On the eighth day of Christmas, ¯¯ my true love gave to me ¯ … Green Tea and Rose Spritz.

In my search for wonderful flavor combinations, I developed a green tea and jasmine gelato this past summer and was knocked out by the gorgeous color and subtle, evocative flavor. I stumbled upon a reference to Matcha Green Tea Powder in one of the cooking mags and that sent me in hot pursuit of this interesting ingredient. I found it in a local Asian food emporium, in the tea aisle, naturally enough. A small packet of the magic green stuff set me back quite a bit (four ounces will cost you about $10.00) but as I was to find out, a little goes a long way.

That first batch of green tea gelato had WAY TOO MUCH matcha in it for anyone’s liking. I learned my lesson and used only a small amount of this intensely flavored powder in these elegant, crisp, and melt-in-your mouth cookies. I love the hint of rose petal here, but you can omit it or use jasmine instead if you like.

Green Tea and Rose Spritz

This elegant, distinctive pale green cookie has a fabulous texture and evocative flavor.

4 cups King Arthur unbleached, all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

2 cups unsalted butter, cool room temperature (15 minutes out of the refrigerator)

2½ cups powdered sugar

1½ teaspoons powdered Japanese green tea (also calld matcha)

¾ teaspoon rose extract

2 large egg yolks, lightly beaten (1/4 cup)

Optional Decoration

colored sanding sugar or sprinkles

silver luster or edible glitter

1 egg white, lightly beaten

1. In a medium mixing bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together. Reserve.

2. Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and powdered sugar together thoroughly, about 3 minutes. Blend in the matcha and rose extract.

3. Add the egg yolks and continue beating until creamy.

4. Add the flour mixture and mix very briefly, only until incorporated.

5. Put the dough into a cookie press and force the cookies out onto a parchment paper-covered baking sheet.

6. If desired, either sprinkle with sanding sugar, or brush first with a little beaten egg white and then sprinkle with sanding sugar. The latter method adds a shine to the top of the cookies and dissolves the sugar just a bit, which is a nice effect.

7. Bake on the middle rack of a 375° oven until set but not brown on top, about 10 minutes. The cookies should just be starting to color on the bottom. Remove from the oven and cool on wire racks.

8. After cooling completely, store in air-tight cookie tins, with rounds of wax paper between layers, in a cool location. These cookies keep for weeks and actually improve with age.

Makes about 9 dozen small cookies.

Come Back for More

Here is the LunaCafe Christmas 2008 Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies initial post and game plan with links to the following twelve cookies. Links can also be found in the right sidebar.

On the 1^st day of Christmas: Lily’s Swedish Vanilla Spritz

On the 2^nd day of Christmas: Orange Vanilla Sugar Cookies

On the 3^rd day of Christmas: Decidedly Lemon Teacakes

On the 4^th day of Christmas: Once in a Chocolate-Spice Moon Cookies

On the 5^th day of Christmas: Peppermint Stick Shortbread

On the 6^th day of Christmas: Lemon-Lime Clove Sugar Cookies

On the 7^th day of Christmas: Toasted Almond Black Cherry Shortbread

On the 8^th day of Christmas: Green Tea and Rose Spritz

On the 9^th day of Christmas: Almond Butter Poinsettia Cookies

On the 10^th day of Christmas: Lemon Orange Pecan Thumbprints

On the 11^th day of Christmas: Candy Cane Butter Cookies

On the 12^th day of Christmas: Ellen’s Swedish Pepparkakor

…

On the first day of Christmas, ¯¯ my true love gave to me ¯ Lily’s Swedish Vanilla Spritz.

I had long been searching for the perfect, tender, melt-in-the-mouth pressed cookie recipe when I encountered this one in the home of my Finnish mother-in-law, Ellen Hill Bradley. Ellen got it from her English mother-in-law, Lily Hawkinson Bradley—a lady of some distinction in the culinary arts. Where Lily got it, only heaven knows, but perhaps it was from a Swedish friend, as the Swedish reference has traveled with the recipe for many decades.

It’s as close to perfection as you will get—rich, buttery, and utterly delicious. Ellen, ever gracious and elegant, served these to afternoon guests alongside an antique silver teapot filled with freshly steeped Darjeeling. In memory of this real-life angel, who graced our lives with laughter, joy, and generosity, this is still the way I like them best.

