CHAI TEA SMORES
They look delicious with the melted drippy chocolate and marshmallows, but honestly - the cookie by itself is what’s stopping me in my tracks. A chai tea graham-cracker. Simple enough, I suppose - but man, one of these would sure hit the spot about right now. This one from Design*Sponge looks so yummy.
Makes 8–10 crackers, depending on desired size, and 4–5 s’mores
Ingredients
1/4 cup & two teaspoons loose-leaf masala chai tea
(black tea blended with ginger, clove, cardamom, cinnamon)
2.5 cups plus 2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
7 tablespoons unsalted butter (cut into small squares and frozen)
1/3 cup honey (wildflower adds a rich flavor)
5 tablespoons whole milk
2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
(Adapted from Nancy Silverton’s Pastries via 101cookbooks.com)
Preparation
1. Add 5 tablespoons of whole milk to a small saucepan. Heat on medium-high until steaming. Remove from heat. Add two teaspoons of loose-leaf masala chai tea to the infuser and steep in milk for 6 minutes. Remove infuser. Let cool to room temperature.
2. Whisk chai tea-infused milk, pure vanilla extract and honey in a small bowl. Combine the remaining 1/4 cup of the dry loose-leaf masala chai tea leaves, flour, brown sugar, baking soda and salt in a bowl.
3. Mix with a handheld mixer or food processor. Add in pieces of chilled butter and stir/pulse to incorporate.
4. Pour in wet ingredients and mix until dough starts to come together. The dark brown dough should be soft and speckled with bits of black tea leaves and masala chai spices.
5. Sprinkle counter with flour and work the dough into a rectangle about 1/2 inch thick. Cover in plastic and chill in the refrigerator overnight or for at least 2 hours.
6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Dust the counter and rolling pin with flour, and roll out the dough into a large rectangle about 1/8 of an inch thick (keep in mind that the dough will rise and you want to be able to bite through the s’more).
7. Cut out 8 to 10 4-inch by 4-inch squares of dough (wrap and chill scraps for a second small batch of tiny crackers for tea). Using a spatula, gently remove each dough square from the counter and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Pop the sheet into freezer for 10 minutes to quickly chill until firm.
8. Remove crackers from freezer and, using a toothpick, draw a line down the center of each cracker and prick a few dotted rows to create an authentic graham cracker appearance. (Note: Don’t break through the dough.) Bake for 20 minutes until firm and slightly brown (rotate sheet at 10 minutes for even baking). Let cool before assembling s’mores.
