Or alternatively... Arnold Palmer cookies?
Crinkle cookies come in so many flavors, including lemon, but never have I ever seen a sweet tea crinkle cookie. Frankly, there aren't many tea-flavored cookies or desserts in the world other than green tea cookies, so why not bring one of the favorite flavors of the South into cookie form?
The tea flavor in this is delicate, and the addition of lemon zest, whether fresh or dried, adds a citrusy zing to these. I of course, taste tested them to an exclusively Southern audience to rave reviews.
These are worth heating the kitchen up for a little bit to make even in the middle of summer. Make sure to also have a batch of ice-cold sweet tea waiting for you when the cookies are done!
Sweet Tea Crinkle Cookies
Equipment
- 2 cookie sheets
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons boiling water
- 1 black tea bag
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup white sugar
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- Put the teabag in a small cup or ramekin. Add the 3 tablespoons boiling water and let the teabag steep for about 5 minutes. Use a spoon to press the remaining liquid from the teabag and discard the teabag. Let the tea sit and cool while you prepare the other ingredients.
- Mix the salt, baking powder, and flour in a bowl and set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the egg, vanilla extra, lemon zest, and tea.
- Mix until incorporated then cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.
- Once you're ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 F.
- Use baking sheets or parchment paper to line two cookie sheets.
- Put the ¼ cup white sugar in one shallow bowl, and the ¾ cup powdered sugar in another.
- Use your hands to roll the dough into small balls, definitely no larger than a golf ball. Roll each ball in regular sugar first, then the powdered sugar.
- Place on the lined cookie sheets and use your fingers to flatten slightly.
- Bake for 12 minutes. Let cool on the cookie sheets for a few minutes and then cool completely on a wire rack.
Notes: I found lemon zest incredible hard to source in stores, so I bought this McCormick's lemon zest online. And you can use any black tea you prefer to drink, but I used Charleston Tea Garden's original tea. It's the only brand of tea in the world made exclusively with American grown tea leaves!
And while I was taking these photos, I had an interested party!
Of course, this is my favorite/the only thing I know about Arnold Palmer, who is famous for being a golfer and the inventor of mixing sweet tea and lemonade.