This year for these cookies, I was inspired by the beautiful Christmas tree pictured below and chose silver, chartreuse, teal, ice, and sparkle as the color theme for the cookies and the gift packaging. It’s always fun to start with a visual idea or point of reference.

Lily’s Swedish Vanilla Spritz

This recipe corresponds to what in France is called a sable. Notice that there are no leaveners or egg whites. The addition of egg whites to this same formula produces a less tender cookie, although still delicious.

Spritz are one of the few Christmas cookie doughs that do not require chilling before forming. The dough must be very soft and at room temperature in order to easily force it through the cookie press. However, even though spritz are rather quick to produce, they are always better (rounder flavor, better texture) after several days or even weeks of proper storage. So do plan on making them well in advance of when you plan to serve them.

3 cups King Arthur’s unbleached, all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon fine sea salt

1½ cups fresh unsalted butter, cool room temperature (15 minutes out of the refrigerator)

1 cup superfine sugar

2 large eggyolks, cool room temperature, lightly beaten

1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise, seeds scraped and reserved

Optional Decoration

colored sanding sugar or sprinkles

silver luster or edible glitter

1 egg white, lightly beaten

1.In a medium mixing bowl, sift the flour and salt together. Reserve.

2.Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar together thoroughly, about 3 minutes, until lightened in  color.

3.Add the egg yolks and vanilla bean seeds, and continue beating until creamy.

4.Add the flour mixture and mix very briefly in short bursts, only until incorporated.

5.Put the dough into a cookie press and force the cookies out onto a parchment paper-covered baking sheet.

6.If desired, either sprinkle with sanding sugar, or brush first with a little beaten egg white, and then sprinkle with sanding sugar. The latter method adds a shine to the top of the cookies and dissolves the sugar just a bit, which is a nice effect.

7.Bake on the middle rack of a 400° oven until set but not brown, about 9-10 minutes. The cookies should just be starting to color on the bottom. Remove from the oven and cool on wire racks.

8.After cooling completely, store in air-tight cookie tins, with rounds of wax paper between layers, in a cool location. These cookies keep for weeks and actually improve with age. they may also be frozen for several weeks at least.

Makes about 9 dozen small cookies.

Flavor Options

·Instead of vanilla bean seeds, add finely grated zest of 1 large lemon, lime, or orange along with a few drops of corresponding lemon, lime, or orange oil to the butter and sugar while creaming.

·Instead of vanilla bean seeds, add 1 tablespoon espresso power dissolved in 1 tablespoon of boiling water and cooled, along with 2 teaspoon vanilla extract to the creamed butter and sugar.

Decorative Options

·Add a few drops of food coloring to the butter and sugar while creaming.

·Shape the dough into a 2-inch diameter log on a long sheet of plastic wrap, enclose in the wrap, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. When the log is firm, remove the plastic wrap and roll the log in colored sprinkles or finely chopped almonds, hazelnuts, pecans, or walnuts. Cut scant ¼-inch disks and bake as directed above.

Come Back for More

Here is the LunaCafe Christmas 2008 Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies extravaganza. Beginning on December 1^st, I will post daily until we complete the list on December 12^th. If you bake along, one cookie a day, you will have a wonderful selection of holiday cookies to share with family and friends, with time to spare.

On the 1^st day of Christmas: Lily’s Swedish Vanilla Spritz

On the 2^nd day of Christmas: Orange Vanilla Sugar Cookies

On the 3^rd day of Christmas: Triple Lemon Teacakes

On the 4^th day of Christmas: Once in a Chocolate-Spice Moon Cookies

On the 5^th day of Christmas: Peppermint Stick Shortbread

On the 6^th day of Christmas: Lemon-Lime Clove Sugar Cookies

On the 7^th day of Christmas: Almond Black Cherry Shortbread

On the 8^th day of Christmas: Green Tea and Rose Spritz

On the 9^th day of Christmas: Almond Butter Poinsettia Cookies

On the 10^th day of Christmas: Lemon OrangePecan Thumbprints

On the 11^th day of Christmas: Candy Cane Butter Cookies

On the 12^th day of Christmas: Ellen’s Swedish Pepparkakor

…