Sweet Treats with Fall Teas

Now that the heat of Summer has fled turn up your oven and enjoy these recipes using “Fall” teas.  There’s nothing like a hot cup of tea and a tasty treat to keep you cozy inside when it’s chilly outside!

Chai Pumpkin Bread

Enjoy teatime with the Fall tastes of pumpkin and spices. Delicious!
1 cup canola oil
2 2/3 cup white sugar
4 eggs
15oz can pumpkin puree
2/3 cup water
2 tsp Chai Black Tea (You can also use Herbal Chai Masala blend or any of our spiced teas)
3 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
½ tsp baking powder
2 tsp. baking soda
1 ½ tsp salt
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 ½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350. Grease 2 9×5 loaf pans.

Boil the water and pour over the chai tea. Steep for 3 minutes and then strain and cool.

In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, sugar, eggs, pumpkin puree and brewed tea.

Add the flour, powder, soda, salt, nutmeg and vanilla and stir until just blended. Stir in the walnuts and chocolate chips and pour the batter into the prepared pans. Bake for 60-75 minutes until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and cool on a rack.

Cozy Comfort Banana Nut Bread

A delicious tea bread made with tea! Nothing says cozy more than this tea and the aroma of baking sweet breads. This bread is lovely and even lovelier when enjoyed with a cup of Simpson & Vail’s Cozy Comfort tea!

1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup (4 oz) Cozy Comfort tea butter*
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
2 eggs
1/3 cup honey
1 1/4 cup mashed ripe bananas (3-4 medium)
1 cup walnuts, chopped

*Cozy Comfort Tea Butter
5 oz butter
2 tsp Cozy Comfort tea

Melt the butter in a saucepan on the stove over medium heat. Add the Cozy Comfort tea and let steep for 10 minutes. Strain out the tea and measure the tea butter to make sure there is 4oz. Chill until slightly solid.

Grease and flour a 9x5x3″ loaf pan (I used small mini loaf pans). Preheat the oven to 350.

In a mixing bowl beat the butter and brown sugar until combined then add the eggs. When blended, add in the honey and mix.

In a separate bowl combine the flours, powder, soda and salt.

Alternate the mashed banana and flour mixture into the egg/sugar/butter mixture. Stir the walnuts in to the batter and pour into the prepared pan.

Bake for 45 minutes until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

Winter Wonderland Coffeecake

1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup canola oil
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
2 tsp Winter Wonderland, herbal tisane

Streusel Mixture:
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 1/2 tsp cinnamon
3 Tbsp butter, melted
4 Tbsp flour

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 and grease an 8″ square pan.

In a small saucepan heat the milk and the Winter Wonderland until hot (but not boiling). Cover, remove from heat and steep for 5 minutes. Strain out the herbal blend and set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Mix the canola oil into the flour and sugar mixture until it is like cornmeal in texture.

In another bowl, combine the egg, tea infused milk and vanilla extract.

Add to the flour mixture and stir only enough to mix, do not over blend.

In a small bowl combine the streusel ingredients.

Pour 1/2 of the mixture into the baking pan and sprinkle ½ of the streusel mix over the batter. Add the remaining batter on top, and sprinkle with the other 1/2 of the streusel mix.

Bake for 35 minutes until a knife inserted in the cake comes out clean.

Apple Pie Chai Scones

Ingredients:
10 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp Apple Pie Chai Herbal Tisane

2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup White Whole Wheat Flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup chopped apples
4 Tbsp sugar
½ cup vanilla yogurt
½ cup milk

Drizzle:
½ cup confectioner’s sugar
1 Tbsp cream (or half and half)
½ tsp cinnamon

Directions:
In a small saucepan melt the butter. When melted add the tea, cover, and steep 10 minutes. Strain out the tea into a measuring glass to equal ½ cup of tea infused butter. Freeze.

Preheat the oven to 500°F and lightly grease a baking sheet.

Blend the flours, soda, powder and salt in a large mixing bowl.

Remove the tea butter from the freezer and chop into small pieces. Add to the dry ingredients and mix with your fingers or a fork until the mix is crumbly.

Add the apples, sugar, yogurt and milk and mix for about 30 seconds. It may not look completely blended, but turn it out onto a floured surface and lightly knead a few times until the dough holds together. Split into 2 equal parts.

Pat each dough half into a round circle (6-7″ across), shaping with your hands. Cut the dough into 6 pieces and place on the baking sheet. Reduce the heat to 450°F and bake for approximately 15 minutes, until golden brown.

Remove from the oven and cool on a rack.

Make the Drizzle:

Blend all the drizzle ingredients and pour over cooled scones. Allow to harden for a few minutes then enjoy with your favorite cup of tea!

If there are any leftovers, wrap tightly and keep at room temperature or freeze for future enjoyment!

Makes 12 scones.

Apple Cinnamon Tea Cookies

These cookies are so scrumptious that we ate almost all of them right from the oven!

To add the superb flavor to these cookies, we infused our Apple Cinnamon Coffeecake black dessert tea in butter then strained out the leaves. The butter was left with the most heavenly taste and aroma.

Tea butter:
2 sticks (8oz) butter
8 Tbsp Apple Cinnamon Coffeecake Black tea blend
Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat. Add the tea and steep on low heat for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and steep for 5 minutes. Strain the leaves from the butter using a fine strainer or cheesecloth. Some of the butter clings to the tea leaves, so always make sure to use more butter than a recipe calls for when making infused tea butters. I strained the tea butter into a measuring cup to make sure I had enough for my cookies. Once strained, cool the butter so it solidifies.

Cookies:
3/4 cup (6oz) tea butter, softened
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 egg, plus 1 egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup Apples, chopped small (choose a firm baking apple like granny smith)
Pre-heat the oven to 350 and lightly grease a cookie sheet.

In an electric mixer beat the tea butter and sugars together. Add the eggs and vanilla extract and mix until creamy.

Stir the flour, salt and soda together. Gradually add to the sugar/butter mixture until incorporated.

Fold in the apples.

Roll the dough into 1 1/4″ balls (a rounded teaspoon size) and place on the greased cookie sheet. Bake for 10-13 minutes until golden brown.  Cool on the sheet slightly before moving to a wire rack.

Enjoy all of these treats with your favorite cup of tea!

What tea will you use in your next recipe?