture for gluten free.
Under baking. These shortbread cookies are buttery and crisp, but they need to bake until golden brown to achieve this texture. Be sure to look for visual signs the cookies are done, like golden brown edges and top. If you need to bake a few more minutes, don't be afraid to do that as all ovens are a bit different.
Immediately upon coming out of the oven, yes, these are soft. Don't move them, let them cool completely on the baking sheets until they are cooled and ready to fill.
No, you can just make these Earl grey shortbread cookies for a tea time cookie, you do not have to fill them. They are delicious both ways!
Too much milk. Easy fix though, just add more powdered sugar until you get the desired consistency.
Let the cookies cool completely on the baking sheets until they are cool before filling. If you fill warm cookies, the filling will just melt and the cookies will become soggy.
Shortbreads are buttery and crisp. If stored in an airtight container, they can become soggy, this is why it's not recommended. You should store in a cool, dry place. If you are in a humid environment, it's best to just store in the fridge or freezer.
Yes, you can freeze the sandwich cookies in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Just thaw and enjoy!
Make Ahead & Storage Instructions
These are a wonderful cookie to make ahead because shortbreads are already crispy. So, you can make the cookies a day or so in advance and fill them the day of. Or, you can fill them in advance as well. They will stay fresh for quite a few days.
Shortbread cookies are best stored in a cool, dry place. Because I live in a dry climate, I usually just leave these out on a plate on the counter. It's not ideal to put them in an airtight container as they can soften.
You can freeze these in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Just thaw and enjoy!
Ways to Enjoy Earl Grey Sandwich Cookies
- These are similar to Oreos in texture so they make wonderful dunking cookies! A big glass of milk is always a good idea.
- Enjoy with your favorite cup of tea.
- Cozy up with hot chocolate like Healthy Gingerbread Hot Cocoa with Bone Broth, Coconut Hot Chocolate, or Caramel Hot Cocoa.
- These are so light and sweet, I love them with an afternoon drink like Iced Blueberry Latte or Lemon Blueberry Smoothie.
More Cookie Recipes to Love
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Earl Grey Sandwich Cookies
Equipment
- Digital Food Scale
- Stand Mixer
- Half Sheet Pan
- Parchment Paper Sheets
- Piping Bag
Ingredients
Dough
- 226 grams salted butter (softened)
- 142 grams powdered sugar (sifted)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 15 grams raw honey
- 255 grams all purpose flour
- 2 Earl Grey tea bags
- cane sugar for dusting
Filling
- 226 grams powdered sugar (sifted)
- 113 grams salted butter (softened)
- 1 to 2 teaspoons milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper, you'll need two.
- To make the dough: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract. Mix on low until combined and you don’t see powdered sugar anymore, there will still be a few chunks of butter but that is okay because it’s very soft.
- Add the flour and contents of the Earl Grey tea bags into the butter mixture and mix on low until combined and smooth. The dough should feel like play dough in your hands.
- Using your hands, form the dough into 30 balls and place them on the prepared cookie sheets. Flatten each one slightly so they are a round disk about 1 ¾-inch in diameter.
- Bake for 15 to 17 minutes until golden brown. Sprinkle the tops with cane sugar immediately after coming out of the oven. Allow to cool completely on the cookie sheets.
- To make the filling: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the powdered sugar, butter, and milk and mix on low until combined. Speed mixer up to high for 1 minute or until light and fluffy. Put in a piping bag with no tip.
- Turn over every other cookie so they are all paired. Pipe a dollop of filling onto each cookie and sandwich them together.
- Store in a cool dry place, or in an airtight container for up to 7 days.
Video
Notes
- Always weigh ingredients for the best results.
- Make sure your butter is soft! This is so key for these shortbread cookies. While some shortbreads actually call for cold butter, this recipe requires it to be room temperature soft. The best way to achieve this naturally is to let your butter soften naturally at room temperature. This prevents pockets of butter getting melted in the microwave, resulting in a less than desirable texture in the finished cookies. Leave butter out on the counter overnight for the best success before starting this recipe.
- The dough should feel like play dough in your hands. If it's not smooth and it's not cohesive, mix it a little longer. If you've been mixing it and it's not coming together, it's the butters fault – as it was not soft enough. That's why the butter is so key in this recipe. It should come together very quickly, only a minute or two at the most. So if you're having issues here, then look to the temperature of your butter.
- Use a high quality organic Earl Grey tea that you like for the best flavor! If you have loose leaf tea, you can also use this as we're emptying the bags anyways!
- You can make this recipe with any other black tea or even green tea that you like the flavor of as well.
- You can leave the cookies unfilled if you just want Earl Grey Shortbread Cookies, the filling is totally optional.
- Make sure to allow the cookies to cool completely before filling them, otherwise the filling will melt if the cookies are still warm.
- If you like a little lemon juice in your tea, you can add lemon zest to the filling to mimic this flavor. Orange zest also works and is delicious too.
- Shortbread cookies are supposed to be crisp – so these are best kept at out on a platter or in a cookie jar that is not completely sealed. Unlike a lot of baked goods, which should be stored in an airtight container, these should not be stored in an airtight container because they will soften.
- Gluten Free — Replace the flour with 226 grams (scant 1 ½ cups) gluten free flour blend and 57 grams (½ cup plus 1 tablespoons) coconut flour.
- High Altitude — Bake at 350°F for 13 to 15 minutes or until golden brown.
Nutrition
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I love these cookies with a cup of tea!
So delicious. A big hit with everyone