Rooibos Makgeolli Sugar Cookie

Thick chewy cookie with crisp edges flavored with fragrant makgeolli and earthy rooibos.

Rooibos Makgeolli Sugar Cookie

Makes 24 cookies

If you’ve been around my website for a while, you’ll know that I pretty much use makgeolli as a replacement for vanilla in many of my recipes. This time however, I wanted to make the flavor of the makgeolli shine. I also wanted to use a few rooibos tea bags I had lying around that I originally planned on putting into a cookie of some kind and simply merged the two ideas. I adapted the “Soft and Chewy Classic Vanilla Cookie” from Cloudy Kitchen (recipe here) for this recipe and wound up with a thick chewy cookie with the aromatic flavor of rice that perfectly matched the earthy sweetness of the rooibos to make a uniquely flavored cookie.

“Recipe Tips:

*1. Check the weight of your tea bags on the packaging.”

Ingredients

1 large egg, room temperature

*4g (2 tea bags) rooibos tea

340g (2.5 c + 2 T) all purpose flour

4g (1 t) kosher salt

2g (0.50 t) baking soda

270g (1 c + 2 T) granulated sugar

224g (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

70ml (4 T + 2 t) makgeolli, room temperature

Finishing

75g (1/3 c) granulated sugar - optional

Method

1.      Place a sheet of parchment paper on a rimmed baking sheet. Set aside.

2.      In a small bowl beat the egg until well combined.

• Add the tea and allow to steep for at least 5 minutes.

Continue on to Step 3 while steeping.

3.      In a medium mixing bowl stir together the flour, salt and baking soda until well combined. Set aside.

4.      In a large mixing bowl beat the sugar and butter together until light and fluffy, about 8 – 10 minutes by hand.

If you pick up some of the mixture between your fingers, it should feel smooth and silky and not gritty which means the sugar has not been worked in well enough.

If using a hand beater or stand mixer, it may take 5 – 7 minutes on medium speed.

• Add all the egg mixture and stir well to combine.

Do not strain the tea from the egg.

• Add the makgeolli in 3 additions stirring well after each addition.

This helps to keep the mixture from begin to overwhelmed by the amount of liquid being added which could cause it to split.

• Add all the flour stirring gently to combine until no dry flour remains.

• Beat vigorously for 30 seconds by hand and 15 seconds if using a mixer.

• Scoop 2 oz balls of dough onto the prepared pan. The balls odfdough do not need to have space between them.

• Cover with plastic wrap in contact with the dough and fridge overnight.

5.      Preheat oven to 180 C / 350 F.

• Place a sheet of parchment paper on a rimmed baking sheet.

6.      Remove cookies from the fridge and roll in granulated sugar before placing on the prepared cookie sheet at least 5 – 6.5cm (2 – 2.5 in) apart.

• Allow to sit out for 10 minutes as the oven preheats.

• Bake for 12 – 13 minutes or until the edges are just beginning to brown.

• Remove from the oven to a cooking rack and allow to cool on the pan for 10 minutes.

• Remove the individual cookies to the cooking rack and cool completely.

7.      Serve.