Let’s have tea and cookies.

 

Tea parties are a surprisingly common occurrence in our house,
whether with pretend or in actuality. And I am not one to complain (except unless I get stuck with all the hand was dishes at the end) because I adore high tea. There is no real wondering where the kids get it from.

Tea Time Cookies

So when my sister-in-law suggested an end of summer tea party in the garden at Grandma’s, it wasn’t hard to get me on board and plus I was just itching for an excuse to try making these tea bag shaped cookies. Turns out they are easy peasy and contain the wow factor with plenty of shortcuts – just my sort of thing! I was even able to make the cookies a few days in advance and store them, finishing them on the day of.

These tea time cookies required:

2 ounces melting chocolate
Dental floss (a thicker style works best and preferably not mint flavoured)
Mini floral cupcake liners (or decorative paper)
Non-toxic glue stick or double-sided tape

Basic sugar cookie recipe:

Ingredients

1 Cup softened, unsalted butter
1 Cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 egg
2 teaspoons baking powder
3 Cups of flour

Directions

Step 1:
Combine softened butter and sugar together (in a stand mixer is easiest) until smooth.

Step 2:
Add in extracts and egg and continue to beat until well combined.

Step 3:
Combine flour and baking powder together and add a cup at a time to mixer, mixing on low until dough comes together.

Step 4:
Turn out onto a floured surface and give a quick knead if needed to pull everything together.

Step 5:
Roll the dough out a 1/4 inch thick on a generously floured surface.

Step 6:
Cut out squares. I used a 2” x 2” cookie cutter and then used a small knife to trim off the top corners on a slant.

Step 7:
Next I used the blunt end of a wooden skewer to make the hole at the top of the cookies, making sure to go all the way thru the dough. I placed the holes about 1/4 inch from the top, too close to the edge and it may split the dough.

Step 8:
Place the cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake at 350’ degrees for about 8 minutes until lightly golden.

Step 9:
Allow cookies to cool on the tray for 5 minutes and then remove to a cooling tray and allow to cool completely.

Decorating

Step 10:
Melt the chocolate in the microwave for 30 seconds, then stir, continue in 10 second increments, stirring after each until completely melted.

Step 11:
Dip the bottom of the cookies, as evenly as possible, in the melted chocolate and place on a drip tray to dry, placed over a plate to catch any drips, until set.

Step 12:
Create the tea bag tags. I did this by flattening a mini cupcake liner and folding in half and then cut into two, then trim off the corners for a more realistic look. Each liner made two tags.

Step13:
Cut 6 inches lengths of dental floss for each cookie.

Step14:
Once the chocolate has had time to harden, feed the floss through the hole and then open up the tag and glue or tape the string inside and seal it closed. A staple might look even more realistic, but we didn’t seem to have any left in the stapler (and no one knew anything about it when asked…).

 

Done and Done

And it was really that simple, the only somewhat finicky part was attaching the string and paper and that really only took a few minutes. These will definitely get made again for the next appropriate occasion or in this house maybe ‘just because!’

They were definitely a hit at the tea party, because they were lovely with the hint of chocolate and went swimmingly well with a cup of tea! It’s always a good sign when there are none left!

The kids loved these tea time cookies, but I think the adults might have liked them even more!

Why not check out these Eiffel Tower Sugar Cookies next?!