The Good, the Not So Bad (but could have been better), and the really ugly...

To begin with I may or may not have been a slightly neglectful blogger. The last month of Summer, camping in Colorado, and the beginning of the new school year, might have gotten in the way. However, even though I was not blogging about it, I was still experimenting, if you will.

The Good:
Mango Tea Chicken. Definitely a keeper, and will make again as long as I can still get my hands on Peet's Mango Ice Tea.

The Not So Bad, but Could Have Been Better:
Coffee Cupcakes with Carmel Icing. A work in progress. I am not willing to give up on these just yet. My "Testers" all gave it rave reviews, but I was not completely happy with the final outcome, and know that I could make it way better, with a little experimentation.

The Really Ugly:
Cookies that were so awful they never even got a name..... Cookies that I thought would have serious potential since the recipe was based on one of my favorite recipes. Not so "Bueno". In all actuality they were pretty awful and never even made it to the testing phase.

Movies Under the Stars

This past week I was inspired by caffeine! I was going to be meeting with friends and I volunteered to bring treats. I love to bake! What is better than the perfect cookie or an adorable cupcake? Since my friends and I were going to be meeting to watch a movie under the stars in L.A. I wanted to bring something fun! And maybe something that would keep us awake. :)

Our treat line up:
White Chocolate Chip Chocolate Coffee Cookies
Earl Grey Shortbread Cookies
Mini Cupcakes with Lemon Rose and Mango Glazes

This week I have already made Kona Coffee Cupcakes with Carmel Frosting. Yummy. I think that I will also see what I can do with some Chicken and my favorite Mango Tea. I think I am going to make a marinade. I will let y'all know how it turns out.

Tea Infused Glazes

Looking for a new flavor for a icing or glaze? What about tea?

To complete my offering of sweet treats and to keep in theme, I made mini cupcakes and iced them with Mango Tea and Lemon Rose Tea glazes.

They were as simple as basic white cake mix cupcakes. I brewed Peet's Lemon Rose Tea and Peet's Mango Iced Tea, double strength. (I did this by doubling the amount of tea, but using the same amount of water that I would use for a cup of tea, and steeping for the same about of time I would normally use. Five minutes, in this case. You might be tempted to brew for longer time to intensify the taste of the tea, this will just make the tea bitter.) I wanted a thicker glaze for my mini cupcakes, so I used about a 1/2 cup tea and a cup of confectioner's sugar. The consistency of the glaze can be adjusted for your needs based on how much sugar or tea you use.

I glazed half the cupcakes with the Mango Tea. The glaze was a pale peach shade. The other half was glazed with the Lemon Rose Glaze. The color on these were great: a purple-ish pink. They were a huge hit. I want to try the same concept to make a butter cream frosting, maybe an Earl Grey?

Publish Post

Earl Grey Shortbread Cookies

I was bringing treats for an evening watching a movie under the stars in LA with some of my best friends. I had already made White Chocolate Chip Chocolate Coffee Cookies and wanted something a little "lighter" in flavor. So my search began. I found a recipe at RecipeZaar. Wanting to tweek it a little and use some of the wonderful loose leaf tea that I had on hand, I made the recipe that I have posted below. The Earl Grey with Bergamot is subtle surprise to the basic shortbread cookie. I will use the recipe over and over in the future. They are super easy to make, and a huge hit with those who got to try them!

Earl Grey Shortbread Cookies

2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
3 tablespoons earl grey tea leaves, (I used Peet's Earl Grey with Bergamot Loose Leaf Tea)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon water
1 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces (using margarine instead will make this vegan, although I think it would really change the flavor)


Preheat oven to 375°F

Pulse together all the dry ingredients in a food processor until the tea leaves are pulverized.

Add vanilla, water, and butter; pulse together until a dough is formed.

Divide the dough in half, placing each half on a sheet of plastic wrap.

Roll each half into a 12-inch log

Wrap and chill for 30 minutes.

Slice each log into 1/3 inch thick pieces.

Place on baking sheets lined with parchment paper or foil, 2 inches apart.

Bake until the edges are just brown, about 12 minutes.

Let cool on sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks.

Hands Down, THE Best Cookies. EVER.

I love a good cookie.

I wanted a cookie that had coffee in it. Not just a tablespoon or two of strong brewed coffee, but actual coffee, coffee. So I "Googled" it. (Really, what on earth did we do before Google?)

I came across the Blog for Midwest Coffee Roasting Company. Wow! So I may have been looking for a simple recipe and sat and read through her blog for hours. And then came back to it and kept reading more. (I also had a hankering for iced coffee and tried Shari's Iced Coffee recipe. Made it with Peet's Guatemala San Sebastian. It was great!)

You can not go wrong with coffee and chocolate together in a cookie, in my humble opinion. These cookies turned out amazing! Make a batch or two (or seven), you will LOVE them.

Shari's complete blog post and recipe can be found at: Chocolate, Coffee, and Cookies



White Chocolate Chip Chocolate Coffee Cookies

2 Eggs
1 Cup Butter
1 Cup Brown Sugar
1/2 Cup Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla
3 to 4 squares melted Baker's Chocolate*
2 Cups Flour
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Salt
1/4 Cup Coffee ground for Turkish Coffee**
1 Cup White Chocolate Chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream together butter and sugars. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix well. Add melted baker's chocolate. Once mixed, add dry ingredients. Mix in white chocolate chips.

Chill dough for at least 30 minutes.

Bake for 10-12 minutes. Let cool on rack, then remove from cookie sheet.

* I used 4 squares of chocolate.
** I ended up using 1/2 of Peet's Kenya Auction Lot coffee. I wanted a very bold coffee flavor.

The Start of a Very Good Thing!

I love coffee and tea, and pretty much anything with caffeine. So much so that I work for the greatest purveyor of coffee and tea. Ever. There is so much more to coffee than your morning cup-o-joe. I wanted to push the limits a little and see what I could do with the coffee and tea that I get to bring home each week.

My goal is bring you, my readers a different tried and tested recipe or use for some of the best coffee and tea around!

(A sneak peak of what is up first: White Chocolate Chip Chocolate Coffee Cookies, Earl Grey Shortbread Cookies, and Vanilla Mini Cakes with Tea infused glaze.)