This “tea biscuit” is more like a shortbread or sand tart cookie than an American biscuit. It combines one of Susie’s favorite recipes for chai tea flavored bite sized cookies with a short bread cookie recipe. The result is a flat disc of a cookie, not too sweet and reminiscent of the flavors of India. – perfect with a hot cup of tea or a cold glass of milk.
- 2 cups flour
- 1 cup softened butter
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar, plus 1/4-1/2 cup more for dusting
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 Tablespoon water
- 1 large piece parchment paper
Preheat oven to 375°F.
Sift the flour, powdered sugar and spices together. Cut in butter with two knives and continue to scissor through the flour and butter until the butter has broken down into lumps the size of frozen peas, all coated with the flour mixture. Add the water and stir with a spatula. Press the dough together with the spatula or fingers if it does not form a ball. Tear off a large sheet of parchment paper and shape the dough into a long roll. Chill the dough until firm and slice off 1/4-1/2 inch rounds for baking.
Place cookie rounds on a flat cookie sheet and leave 1 inch between the cookies. These cookies will not rise or expand because there are no active ingredients in the dough. They need the space for the edges to become crisp. Bake 12 minutes at 375°F.
Cool on cookie sheet for 2 minutes, then remove with pancake turner to a wire rack and dust with powdered sugar. To dust, place a sifter over the cookies and add 1/4 cup of powdered sugar to the sifter. It will begin to fall through the sifter immediately. Slightly shake the sifter to cause the sugar to drift down over the cookies.
Makes 50-60 cookies.