I was driving alone on the highway, and the cup was resting perfectly upside down. ‘Okay’, I thought, ‘if I just pick it up by the bottom really fast and flip it over there will be minimal spill out of the top. Everything will be FINE.’ …Except that when I picked it up the cap popped off completely and the entire hot latte was immediately all over the bottom of my car. With no paper towels and no time, I just drove to the campsite and let it sink into the upholstery of my car. I was so, so mad. So tired, so thirsty, all I wanted was a coffee, and I was surrounded by the smell of one that I could not drink. It was one of those weird moments when you’re on the verge of tears over something really stupid just because you’re so incredibly exhausted.
But then, I got really distracted from how upset I was, because the highway came out into the clearing where it starts to run along the Columbia River Gorge, and I hadn’t driven along it in the fall in close to a decade. It literally took my breath away. The red and orange trees intermixed with the evergreen pines all along the mountains lining the gigantic, sweeping river. The misty autumn skies and the crisp fall air…it reminded me why I moved back here, and why, even when I’m run down and exhausted, I can’t really stay that upset because I am lucky enough to live 15 minutes away from the most beautiful place in the world to me. So to celebrate fall and enjoy some comfort food, I made cookies. Shortbread cookies, to be exact.
These shortbread cookies have lots of butter mixed with some flour and sugar, with an extra large spoonful of spice and black tea. I also made some delicious pumpkin shortbread cookies, pictured above, that you can take a look at over at Birchpress Design’s blog, along with the gorgeous walnut rolling pin I used to make both types of cookies. The folks over there put together a 20% discount code for you all to use in their shop, just enter “adventure” in the coupon code window at check out to use it on your entire purchase. Hurray!!

Chai Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients
- 3 sticks unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup whole milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon earl grey tea leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In the large bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and sugar at medium high speed until smooth and fluffy, about 1 minute. Add the milk, vanilla, cinnamon, tea leaves, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, and salt and mix at medium speed until combined. Add the flour, a little at a time, mixing at medium low speed until a smooth thick dough forms.
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Turn the dough out onto a well-floured smooth working surface and roll out the dough until it is about 1/4-inch thick. Use a circular cookie cutter about 2 inches in diameter to cut out the cookie shapes and place them on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake them at 350 for 20 to 25 minutes, or until very lightly golden around the edges. Remove the pan from the oven and allow the cookies to cool completely on pan before removing with a spatula. Sprinkle with the powdered sugar. The shortbread cookies can be kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
I have that sometimes, I cry because of stupid little things just because it was the drop that broke the surface tension. And then I laugh at myself, because I find it foolish to cry for unimportant things. I think I look quite ridiculous in those (luckily) rare moments. I'm glad you have time to relax, you're doing such a great job, everything that comes from under you hands looks amazing. I love the simplicity of these cookies.
Yeah, it's always the straw that broke the camel's back. Something small that just kind of breaks the weight of it all. Thanks so much for your encouragement, Kristina! I am feeling better now after a night away from work. I just need to learn to have a healthier balance I think when it comes to work/life stuff. A struggle for all of us, I think.
These cookies look lovely! I'm sorry to hear you've had so much stress recently, and that poor coffee, I would have cried. I know how things can pile up when you have to step away for a little while. Keep up your amazing work though, you're always an inpiration!
Awww thank you Tori 🙂 The little things always add up in the end, and man that coffee disaster was so frustrating. Going to have my mom bring her steam cleaner over tomorrow to use on the upholstery, hopefully it works!
stunning as always!! Your pictures are perfection <3
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Thanks Anna!!
These shortbread look delicious. I love chai spices. I am one of the clumsiest people, I even have a box of unopened glasses at home, ready to replace the everyday ones that I know I will break at some point, so I have 4 chances to keep them at a set of 6! I hope your car can be cleaned!
OMG that is such a good idea!!!! I'm usually not too clumy, but my husband definitely is. I've lost count of how many wine glasses have been broken since we got them for our wedding 2 years ago. I am definitely just going to get a secret box of them to keep in the basement for replacements!
Eva, I absolutely love the description of your journey! I can just feel the frustration and longing that must have coursed through you when you smelled that coffee spilling all over your car…. And unlike you, I don't know if I would have felt so calmed by the view, no matter how beautiful! Good on you for turning this event around and creating these lovely cookies from it.
Thank you my dear Ksenia! <3 I need to actually shoot the view of the gorge sometime, it is absolutely breathtaking right now with all the leaves changing colors and the overcast skies. It has such a calming effect to look at, just makes all my problems seem so small and insignificant in contrast!
