Soft & crumbly biscuits flavoured with white tea and fresh lemons. Made with wholemeal flour to add fiber and B vitamins, these dairy-free vegan cookies are the perfect accompaniment to a freshly brewed cup of tea!
With all of the ice and snow we having here in Leeds at the moment, there is nothing I have been wanting to do more than to snuggle up on the sofa in a cosy cardigan, cat at my side, draw in a long cup of hot tea and dedicate some love to this little space here. I got to spend some of last weekend doing just that, though it was mainly fixing some bugs I’ve encountered since switching the blog over (namely a lot of troubles with photo files), rather than creating anything new as I would have liked. Still, it was nice to be indoors and cosy before I headed up to the Yorkshire Dales in North Yorkshire on Sunday afternoon to meet some gorgeous owls and blow the cobwebs out with some fresh air.
On the subject of tea, recently I have been enjoying a selection of teas kindly sent to me by Dragonfly tea. They are a British family-owned business who use all organic, natural ingredients, with an eye for sustainability and conservation honed during their one hundred years of experience.
As a company with a social conscience, where possible Dragonfly tea only work with small scale growers and deal directly with producers to ensure strong mutually beneficial relationship and sustainable methods. They appreciate the idea of a cup of tea as a means to slow down and take a breather; to encourage you to take advantage of this, each teabag tag has a little quote to ponder over as you drink.
My personal highlight from the Dragonfly tea collection is the Indian Spice Chai, made with black tea and a blend of spice. I’m always amazed at how smells and tastes can bring back such vivid memories and drinking a hot mug of this (with just a touch of almond milk) took me right back drinking cup after cup of spiced chai tea in Nepal. It meant that every cup really was like taking a journey.
Another Dragonfly tea I have been enjoying is the Luxury Leaf Bai Mudan White China Tea which has a mild flavour, reminiscent of green tea but gentler and as it needs less processing the leaves retain a higher level of antioxidants. All you need is a pinch added into a tea strainer (I’ve had this little ‘tea house’ for years) and boiled water that has been cooled slightly before pouring to make a perfect cup.
The problem of course with drinking tea is that it is so easy to wolf down far too many biscuits (biscuits in the British sense that is!) with each brew. The thought of a healthier alternative accompanied by having tea on my mind lead to a stroke of imagination, and so, these white tea & lemon vegan cookies were born.
White tea balances perfectly with zesty lemon and a wedge of fresh lemon is ideal added to a cup of white tea too. The cookies are made with wholemeal flour which gives them a slightly crumbly texture; you could use white flour to create a chewier more typical “cookie” texture but the wholemeal brings added fiber and vitamins.
Makes approx. 12
Ingredients:
175g wholemeal flour
75g dairy-free margarine
75g Demerara sugar
1 flax “egg” (1tbsp flax seed, 3tbsp water, whisked for a few minutes)
2tbsp white tea leaves, ground into a fine powder
Juice & rind of 1 lemon
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 180C.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the sugar and margarine together. Once smooth, add in the flax “egg” and mix well. Add the white tea and lemon juice and rind, mix well.
3. Sift the flour into the bowl, stirring as you go. Once you have sifted all of the flour there will be some wheat left in the sieve – add this into the bowl too. Mix slowly until all of the ingredients have combined together.
4. Lightly grease a baking tray. Separate the mixture into small balls and space them out evenly on the baking tray (or two baking trays, if needed). Press each one to flatten slightly.
5. Bake in the oven for around 15 minutes until they have turned slightly golden brown and are cooked through (you can test this with a cocktail stick).
Do you have a favorite type of tea?