Tea Time Spiced Cookies

I love tea time. It is one of the comforting memories of home where you sit down with your favorite cup of tea and some cookies and relax. My family is Indian and we always had our tea time (never formally) at about 4-5 pm. I always loved it when my grandmother made me tea. She knew exactly the way I drank it. We sometimes would have Parle-G cookies (an Indian cookie) along with it. So now I am married, I have my own home and when I have my afternoon tea, I always felt there was something missing. No cookies!

Looking at the ingredients in the house, I found that I had what I needed for these delicious, easy to make cookies. Best part, I baked only a 1/4 of the recipe and froze the rest of the dough in 3 packets. Now, whenever I want, I can have fresh Spiced Cookies. I can’t wait to make a batch, for when I visit my grandmother next!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of packed brown sugar

4 tablespoons of butter, room temperature

4 tablespoons of vegetable shortening

3/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger

1/8th teaspoon of ground cloves

1/8th teaspoon of allspice

1/8th teaspoon of nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon of baking powder

1/4 teaspoon of baking soda

1/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1/2 cup of unsulfured molasses

2 cups of all-purpose flour

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients.
2. Divide dough into quarters and form each piece into a ball.
3. Plastic Wrap each ball and form into a disc.
4. Refrigerate (or freeze for future use) at least 1 hour
5. Preheat oven to 325F and line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray
6. Roll out dough, on a lightly floured surface until dough is 1/4th to 1/8th inch thick
7. Using cookie cutters (or a glass) cut out dough into your favorite shapes.
8. Place each cookie on the greased cookie tray leaving only about 1/2 inch space in between (They will not spread out)
9. Re-roll scraps and repeat until dough is used up.
10. Bake for 12-15 minutes and let it cool for a few minutes, before removing the cookies to a wire rack

Enjoy with your favorite cup of tea, coffee or glass of milk. Store in an air tight container.

Tea Time Spiced Cookies!