When good cookies go bad!

Has this ever happened to you? You make a cookie dough, roll it into a log and then chill it the way you are supposed to, only to take it out later and try and slice the cookies and the dough falls apart? This happened to me the morning my mother-in-law was supposed to be coming over for tea. Thankfully I had made a batch of mocha cookies the day before just to cover my butt!

I was using Five Ingredient Fix’s Earl Grey Shortbread Cookies recipe which I thought was a great choice considering how much Lorraine and I love tea but I must have added too much flour to the cookie dough which made it too dry. I did not have time to experiment in the kitchen that morning but the next day I decided instead of throwing out the dough to add an egg yolk to the batter and whiz it up in the food processor again. If you want strength and stability, you would add an egg white. For tenderness, you add a yolk. I tested out the dough by squeezing it in my hand to see if it would stick together and it did! I thought to myself, this just might work.

I chilled the dough like before and this time they managed to stick together as I sliced them.

You lose some of that pure, white porcelain look to them because the yolk makes them more golden brown but who cares? They were delicious and yes, you could taste the Earl Grey in them! I used tea leaves from my double bergamot Earl Grey tea and they were lovely.

So elegant and yes, perfect with a cup of tea. One day soon, Lorraine is going to love these!