Barley Tea Shortbread Cookies offer a delightful twist to the traditional shortbread recipe, infusing the rich and toasty notes of barley tea into every buttery bite. The earthy undertones from the barley tea add depth to the cookie's flavor profile, making it a perfect accompaniment to your tea time.
You might also like Hojicha Viennese Cookie or Hojicha Brownie.
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What is Barley Tea?
Barley tea, known by various names in different Asian cultures, is a popular beverage made from roasted barley grains. The tea has a distinctive toasty flavor and is often enjoyed both hot and cold. In Japan, barley tea is known as “mugicha (麦茶).” It is a common and widely consumed beverage, especially during the summertime when it is frequently served chilled. In Korea, barley tea is referred to as “boricha (보리차).” Similar to mugicha, it is made by roasting barley grains and steeping them in hot water. In China, barley tea is known as "dàmài chá (大麥茶)” Barley tea in Taiwan is often referred to as “màichá (麥茶).” It is commonly consumed both as a hot or cold beverage. In Vietnam, a similar beverage is called "ngũ cốc," which is made from roasted grains, including barley. Ngũ cốc may also include other ingredients like roasted rice, corn, and soybeans. It's often enjoyed hot and is considered a nutritious drink.
What is Shortbread?
Shortbread is a classic Scottish baked treat known for its rich, crumbly texture and buttery flavor. It's a simple yet delicious type of cookie or biscuit that traditionally consists of three main ingredients: butter, sugar, and flour. The name "shortbread" refers to the crumbly or "short" texture that results from the high fat content in the dough. Here I use powdered sugar as an alternative to granulated sugar, so it has a smoother texture and a slightly lighter result.
Why does Barley Tea Shortbread Cookie smell like coffee?
One thing I didn’t realize until I started to use barley tea in baking is that its has a very nutty flavor similar to coffee, but I didn’t intentionally include coffee or coffee-flavored ingredients. The roasting of barley involves the Maillard reaction, a complex chemical reaction between amino acids and reducing sugars that gives browned foods their characteristic flavor. This reaction can produce a range of compounds that contribute to the deep, roasted notes found in both coffee and well-roasted barley.
Ingredients in Barley Tea Shortbread Cookie
- Butter - Butter helps create a tender and crumbly texture in shortbread-like cookies. It also adds a rich and buttery flavor.
- Powdered Sugar - Powdered sugar gives the cookies a softer texture due to the finer particles.
- All Purpose Flour - All-purpose flour contributes to the cookie's structure. The type of flour and the amount used can influence the cookie's texture. You can also use cake flour for a even lighter texture.
- Salt - Salt enhances the overall flavor of the cookies and balances the sweetness.
- Barley tea - The barley tea infuses the cookies with a distinctive taste, bringing in the toasty and potentially coffee-like notes. The barley tea I use is in tea bags. One tea bag is enough for one shortbread recipe.
See recipe card for quantities.
How to make Barley Tea Shortbread Cookie?
In a big bowl, mix soften butter and powdered sugar with a spatula or hand mixer until fluffy.
Add flour, salt and barley tea. Fold and mix until everything is combined.
Place the dough on a piece of parchment paper.
Shape the dough into a long log, about 2 inch diameter.
Use a bench scraper to help you shape evenly. Wrap the dough log and fridge for 2 hours or overnight.
Preheat the oven at 350°F. Brush some water on the log.
Coat the log with turbinado sugar.
Slice the dough into 1 cm thick (a little thinner than 0.5 inch.)
Bake at 350°F for 15-18 minutes. The cookie will be more crumbly after cooling down.
Equipment
It is a easy one bowl cookie recipe, all you really need is a bowl, a spatula and parchment paper, but the following tools would make you life even easier.
A bench scraper can help you a lot when shaping the dough into a log.
A perforated baking mat will help your cookie baked more flat and evenly, and it is so useful for making cream puff. The increased airflow under the baked goods can lead to a crispier bottom crust.
Storage
One of the reasons that this cookie is great for holiday gifting is that you can make the dough ahead, and freeze it until the day before baking. Defrost the dough in the fridge overnight, slice and bake freshly.
The shortbread cookies can be kept in an airtight container in the room temperature for a week.
Recipe Tips
Slice the dough when it’s cold, but not too cold! The cookie dough will harden in the fridge because of the high content of butter, so imagine you’re slicing a block of butter. The temperature of the dough should be cold enough to hold the shape, but not freezing-cold cause it will not only be too hard to slice, but also break easily.
Slice and turn! After each slice, turn your dough log a little bit, so the cut stays straight, and each slice are evenly thick.
Recipe FAQ
You can substitute with other tea leaves or even coffee. Make sure the tea leaf you use is fine grounded, so the flavor can infuse into the dough better, also easier to slice.
Yes, use the same method as normal cut-out sugar cookie recipe. You can also decorate with icing or frosting. But sugar cookie and shortbread are not the same, so if you do use this recipe as a cut-out sugar cookie, there will be some differences. It is denser, more substantial and butterier than sugar cookies.
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Recipe Card
Barley Tea Shortbread Cookie
Ingredients
- 100 g butter soften
- 50 g powdered sugar
- 100 g all purpose four
- 1 pinch salt
- 8 g barley tea (1 tea bag)
- turbinado sugar for topping
- water for topping
Instructions
- Mix: In a big bowl, mix soften butter and powdered sugar with a spatula or hand mixer until fluffy.
- Add: Add flour, salt and barley tea. Fold and mix until everything is combined.
- Shape: Place the dough on a piece of parchment paper. Shape the dough into a log, about 2 inch diameter. Use a bench scraper to help you shape evenly.
- Chill: Wrap the dough log and fridge for 2 hours or overnight.
- Brush: Preheat the oven at 350°F. Brush some water on the log.
- Coat: Coat the log with turbinado sugar.
- Slice: Slice the dough into 1 cm thick (a little thinner than 0.5 inch.)
- Bake: Bake at 350°F for 15-18 minutes.
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