THese sound so good!! And they look even better!
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Thanks Miranda!
Oh, Eva… I can completely relate. Those days are so very frustrating, and I probably WOULD have cried! I'm glad you're feeling better now. Get some sleep girl! These chai shortbread cookies look exquisitely yummy and I am thinking I must try them. Thank you for sharing the recipe… you always come up with such novel ideas.
Yeah I've definitely been catching up on my z's this past weekend. Trying to get over all the jet lag hasn't been fun, but I think I'm nearly there! The cookies are *insanely* good, and super easy to make, too! Perfect for a jet lag-fried brain haha 😉
Chai and cookies all in one, what could be more comforting on a bad day. I can't wait to try your recipe.
Thank you, Daryl! They really do provide such comfort on stressful days, just the smell of them baking in the oven makes me happy 🙂
When you're feeling busy a cookie and a cup of tea always seems to help! I love this flavour. The earl grey tea leaves sound lovely!
Thanks Katrina!! I agree, a cup of tea and a cookie can solve most problems, or at least allow you a moment to breathe enough that you can com up with a good way to solve them 🙂
Gorgeous photos and beautiful cookies. I can't wait to make these!
Thanks Gracieanne!!
Oh, those times are the worst, when there's so much building up that the smallest things are the triggers. I'm glad you love where you live enough that it can be a balm to you. Happy Fall.
P.S. Those chai cookies sound brilliant.
Yes, I am so lucky to be able to live in a place that I love so much. It's funny, when I grew up here as a kid I though Oregon was so boring. But as the years went by in L.A., I realized how incredible and beautiful it was. Sometimes it takes leaving a place to really realize how special it is. I'm happy I'm able to appreciate it's beauty and wonder now, it's so soothing just to look out into all the lovely nature here!
Gorgeous shortbread and Earl Grey tea inside and – in my case – outside to dunk as well. Earl Grey is my favourite tea and I just wish I could have had some of your stunning cookies with it already this afternoon. Yum.
Nicole
Thanks Nicole!! Earl grey is my favorite tea, too!! I just love the floral elements to it, so delicate but so hearty at the same time. The smell is invigorating!
Amazing pics Eva! You're one of my favorite blogs to follow. I recently moved to the PNW, and I know exactly what you mean about the Gorge. I come from Chicago, so you can imagine what a difference (and shock) the gorgeous scenery is to my midwestern eyes. Keep up the great work!
This looks so amazing! Your pictures are so dreamy!
i hope things will slow down on your end…i have been feeling somewhat the same way with things back to back..so definitely tea and shortbread cookies will help.
¡Fantástica receta! Me encanta, fácil de preparar, con buenas fotografías y un resultado final delicioso. Muchas gracias por compartirla con todos/as.
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Ughhhh these look so amazing, Eva! Chai always brings the fondest of memories for me because I had the honor of drinking the most original, tastiest, and hottest chai ever on the daily in the villages of Punjab a few years ago. This helps me re-live those moments just one more time. And don't you just reeeallllly dislike yourself too, when you're on the verge of tears over the smallest thing just because you've neglected all the other emotions you didn't realize were inside you? Happens a lot lately, haha….I hope you have a better rest of the week, Eva!
The photos are so beautiful!
I like this recipe! I will make it for my family as soon as I can 🙂
Shortbread is my all time favorite and add chai to it and oh boy I'd eat them all!!! Omg, I can totally relate about the coffee in the car, been there! It's all in slow motion while you are thinkin, NOOOooooooooo 🙁 I did love living on the Columbia River and feel lucky to have experienced it! Although I'm stoked to be back in California, I do miss the fall colors of Oregon!
Wow I just did these, pop them out of the oven and couldn’t wait ’til they were completely cold to try one. They are fantastic. I might add a bit of cream cheese frosting to some, and keep the others bare because really by themselves they taste so good !
Amazing! I love these! Thank you for the recipe.
Hi Eva – I have never baked with tea leaves. did you crush the tea leaves before you put them into the dough? Thanks!
Hi Jen! If you have big pieces of chair tea (like the kind found in loose-leaf tea) you can definitely crush them up into smaller pieces. But if you’re using chai tea emptied out from a tea bag that’s usually pretty fine already and you don’t need to chop it up. Thanks so much!
I will do this next time! The leaves were pretty big and I thought they would get crushed more during the mixing process, but they didn’t lol. I ended up picking out the leaves before baking. They baked up nicely with a delicate chai flavor. Thanks!
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