This recipe is inspired by genmaicha which is Japanese green tea mixed with roasted popped rice. I can no longer drink caffeinated tea, but back when I could, I loved the rich, toasty flavor from the rice. I wanted to recreate aspects of that toasted rice flavor in a shortbread cookie and pair it with one of my favorite herbal teas, lemon verbena.
This lemon verbena and toasted rice shortbread contains pan-toasted Jasmine rice that has been ground up into a fine rice flour and mixed with ground lemon verbena leaves. The lemon verbena adds a brightness and earthiness that compliments the toasted flavor of the rice. I imagine that this would work well with green tea or chamomile, if you are unable to easily access lemon verbena.
The base shortbread recipe is adapted from RecipeTin Eat’s shortbread cookies, which have few ingredients and a wonderfully crumbly texture. Butter temperature is the most important aspect of this recipe. The butter should be soft enough to make an indent with your finger but should not be so soft as to be very greasy. If your dough is feeling wet or greasy, you should refrigerate prior to baking to ensure that the butter is not too warm.
This shortbread is delicious on its own and also great served alongside a hot cup of tea.
Lemon verbena and toasted rice shortbread
Course: Cookies and barsDifficulty: Quick bake24
cookies20
minutes30
minutesThese shortbread cookies have a delicate, crumbly texture and a full-bodied, warming flavor from a combination of toasted rice and bright, herbaceous lemon verbena. These cookies are loosely inspired by the roasted rice from genmaicha. The shortbread cookie is adapted from RecipeTin eats.
Ingredients
3/4 cup jasmine rice (see note)
2 sticks (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup (85g) confectioners’ sugar
1 Tbsp ground lemon verbena or chamomile
1 1/2 cups (188g) all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp kosher salt
Instructions
- Prepare the toasted rice
- Add the rice to a frying pan over medium heat, stirring frequently, until all of the rice is an even, deep golden brown color (about 7 minutes). Remove from the pan and let cool to room temperature.
- Grind the rice to a fine powder using a spice grinder, coffee grinder, or high-powdered food processor. Measure out 1/2 cup of rice flour to use in the recipe.
- Make the shortbread
- Preheat the oven to 300F. Before proceeding, make sure that your butter is at room temperature. The butter should have some give to it when pressed with your index finger but should not feel very soft and greasy. With an electric mixer, cream together the butter and confectioners’ sugar just until creamy and smooth.
- In a coffee/spice grinder or small food processor, chop the dried lemon verbena leaves into small pieces. Alternatively, you can use ground leaves from a tea bag. Measure out 1 Tbsp of ground leaves and add to the butter mixture. Mix to combine.
- Stir in 1/2 cup of rice flour, salt, and half of the all-purpose flour. Once combined, mix in the remaining flour and stir just until combined. Press the dough together a few times with your hands until it comes together easily.
- Butter a 9″ x 13″ baking dish and line with parchment paper. Press the dough into the pan in an even layer.
- Bake for 20 minutes, until the shortbread is a pale gold. Remove from the oven and cut into rectangles (size of your choosing). Prick cookies with a fork. Then return to the oven for about 8 minutes, until the shortbreads are golden. The shortbreads should still be light in color. Turn off the oven and leave the door cracked open for at least one hour. Then remove cookies from the oven and let cool completely.
Notes
- If you don’t have a grinder, you can try buying rice flour and toasting it in a pan until deeply golden brown.
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