lavender earl grey cookies

About These Lavender Earl Grey Cookies

These lavender Earl Grey cookies are a fun, new take on a classic cookie recipe. The recipe makes chewy, buttery sugar cookies infused with the floral flavors of both Earl Grey tea and dried lavender petals. 

For more Earl Grey flavored desserts on Hummingbird High, check out these Earl Grey Chocolate Chip Cookies and this Earl Grey Tiramisu!

Despite being on the fancier side of things, these cookies still come together quickly. In fact, making the dough for these cookies only took me 10 minutes or so, with another 5 minutes to shape the dough into cookies themselves! And like any good flavored sugar cookie, the lavender and Earl Grey flavors deepen and become stronger with time. Although the cookies were plenty delicious on the day they were made, they tasted extra aromatic and buttery the next day!

The recipe is from my friend Amy and her cookbook, Blooms and Baking: Add Aromatic, Floral Flavors to Cakes, Cookies and More. Check out her blog Constellation Inspiration for even more fun recipes! 

lavender earl grey cookies

Ingredients and Substitutions

Now that I’ve convinced you to try this lavender Earl Grey cookie recipe, here’s the shopping list for the recipe:

Shopping List for Lavender Earl Grey Cookies Recipe

  • all-purpose flour
  • Earl Grey tea (from tea bags or loose leaf tea)
  • culinary-grade lavender
  • baking powder
  • baking soda
  • kosher salt
  • granulated sugar
  • unsalted butter
  • large eggs
  • pure vanilla extract
  • blue cornflower petals

And let’s talk about some of its key ingredients and potential substitutions:

Key Ingredients In This Lavender Earl Grey Cookies Recipe and Their Potential Sources and/or Substitutions

  • All-Purpose Flour: Want to make it gluten free? Replace the all-purpose flour with a 1:1 gluten free flour like Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour or King Arthur Gluten-Free Measure For Measure Flour.

  • Earl Grey Tea: You can use Earl Grey tea from tea bags, but you’ll need to cut up the bags, pour out the tea leaves, and measure them for the recipe. If you want to save time and energy, buy loose leaf tea instead! You’ll need about 1 Tablespoon of loose leaf tea (or tea from around 3 tea bags, since each tea bag typically has 1 teaspoon of finely ground tea). Tea from tea bags also tends to be more finely ground than loose leaf tea. You’ll need around 4 teaspoons of loose leaf tea to make the 1 Tablespoon of finely ground Earl Grey needed for the recipe.

    Use whatever Earl Grey tea you like best. I personally love this Sweet and Creamy Earl Grey from Aroma Tea Shop. It’s blended with the blue cornflower petals you see on these cookies!

  • Culinary-Grade Lavender: Lavender is available in most organic grocery stores and food co-ops. You can also buy culinary lavender in farmers’ markets (like if you live in the Portland, Oregon area, the Portland Farmers Market has a stand dedicated to selling lavender of all varieties). However, in a pinch, you can buy culinary lavender online. If buying online, look for a brand that specifically uses language like “for baking”, “for tea”, “organic”, and/or “culinary grade.”

    It’s important to look for those terms because culinary lavender is subject to food and safety regulations. Non-culinary lavender, on the other hand, is NOT. That means that the lavender used for making beauty and household products might be treated with chemicals and preservatives that aren’t suitable for eating and are potentially harmful or poisonous to our bodies!

  • Kosher SaltLearn why kosher salt is the best salt for baking recipes in this blog post. But in a pinch, you can replace the kosher salt in the recipe with half its amount in table salt.

  • Blue Cornflower Petals: If you want your cookies to look exactly like mine, buy a bag of edible cornflower petals and garnish each cookie after baking! Cornflower petals are available online or in specialty spice and tea ships. But don’t worry if you don’t want to bother and/or can’t find any—the cookies will still taste great without them!

Can I use another tea instead of Earl Grey?

Yes! In theory, you can swap out the Earl Grey tea in this recipe for your favorite black tea instead. However, I recommend thinking about whether or not that tea will match with lavender’s floral flavors. In general, Earl Grey and lavender is a pretty common flavor pairing—another tea might not taste as good with the lavender!

Can I skip the lavender in this lavender Earl Grey cookie recipe?

Yes, but with reservations. Although I don’t recommend doing it because you’ll change the flavors of Amy’s original recipe, in a pinch, you can skip the lavender. Your cookies will still taste like Earl Grey, but without the subtle, aromatic flavor from the lavender.

lavender earl grey cookies

How to Make Lavender Earl Grey Cookies

Amy’s lavender Earl Grey cookies are incredibly easy to make at home. Here’s a breakdown of the key steps:

  1. Prep your ingredients by measuring everything out and grinding the Earl Grey tea and lavender if necessary. (Prep Time: 10 minutes)
    Although most cookie recipes usually take 5 minutes or less to prep, this cookie recipe requires slightly more time. Why? You’ll need to grind the lavender petals (and the Earl Grey tea, if you’re using loose leaf tea—more on that in a second) before adding them to the cookies. However, there are tools to make this task go by in a breeze. Check out the Troubleshooting/FAQ section below!

  2. Make the cookie dough. (Work Time: 10 minutes)
    After you prep the ingredients, you’ll need to make the cookie dough. Amy’s lavender Earl Grey cookie recipe is pretty standard and follows the formula for making most other cookies. First, cream the butter and sugar together, then add the eggs and the dry ingredients. Mix until combined and then boom, done!

  3. Portion the cookie dough and sprinkle with sugar. (Work Time: 5 minutes)
    Like with any cookie recipe, I recommend investing in a cookie dough scoop to make the job go by quicker and easier. My favorite cookie dough scoop size for cookies is a 3-Tablespoon scoop.

