Thursday 25 October 2012

fall flavours - chai spice shortbread cookies...




fall...


days getting shorter..

leaves turning...


temperatures dipping...


soft autumn rains falling...

its such a beautiful time of the year... i think autumn brings out a yearning in everyone for earthy tones and warm spices...

i tried making some chai-spice shortbread and its just a medley of flavours in your mouth... 


chai spice cookies, tea masala biscuits




i love shortbread since its a very basic and versatile canvas to start with and you can make easy modifications to suit your taste. you can see the chocolate dipped shortbreads i make earlier, here.

this time i took the shortbread dough (1 cup all-purpose flour/maida, 1/2 cup butter, 1/4 cup sugar) and added a couple of spoons of chai-spice or tea-masala that i always have in my spice rack, along with a spoon of vanilla extract and some powdered cardamom... (about 2 spoons of tea masala to a cup of all purpose flour should be fine, but you could reduce it if you want it milder) tea masala will be readily available anywhere indian spices are sold, but if you cant find it, try making your own chai-spice blend by taking some cinnamon, nutmeg,dry ginger,cardamom pods,cloves, a few black peppercorns and powdering them in a blender or spice grinder...

make small balls from the dough and place them on baking sheet. to get the small squares like above, take a fork and press on the dough ball, horizontally once and vertically once. or just make any shapes you want. give each one a small prick with a fork, and chill them in the fridge for at least half an hour so that they retain their shape while baking.

bake at 180C/350F for 15-20 mins till the bottoms and edges start to brown. remove from oven and allow to cool before eating, or taking pretty pictures :)

2 comments:

  1. why dont u throw in some hot tea too. would go nice with this.

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    Replies
    1. yes, it'd be perfect no doubt... i wish i could 'throw in' some right now, really :) i'm a tea (chai) addict :)

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