These Earl Grey sugar cookies are incredibly soft, melt-in-your-mouth, and slightly chewy. The cookie dough comes together in less than 10 minutes and is the perfect treat year-round! Interested in more sugar cookie recipes? Try out my chewy strawberry sugar cookies and easy red velvet sugar cookies!
Love these cookies? Pair them with my London fog latte!
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🍪 Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It’s perfect for Earl Grey lovers! The cookie dough uses 2 tablespoon of Earl Grey tea leaves, or about 3 tea bags worth.
- The cookies melt in your mouth. The cookies are SUPER soft and buttery, kind of like those iconic grocery store sugar cookies… but better.
- You won’t need any special equipment. Simply mix everything in one bowl with a silicone spatula, then bake.
Looking for more easy cookie recipes? Try out my basic sugar cookies, cute lemon sugar cookies, and mini chocolate chip cookies!
Ingredients
To make Earl Grey Cookies from scratch, you’ll need the following ingredients:
- They key ingredient here is Earl Grey. I used loose leaf tea from a local tea shop, although any brand of Earl Grey tea will work. I prefer the texture of the leaves, but you can use finer tea or grind it for a smoother result.
- Melted unsalted butter makes the cookie dough really easy to mix by hand.
- I like to use a mix of brown sugar and granulated sugar to create the perfect balance of flavor and chew.
- Adding in both baking powder and baking soda gives us the exact texture and rise we’re aiming for!
- You can use either vanilla extract or vanilla paste (1:1) in this recipe.
Looking for a basic sugar cookie recipe? Try out my cute bunny sugar cookies!
For the full list of ingredients and measurements, see the recipe card below.
💡 Baking Tips
- Weigh your ingredients! One of my favorite kitchen tools is a kitchen scale because it’s more accurate than measuring by volume. If you use cups, spoon the flour in gently, then level it with a knife or spatula.
- If chilling the dough for longer than 30 minutes, I pre-scoop cookie dough into balls, closely line them on a parchment tray, and chill them. When it’s time to bake, I break off the dough balls, roll them in sugar, and bake. Pre-scooping is easier on my hands and wrists than working with chilled, firmer dough.
- For rounder cookies, place a large circular cutter or mug on top of a freshly baked, warm cookie. Move it around in a circular motion until your cookie is perfectly round! This step is totally optional and purely for plating purposes! 🙂
How to Make Soft Earl Grey Sugar Cookies
Step 1: Combine butter and tea leaves. Fully melt in a pan or in the microwave at 15-second intervals. Transfer to mixing bowl and let tea-infused butter cool to room temperature.
Step 2: Stir sugars until combined, then mix in egg and vanilla.
Step 3: Add in dry ingredients and mix until no dry spots remain. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes, or up to 2 days. Use a cookie scoop (2-3 tablespoon capacity) to gather dough, then roll into granulated sugar. Place cookie dough balls on lined baking sheet about 3 inches apart.
Step 4: Bake at 325°F/162°C for 10-13 minutes or until the edges are set and lightly golden. Remove from the oven let cookies sit on baking tray for at least 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to fully cool.
For full instructions, see the recipe card below.
“Insanely delish—I LOVE them!” – cookie taste tester 🍪
Earl Grey Sugar Cookie FAQs
Earl Grey is a black tea infused with bergamot orange. It is often described to be a bold tasting tea with hints of lemon, spice, and malt.
Yes, although it wouldn’t be a sugar cookie anymore!
You can add around ½-1 cup of mix-ins, like white or dark chocolate chips. If you’d like to flavor the dough and enhance the citrusy flavor, you can massage the zest of one small lemon with the sugars until fragrant, then mix it with your tea-infused butter.
They can last at room temperature in an airtight container for up 5 days. See my storage instructions on how to freeze Earl Grey cookies.
As of right now, this is my first recipe using Earl Grey tea! I have more ideas in mind, but let me know in the comments what you’d like to see.
Otherwise, I do have a LOT of delicious matcha recipes! Some classics include my easy matcha latte, vegan matcha sugar cookies, and matcha cream buns.
Storage
- Room temperature: Store cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
- Freezing instructions: Store cooled cookies in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months. You can also freeze cookie dough balls for up to 3 months and bake from frozen, adding 2-3 minutes to the bake time.
- Reheating instructions: Allow frozen (already baked) cookies to thaw at room temperature for about 10 minutes. Or, reheat in the microwave at 10-second intervals.
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Thank you so much! -Bianca ❤️
📖 Recipe & Video
Soft Earl Grey Sugar Cookies
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Equipment
- 1 small bowl or plate for rolling dough in sugar
- 1 medium mixing bowl for dry ingredients
- 1 large mixing bowl for mixing dough
- 1 Medium cookie scoop 2-3 tablespoon capacity
Ingredients
Dry ingredients:
- 1 ½ cups (187.5 g) all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon (2 g) baking soda
- ½ teaspoon (2 g) baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (3 g) table salt or fine sea salt
Wet ingredients:
- ½ cup (113.5 g) unsalted butter melted and cooled
- 2 tablespoons (10 g) earl grey tea leaves about 3 tea bags
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (55 g) light or dark brown sugar packed
- 1 tablespoon (4 g) vanilla extract or paste
- 1 (1) egg room temperature
For rolling:
- 4 tablespoons (48 g) granulated sugar
Instructions
For the cookie dough:
- Add ½ cup unsalted butter and 2 tablespoons earl grey tea leaves into a saucepan and heat until melted. Alternatively, melt in a microwave-safe bowl in 15-second intervals. Let fully cool.