  4. Bake the cookies. (Bake Time: 12 minutes)
    Each batch of cookies requires 12 minutes in the oven.
lavender earl grey cookies

Recipe Troubleshooting and FAQ

FAQ: Baking Equipment For The Recipe

Best Spice Grinder for Making The Dough

To make these cookies, you’ll need to grind up the lavender petals and/or Earl Grey loose leaf tea. There are a handful of tools that you can use for the task:

  • A manual spice grinder. Manual spice grinders are typically operated with a crank—simply place the ingredient in the grinder, and turn the crank to grind it. This is the one I own. It’s technically exclusively for black peppercorns, but I just use it for whatever spice I want because I’m a rebel without a cause, I guess.

  • An electric spice grinder. One of my secret weapons in my kitchen is this electric spice grinder by Cuisinart. It is specifically made for grinding herbs and spices, and it is an absolute BEAST. It is so much less work than a manual spice grinder—I can have things like nutmeg, tonka beans, and cinnamon sticks fully powdered in less than 5 seconds. However, it doesn’t have the best ratings on Amazon. Why? The spice grinder bowl has a tendency to get stuck. Just make sure to store the machine disassembled and it shouldn’t be a problem!

  • A coffee grinder. If you don’t own a spice grinder, you can use an electric coffee bean grinder to grind the lavender petals and/or the Earl Grey loose leaf tea. Just be sure to clean it thoroughly to rid it of its coffee flavors! Be sure to check out the section below on how to clean the coffee grinder before using for this recipe.

How To Grind Spices Without A Grinder

In a pinch, a mortar and pestle will do the trick. However, this is definitely the most labor intensive route of all the options.

FAQ: Storing The Cookies

How To Store Lavender Earl Grey Cookies

The cookies can be stored in an airtight container or zip-top bag at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Yes! You can freeze the cookie dough just like you can freeze your favorite chocolate chip cookie dough recipe. After portioning the dough into balls, place the balls on a parchment lined sheet pan and freeze for 30 minutes, or until the dough is hard enough to handle without being sticky. Transfer to a zip-top freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months.

Note that the dough will be frozen WITHOUT the sugar garnish. When ready to bake, you’ll need to sprinkle the cookies with the extra sugar! There’s no need to thaw the cookie dough balls before baking. Follow the instructions for baking in the recipe, but increase the Bake Time to 14 to 16 minutes. 

Best Recipe Tips

  • I like to bake the cookies one pan at a time. I find that doing so makes the best cookies, ensuring that none of them have overly burnt bottoms or raw centers. However, to save time, you can bake two sheet pans at a time. Position a rack in the upper-third position of the oven, and a second one in the lower-third position of the oven. Bake a pan on each rack, swapping their positions half way through the Bake Time.

  • The cookies will look puffed when you pull them out of the oven, but will fall and crack into the perfect cookies as they cool. Because of the Earl Grey tea, it can be a little hard to tell when these cookies are ready—even when done, the cookie centers will look slightly gray. That’s totally normal, I promise!

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Get the Recipe: Lavender Earl Grey Cookies Recipe

These lavender Earl Grey cookies are chewy, buttery sugar cookies infused with the floral flavors of both Earl Grey tea and dried lavender petals. The recipe is from my friend Amy Ho's new book, Blooms and Baking!
(4.91 stars) 185 reviews
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Ingredients

For the Lavender Earl Grey Cookies

  • 2 ¼ cups (9.5 ounces or 270 grams) all-purpose flour
  • 1 Tablespoon finely ground Earl Grey tea (from 3 tea bags or 4 teaspoons loose leaf tea)
  • ½ teaspoon culinary-grade lavender, finely ground
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 ¼ cup (8.80 ounces or 250 grams) granulated sugar
  • 1 cup (8 ounces or 227 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

For Garnish

  • 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
  • blue cornflower petals

Instructions
 

For the Lavender Earl Grey Cookies

  • Prep your oven and pans. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two half sheet pans with parchment paper.
  • Mix the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, Earl Grey tea, lavender, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
  • Cream the sugar and butter, then add the egg, vanilla, and dry ingredients. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the sugar and butter. Beat on medium-high speed until light, fluffy, and doubled in volume, 2 to 3 minutes, using a rubber spatula to scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl as necessary.
    Reduce the mixer to low and add the egg. Add the vanilla and beat until just combined. Scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl.
    With the mixer on low, gradually add the dry ingredients and beat until just combined. Scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl once more, and beat on low for an additional 30 seconds.
  • Assemble the cookies. Use a 3-tablespoon cookie dough scoop to portion the cookie dough into balls. Place the cookies at least 3 inches apart on the prepared sheet pans. Sprinkle the tops of the dough balls with the remaining 2 Tablespoons of sugar for garnish before baking.
  • Bake the cookies. Bake one pan at a time for 12 minutes, or until the edges have set but the centers are still gooey. The cookies will look puffed when you pull them out of the oven, but will fall and crack into the perfect cookies as they cool.
  • Garnish and cool the cookies. If using blue cornflower petals, sprinkle a few petals on top of each cookie.
    Cool the cookies on the pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes, or until the edges and bottoms of the cookies have set and feel firm to the touch.
    Repeat with the remaining cookie dough.
  • Serve and store. Serve warm or at room temperature. The cookies can be stored in an airtight container or zip-top bag at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Notes

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Weeknight Baking:
Recipes to Fit your Schedule

Over the past several years of running Hummingbird High, I kept a crucial aspect of my life hidden from my readers: I had a full-time, extremely demanding job in the tech world. In my debut cookbook, Weeknight Baking, I finally reveal the secrets to baking delicious desserts on a tight schedule.