Black Tea Blondies

Where’s the hottest place you’ve ever spent a summer? For me, it’s Arizona. I recently moved here and just experienced my first 118-degree day. Yep, that’s hot enough to cook an egg on the sidewalk, and way too hot to turn on the oven. During this same record-hot week, I received samples of the most…

Slow Cooker Chai-Ginger Apple Butter

If you’ve peeked at my cooking with tea recipes lately you’ll notice I’m a bit lazy. I’m all about minimal work for maximum flavor. Enter this slow cooker apple butter. Apples, crystallized ginger, sugar, and a bold spice mix transform overnight in the slow cooker, emerging in the morning as the perfect fall spread for…

Strawberry Earl Grey Mini Pies

Friends invited us for a socially-distanced pandemic porch dinner for four and I stressed about what to contribute. I never want to show up to dinner empty handed, but what’s safe to share these days? Enter the mini pie. One for each person and no touching of shared serving dishes or utensils required. Plus, they’re…

Earl Grey Plum Torte

Being somewhat of a tea snob, I’m almost embarrassed to admit my favorite tea is one of the most common—Earl Grey. I find this deliciously flavored tea both nostalgic and comforting. It’s also of the easiest teas to cook with, because you really notice the flavor it imparts into a dish. What is that famous…

Almond Pu-erh Protein Shake

I’m always surprised by the kitchen sophistication of my 14-year-old niece. When we hang out, she often brings a long list of homemade cooking projects she wants to accomplish. Our latest hang-out session included crepes, walnut bread, cardamom buns, granola, seed crackers, and four-bean chili. All of which we tackled over two days. This simple…

Tea & Lemon Thumbprint Cookies

Originally posted on Tea Foodie [#cookingwithtea]:
Ground tea stirred into a cookie’s dry ingredients is one of the easiest ways to start cooking with tea. To easily grind tea for baking, toss the dry leaves into a sturdy teacup. Then use a pestle or heavy wooden spoon to crush the leaves while gently stirring in…

Turning Sugar Cookies into Tea Cookies

I used to hate anything heart shaped. Despised! You’d think since I was born on Valentine’s Day this would be innately impossible. But I got an annual overdose of birthdays bursting at the seams with anything and everything heart shaped. Sometime during my third decade, however, I turned from a heart hater into a heart…

Cinnamon Tea Infused Raisin & Barley Muffins

When you are a hardcore tea geek, people often bring you back interesting teas from far off places. I have gifts in my tea cabinet from Sri Lanka, India, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Spain, England, Ireland, Hong Kong, Japan, Copenhagen, France, Amsterdam, New York, Iowa, Illinois, North Carolina, San Francisco, Seattle…and now Alaska. My sister, Liz,…

Tea & Lemon Thumbprint Cookies

Ground tea stirred into a cookie’s dry ingredients is one of the easiest ways to start cooking with tea. To easily grind tea for baking, toss the dry leaves into a sturdy teacup. Then use a pestle or heavy wooden spoon to crush the leaves while gently stirring in circular motion. Voila! Ground tea. While…

Ginger, Lemon & Honey “Teatail”

I have mixed feelings about September. I love the lingering days of summer (the temperature hovered in the 90s this weekend in Denver) yet I long for the chill of fall to set it (it was below 50 degrees one morning last week on my way to work). For now, I’m continuing to embrace those…

Cherry “Clafou-tea”

If there’s one thing I can count on being in my fridge all summer long, it’s a big bag of cherries. As soon as they become available at our local supermarket, we snatch them up weekly. Even better when the local Colorado cherries arrive at the farmers market a block from our house. As cherry…

Loose Leaf Iced Tea

Believe it or not, the recipe I get asked how to make the most is iced tea. If you have a package of loose leaf iced tea (my preferred vice over commercial tea bags) you can easily brew yourself the perfect glass to sip or pitcher to share. Here’s how. Loose Leaf Iced Tea By…

Horchata “Tea”

I’m skipping the traditional margarita this Cinco de Mayo holiday and opting for a sweet, homemade horchata with a strong and flavorful brewed tea as the liquid base. Also referred to as horchata “tea” in some Latin cultures, traditional horchata is not really a tea at all. It is a kind of infusion, however, which…

Cinnamon Tea Kissed Cookies

Let me introduce you to my new favorite method for infusing tea flavor into anything you’re baking. All you need is butter. Yes, butter. Simply melt the butter you’re using in your next baking project, toss in some flavored tea leaves, let it steep, strain it, and you’re left with a tea-infused butter that will…

Citrus Spice Tea Poached Pears

My year last year was busy. So busy, in fact, I found myself cheating a bit and searching for the easiest recipes to incorporate into my cooking with tea routine. But I still wanted to be creative and I certainly didn’t want to sacrifice flavor. So I was thrilled to come across this tea poached…