- In a large bowl, use silicone spatula to mix melted earl grey-infused butter, ½ cup granulated sugar, and ¼ cup light or dark brown sugar until combined.
- Mix in 1 egg and 1 tablespoon vanilla until smooth.
- Add in all of the dry ingredients: 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, and ½ teaspoon table salt. Mix until no dry spots remain.
- Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30-60 minutes, or up to 2 days. Tip: When I do longer chill times, I like to pre-scoop cookie dough into balls, closely line them on a parchment tray, and chill them. When it's time to bake, I break off the dough balls, roll them in sugar, and bake. Pre-scooping is easier on my hands and wrists than working with chilled, firmer dough.
Scoop & bake cookies:
- Preheat oven to 325°F/163°C and line two baking trays with parchment paper.
- In a small bowl or plate, add 4 tablespoons granulated sugar for rolling the dough.
- Use cookie dough scoop to gather dough (2-3 tablespoons). Roll into granulated sugar and place on lined baking tray, spacing cookies about 3-4 inches apart.
- Bake for 9-11 minutes, or until edges are slightly golden brown and set. Cool cookies on pan for 5 minutes, then transfer cookies to wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy!TIP: For rounder cookies, place a large circular cutter or mug on top of a freshly baked, warm cookie. Move it around in a circular motion until your cookie is perfectly round! This step is totally optional and purely for plating purposes! 🙂
Notes
- Weigh your ingredients! One of my favorite kitchen tools is a kitchen scale because it’s more accurate than measuring by volume. If you use cups, spoon the flour in gently, then level it with a knife or spatula.
- Room temperature: Store cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
- Freezing instructions: Store cooled cookies in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months. You can also freeze cookie dough balls for up to 3 months and bake from frozen, adding 2-3 minutes to the bake time.
- Reheating instructions: Allow frozen (already baked) cookies to thaw at room temperature for about 10 minutes. Or, reheat in the microwave at 10-second intervals.
Thuroughly enjoyed this recipe. The weights make it simple to follow without the need for too many dishes! Made for my roommate’s birthday the flavor is absolutely incredible and the texture unmatched!
Hi Tee! Yay, I’m really glad you loved the cookies! Happy belated birthday to your roommate, I hope you had a fun celebrating. 🙂
Easy to make, delicious flavor and perfect texture!
Hi Caitie! Thank you so much for your comment, so glad you enjoyed the cookies! 🙂
These were amazing! I brought them to a party and they were devoured. Everyone was asking me for the recipe! My new favorite cookie recipe!!
Hi Noora! Ahhh yay, sooo glad to hear! Thank you so much for trying out my recipe and sharing with others. 🙂
These cookies tasted AMAZING, but for some reason they didn’t spread very much in the oven, and were pretty thick. This was definitely an issue on my part, but I was wondering if you had any tips to ensure that this doesn’t happen, as I’d really like to make these again.
Hi Chloe!! Thank you for your comment, glad they tasted delicious!! 🙂 Did you use a kitchen scale or measuring cups to measure your ingredients?
Just in case you did use measuring cups, my post includes this tip: “Weigh your ingredients! One of my favorite kitchen tools is a kitchen scale because it’s more accurate than measuring by volume. If you use cups, spoon the flour in gently, then level it with a knife or spatula.”
loved this recipe – tasted great. for some reason my dough felt dry with 1.5 cups of flour and it rose a lot in the oven 🙁 any tips? i want to remake this!!
Hi Jasmin! Yayyyy so glad you enjoyed the taste 🙂
Regarding the cookie dough: did you measure using cups or weight? I prefer using a kitchen scale because it’s more accurate than measuring by volume. If you use cups, I recommend spooning the flour in gently, then leveling it with a knife or spatula. If you scoop directly from the bag, it can compact the flour, leading to extra flour being added on accident!
This recipe is so easy to make, and was a hit with all of my friends and family! I followed one of the other comments and rolled the dough in sugar + lemon zest and it was the best addition. I’m a huge Earl Grey fan and loved how you could taste it in every bite. I’m going to be making these often now that I’ve found the perfect recipe!
Hi Kristy!! YAY, SOO glad to hear the recipe was loved. I appreciate it you for trying it out and leaving this kind review!
Could the dough be refrigerated overnight or is that not recommended?
Hi Ben! Thanks for your comment. You can totally chill the dough overnight and up to 2 days. 🙂
A little tip, I like to scoop the fresh cookie dough into balls and line them up really close together on a parchment-lined small tray or plate. I refrigerate the entire plate or tray. Then when it’s time to bake, I just break off the cookie dough balls, roll in sugar, and bake.
I like doing this since scooping cold dough can be a little hard on the hands/wrists.
I just added all of this info to the blog post, thanks again!
Honestly never heard of this cookie before, so was intrigued. I was in search a bergamot sugar cookies and settled with yours since I’d have to buy additional ingredients.
These turned out so surprisingly delightful. Flat, chewy and intriguing. Thank you for your post. I’ll be making these again!
Hi Ron! So glad you stumbled across the recipe and enjoyed it. 🙂 Thank you so much for your comment. Happy baking!
these were the best earl grey cookies ever,i’ve been looking for a great recipe and now i found one thanks so much!!!!!!
Hi Lynda!! Thank you sooo much, that means the world to me. I am obsessed with these cookies too, haha. Happy baking!!!