Green Tea Shortbread

Are these cute or what? I made 2 batches last week - one using confectioner's sugar and one using granulated sugar. The confectioner-batch made for a more buttery, crumbly texture - like REAL shortbread. The granulated-batch came out more cookie-like. The bf liked the cookie texture, while I preferred the shortbread.

I liked these because they weren't sweet, due to the green tea powder. I also managed to get my hands on leaf-shaped cookie cutters and the cookies came out so great! I also decorated the leaves using a sharp knife to make little designs. They looked quite professional, if I do say so myself.

I also made a batch of lemon shortbread, which came out really good too. I mixed in lemon juice, lemon extract, and grated lemon zest. Topped each cookie with a glaze I made with lemon juice, confectioner's sugar, and heavy cream. Yum!

Ingredients

• 2 Cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
• 2 Tablespoons green-tea powder
• 1/2 Teaspoon table salt
• 1/2 Pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 Cup confectioners' sugar, or granulated sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
   
2. Sift flour, tea powder, and salt into a small bowl; set aside.
   
3. Put butter in the bowl and cream on medium speed until fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add sugar; continue to beat until very light in color and fluffy, about 2 minutes more.
   
4. Add flour mixture; combine on low, scraping sides of bowl with a spatula if necessary, until flour is just incorporated and dough sticks together when squeezed with fingers.
5. Place a piece of parchment paper on a clean surface and dust with flour. Roll dough to 1/4-inch thickness; chill in refrigerator or freezer until firm, about 30 minutes.
6. Line two baking sheets with parchment. Cut chilled dough with 2-inch leaf cutters. Using a wide spatula, transfer to baking sheets. Chill until firm. Gather scraps together, reroll, chill, and cut shapes. Bake until firm and barely starting to color, 15-20 minutes, rotating halfway through. Cool completely.

The recipe says 15-20 minutes, but it took 11 minutes in my oven. Watch carefully! They don't look nearly as cute if they start getting brown on the edges.

Also, sprinking some granulated sugar on top of the cookies right out of the oven is quite nice.