Sourdough London Fog Cookies (Earl Grey & Lavender)
A London Fog is a latte for people who find coffee too aggressive before 10 am: Earl Grey steeped in milk, a splash of vanilla, a bit of foam on top. These sourdough London Fog cookies take that same idea and turn it into something you can eat with one hand. Bergamot and lavender up front, a proper chew, and a brown butter and sourdough discard base doing quiet work most Earl Grey bakes skip entirely.
Equipment
- Small saucepan (for browning the butter)
- Instant-read or candy thermometer (optional)
- Balloon Whisk
- Rubber Spatula
- Wire rack
Ingredients
- 75 g unsalted butter
- 1½ teaspoon Earl Grey tea leaves finely ground (about 1-1½ tea bags, torn open — see method for steeped vs dry-mix)
- 70 g granulated sugar
- 70 g light brown sugar packed
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
- 80 g sourdough discard 100% hydration
- 130 g plain flour (all-purpose flour)
- ¼ teaspoon culinary lavender finely ground or very finely chopped
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1½ teaspoon granulated sugar for sprinkling on top
Instructions
- Brown the butter. Melt in a light-coloured pan over medium heat, swirling often. It'll foam, then the foam will subside and you'll see golden-brown flecks form on the base with a nutty smell. Take it off the heat the moment it browns.
- Choose your tea method here. 1. Steeped-in-butter method: Don't add the tea to the butter straight away, it's too hot and will scorch the bergamot oils, which turns them bitter and a bit perfumey instead of fragrant. Let the butter cool until a thermometer reads no higher than 75°C (167°F). If you don't have a thermometer, wait until the sizzling and steaming has properly died down and you could hold your finger near the side of the pan without flinching. Stir in the ground Earl Grey, then let it steep off the heat for 8-10 minutes, stirring once or twice. Don't push past 15 minutes or the tea starts to taste stewed. Strain through a fine sieve if you want clean flecks-free dough (press the leaves gently with a spoon to reclaim the butter clinging to them), or leave the leaves in for a more rustic look and stronger flavour. Let the butter cool to just warm before the next step. 2. Dry-mix method (simpler, method used in the photos shown in this recipe): Skip the steeping. Just let the browned butter cool to just warm, and add the ground tea to the dry ingredients in step 5 instead.
- Cream the cooled brown butter with both sugars for about 2 minutes, until grainy, using an electric mixer.
- Add the egg yolk and vanilla, and whisk for another 2 minutes until slightly thickened.
- Whisk in the sourdough discard gently with a balloon whisk, just enough to combine, no vigorous beating.
- Mix the dry ingredients separately: flour, lavender, baking soda, salt (and the ground Earl Grey here if you went with the dry-mix method).
- Fold the dry ingredients into the wet, mixing only until no streaks of flour remain. Overmixing here is the main way to lose the chew.
- Chill the dough, covered, for at least 4 hours, or overnight. Don't skip this, the dough needs it to firm up and the flavours need the time to settle in.
- Shape into 6 balls, roughly 70-72g each, and space out on a parchment-lined baking tray.
- Sprinkle each ball with a scant ½ teaspoon of granulated sugar (about 1 tablespoon total) just before baking.
- Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 14-16 minutes, until the edges are golden but the centres still look soft and slightly underdone.
- Drop the tray from about 20cm height onto the counter as soon as it comes out of the oven, this is what gives you the crinkled, crackled top.
- Cool on the tray for 10 minutes, then move to a wire rack.
Video
Notes
Lavender is unforgiving if you go over. ¼ teaspoon is the right amount to start with for this batch, don't round up even if it looks small in the spoon; it'll bloom more than you expect once it's baked into the dough. Plus you really don't want it to overshadow the bergamot from Earl Grey.
If you strain the tea leaves out, you'll lose a gram or two of butter in the process, no need to compensate, it won't affect the dough.
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Nutrition
Calories: 285kcalCarbohydrates: 43gProtein: 3gFat: 11gSaturated Fat: 7gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0.4gCholesterol: 59mgSodium: 149mgPotassium: 47mgFiber: 1gSugar: 24gVitamin A: 356IUVitamin C: 0.02mgCalcium: 21mgIron: 1mg
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