I really enjoy hosting friends and families for the holidays, birthdays or just because. One of my favorite little get togethers to host is a girl brunch! A special treat for the important ladies in my life. A couple weeks ago I had my mom, grandma, mother in law and grandmother in law over for a really fantastic tea party themed brunch and it was a BLAST! I decided that this brunch would be the perfect reason to bake up a new cookie recipe! I came up with these AMAZING Berry Hibiscus Glazed Shortbread Cookies!
I am always excited to try new products and when I saw Lipton’s new black and herbal varieties and improved green teas I could wait to taste them all! {Check out the full line-up of Lipton Green, Black and Herbal here}. While checking out the new varieties I thought that the berry hibiscus would make for a great glaze and it turned out perfect!!! It adds a great subtly sweet berry, floral flavor to the simple shortbread cookies. The glaze couldn’t be easier either; just brewed tea and powdered sugar!
I really wanted to make a brunch table beautiful so I headed out to some local craft stores and picked up some great additions! Pretty white platters, a great big drink dispenser for my Irresistible Lady Lipton Iced Tea {recipe below}, festive paper straws, beautiful small small glass jars for flowers and a really fun good morning piece of artwork! All this along with great food made for a perfect brunch with the ladies!! For the iced tea I went with the Irresistible Lady Lipton because its bold aromas and unique flavors join forces to put a twist on traditional black tea and with just some slices of lemon it was a perfect refreshing drink for my brunch.
When setting up my table I like to have a lot of complimenting colors and for this particular brunch I was going for a very natural look- hence those pretty wildflowers all over the table. I also like to have elements on the table at different heights like using both shorter and taller flower vases, the drink dispenser is elevated and the lower platters of food.
Lets chat about what else I made for this Girls Brunch! I had a great variety of Lipton Teas available with a teapot of hot water ready to go. This allows guests to to taste several different teas and choose a favorite. For the breakfast portion of the brunch I had a variety of scones available, fresh fruit and eggs made to your liking. I also had a platter of cheese/dry sausage/crackers, mini crescent blt sandwiches, cucumber rounds with herbed cream cheese and an open tea sandwich with hummus, shredded carrots and arugula.
With all great gatherings, you must have dessert too! I had those delicious Berry Hibiscus Glazed Shortbread Cookies, sweet scones and a cheesecake topped with a fresh strawberry sauce. I was so happy that my Lipton tea infused cookies were such a huge hit with the family! Everything from the table to the teas to the food and conversation, it was a great brunch!
Before I get to the recipe I do want to give you some tricks to make brunch really easy on you so that you too can enjoy the party! Prep, prep, prep my friends!! For example, make the Unsweetened Irresistible Lady Lipton Iced Tea the day before. Here how:
- Bring 4 cups of water up to a boil. Add in 4-5 tea Irresistible Lady Lipton Tea Bags and let it steep for about 4 minutes. Remove the tea bags and stir in 12 cups of cold water. Add in some lemon slices and refrigerate overnight.
The cookies can be made the day ahead too! Bake, cool, drizzle, refrigerate to harden the glaze then package in an airtight container. Before serving sprinkle with powdered sugar. For the sandwiches, go ahead and bake the crescents, cool and place in a zip locked bag. If making the blt sandwiches you can cook the bacon ahead and simply warm before assembling as well as slice the tomatoes the day before too! The more you can get done ahead of time the easier it is to assemble everything the day of.
- makes 20 cookies
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 3/4 cups powdered sugar
- 1 stick unsalted butter, cold and cut into small pieces
- a pinch of salt
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- For the Glaze:
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 Lipton Berry Hibiscus tea bag
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
- With the dough blade in a food processor add the flour, powdered sugar and salt. Pulse a few times to combine.
- Add the diced butter and mix just until the dough resembles a course meal.
- Add in the egg and pulse until the dough just comes together, allow a little of the dry mix to remain, ensuring you don’t over mix.
- Place the dough onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead the dough until combined.
- Roll the dough into a log, a couple inches high. Wrap in a piece of plastic wrap and place in the freezer for about 15 minutes.
- Once the dough is slightly hardened slice into approx 1/4- 1/2 inch rounds.
- Place on a lined baking sheet and bake for approx 12 minutes or until the bottoms and outermost edges are very lightly browned. Cool on a cooling rack with parchment under the rack.
- For the glaze, bring 1/2 cup water to a boil. Add in the tea bag and steep for 4-5 minutes {you want a nice concentrated flavor}. Whisk together 3/4 cup powdered sugar and between 4 1/2 and 4 3/4 tsp of the tea until smooth.
- Drizzle the glaze over the cooled cookies and refrigerate just until the glaze is hardened. Sprinkle powdered sugar over top before serving.
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
