Easy Earl Grey Shortbread Bars| Christmas Dessert Recipe (2024)

What a blast this has been. I was expecting this shortbread bars to turn out well but I really didn’t expect them to be this good. From now on, Earl Grey Shortbread Bars are a holiday season thing in our house. I’m hoping you will love them too.

Earl Grey Shortbread Bars

First I would like to say that this is an lightly adapted recipe from my friend Lucy. She wrote this recipe on a piece of paper and sent it to a friend of mine, by mail. Lucy does not like the internet or computers. Long story short, I received a recipe, written on paper. Which I appreciated a hell of a lot more than getting it by email for some reason.

Thank you for a great recipe, Lucy.

I made these a couple of times now. First time was to test the recipe as is. Second to adapt it to my own preferences. Each time I made them, I was very happy with the results. These shortbread bars are light, buttery and packed with flavor. You can’t really do better as far as tea time snacks are concerned.

And if you’re not a tea drinker, you can have them with your coffee or by themselves.

How to make Shortbread Bars

You only need 6 ingredients to make these shortbread bars. Just 6. Here is your list:

1. Early Grey Tea leaves: they flavor your shortbread bars and infuse a really nice aroma into them.
2. All purpose flour.
3. Salt: might sound counterintuitive, but salt is very important as it enhance the flavor of baked goods. All baking recipes make room for a pinch of salt, you should too.
4. Unsalted Butter: being a solid fat, makes butter perfect for these shortbread bars. Once baked, and cooled down, these shortbread bars are going to get firmer. Plus, because butter has a melting temperature that is just around body temperature, biting into these gives you that “melt in your mouth” feeling.
5. Confectioner’s Sugar: instead of using caster sugar, confectioner’s sugar helps lighten this dough and avoid having clumps in your dough.
6. Vanilla extract: for a boost of flavor.

Instructions

1. In a bowl, beat your butter using a hand mixer at medium speed. Stop and add in 2 1/2 cups of confectioner’s sugar + vanilla extract and beat again on low speed.
2. Once combined increase the speed and beat until you get a very smooth consistency.
3. Place your tea leaves in a food processor or spice grinder. Pulse until you get a ground consistency not powdery. Transfer to a bowl and add in flour and salt. Add in your flour mixture and mix carefully again using a spatula.
4. Using a spatula (or clean hands), bring your dough together until you can form a clean ball.

1. Scrape your dough into the pan and cover with plastic wrap. Gently press the dough evenly into the pan. Using a tooth pick, poke holes – spaced by 1″ – into your dough for decoration. Discard plastic and bake in middle rack for 40-45 minutes, or until the edges are lightly golden.
2. Take the pan out of the oven and allow to cool for about 40 minutes.
3. Gently transfer out of the pan and cut into little squares. My preferred size is 2″x1″. I left the outer pieces out and store them in a Tupperware.
4. Whisk 1 cup of confectioner’s sugar with 3 tbsp of whole milk. Brush glaze on top shortbread bars.

Tips and troubleshooting

Here is what I learned from making these shortbreads :

• 9×13 Pan : You’ll want to use a perfectly square one if you want even edges. I didn’t have one and used a lasagna pan, which is not a perfect rectangle.
• The outer pieces are never gonna be as good as the inner pieces. No way around that.
• Glaze is completely optional: you can use any other glaze you like, or even icing. I like to lightly brush with a simple sugar glaze and let the shortbreads cool down a little longer.
• Allow to completely cool down. 30 -40 minutes will do. Do not cut while it’s still warm. Allow your shortbread to cool down or else it will crumble as you cut into it.
• Use pure vanilla extract: it really makes a difference in taste.
• Storage: in a large Tupperware once they cool down. You can keep for up to 3-4 days.