Earl Gray Chocolate Sugar Cookies

I got the idea from an Earl Gray cocoa milk tea drink at my local boba place and decided to put it in cookie form. This is the first recipe I've ever invented on my own and it's gotten nothing but compliments every time I've made it. So, I thought I'd share it here:

Makes ~50-55 small cookies (I based this off proportions from another recipe, so I usually half it)

Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter

1½ cups granulated sugar

2 eggs

4 packets Earl Gray tea (1 packet/ ¼ cup butter)

2¼ cups all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon Kosher salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

½ cup cocoa powder

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. The first thing you need to do is infuse the butter with the earl gray. This is how you get all the delicious tea flavor in your cookie. To start, melt butter in a small saucepan until it's just liquid

3. Cut open your tea bags and dump contents into the butter.

4. Heat and stir the mixture for about 5 minutes on low heat. Then remove from heat and let stand for 5 more minutes.

5. (Optional: take butter tea and filter tea out through a sieve. If you're doing this, make sure to add a little more butter to the original mixture, because you lose some in this process. I've made these with and without filtering out the tea and they've been great both times, so I think it's more of a personal preference).

6. Let butter cool to around room temperature and then cream with the sugar until it's light and fluffy. Then add eggs and mix well to combine. It won't look very appealing at this point, but just stick with it.

7. Stir in flour, baking powder, salt, and vanilla.

8. Stir in cocoa powder. The consistency should be a thick, but a little wet and crumbly. If it's too dry, add a little bit of water at this point.

9. Take a spoon, scoop the dough, and roll into small balls and place them 1-2 inches apart on a greased baking sheet.

10. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes or until consistency is right. They should be a little soft to touch when they're done.

Here's an imgur album I made that shows the step-by-step process for any of you visual learners. Apologies in advance for my shitty photography skills and the terrible lighting in my kitchen: https://imgur.com/a/sULeh

Enjoy!

bon appetit