tea – Wait…are those…cookies?!

February 20, 2021

Panna cotta Saturday

Hi blog friends!

Feels strange to be putting out a blog post on a ‘normal’ weekend when my friends in Texas and family/friends in the PNW have been pretty hammered this week, but I’m going to do my best to create a peaceful little corner of the internet, in case anyone needs a mental break for a minute.

Today I have a rooibos and chai panna cotta for you! It’s sitting in an almond cornmeal crust that has a sneaky layer of dark chocolate hiding between the panna cotta and the crust – a nice little texture contrast you weren’t expecting. The flavors are subtle and delicate – if you love tea, this is absolutely for you. It’s also gluten, dairy and refined sugar free! Easy vegan & grain free swaps listed in the recipe notes, as well.

I drink Numi’s rooibos chai every night – not a sponsored post at all, I just totally love it! It’s caffeine free so perfect for evening. I used it here to infuse coconut milk – the panna cotta itself is made with tea two ways (cold tea to bloom the gelatin + steeped coconut milk.)

Highly recommend for dessert, breakfast, snacks, and anything in between.

what things really look like around here

In other news, the tulip trees are going bananas all over the city; I took a very cold & windy swim this morning at 830, and I have a new wetsuit, courtesy of the fave human. Yay!

Also, the skies have been amaaaazing lately.

please ignore crookedness of this image…. was too lazy to fix it. It’s saturday.

I hope the weekend is treating you well – and that it’s warming up for those who got hit with the gnarly cold last week. Happy Saturday!

Rooibos Chai Panna Cotta with an Almond Crust

A panna cotta tart with subtle chai flavors and a hint of chocolate in an almond crust. Gluten free, refined sugar free, dairy free, paleo. If you need a vegan version, feel free to set the panna cotta with agar, instead of gelatin. For grain free, sub in an extra 1/2 c almond flour for the cornmeal. A Wait are those Cookies original. Yield: 1 9″ panna cotta, serves several.

For the crust:

1.5 c almond flour
1/3 c unsweetened shredded coconut
1/3 c cornmeal
heaping 1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
2 tbsp pure maple syrup
6 tbsp coconut oil, melted
1/3 c dark chocolate chips

In a large bowl, stir together almond flour, shredded coconut, cornmeal, sea salt, and baking soda. Add in vanilla, almond extract, maple, and melted coconut oil, and stir until completely combined. The dough will look crumbly, but you’ll be able to press it together with your fingers.

Preheat the oven to 350, and lightly grease a 9″ tart pan (w/ removable bottom) with coconut oil. Press the crust into the plate and up the sides with a spoon or your fingers, creating a smooth edge (or not, your call!). Poke the bottom with a fork a few times, and bake for 15 minutes. Remove and let cool for a few minutes.

Melt the chocolate chips in a double boiler or in the microwave. Spread the melted chocolate over the interior of the crust, and let cool until set. You can also pop the whole thing in the fridge to help it set faster, if needed.

For the Panna Cotta:

1 package unflavored powdered gelatin
1 can full-fat coconut milk
3 bags of rooibos chai (I used Numi; regular chai would be great too)
1 tbsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp maple
pinch of sea salt
1/4 c brewed rooibos chai (or reg. chai), cold
shredded coconut and crystalized ginger for topping

Pour the coconut milk into a small saucepan and add the bags of rooibos chai tea. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, cover and let steep for 15 minutes.

In a small bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over 1/4 cup of the cold tea. Let stand without stirring until the gelatin is moistened, about 10 minutes.

Remove the tea bags from the coconut milk. Whisk in maple, vanilla and sea salt, and bring the milk back up to a simmer. Remove from heat and whisk in the gelatin mixture. Whisk until completely dissolved, about 3 minutes. Cool until lukewarm. Pour the panna cotta mixture into the cooled tart shell. Place in the refrigerator until set, approximately 4 hours or preferably overnight.

Top with whatever pretty things your heart desires! I used shredded coconut and crystalized ginger, finely chopped. Store in the fridge until serving. Leftovers keep well up to two days in the fridge, covered.

May 27, 2019August 5, 2019

A match-a made in heaven

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Tea! I love green things.

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This tart technically has *two* teas in it – or rather one tea and one herb that is dried to make a tisane. New info to me, but apparently steeped herbs, flowers, spices or fruit is actually considered a tisane, not tea (‘tea’ proper refers to leaves from the Camellia Sinensis plant, ie black tea). Tisane translates to ‘herbal infusion’ in French. Yay for trivia! But still – delicious either way.

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Both flavor are earthy, grassy and so fresh – they just go wonderfully together. Lightly sweet as all my stuff is – this works extremely well with ice cream for dessert, or by itself for a fun breakfast.

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Busy busy lately… I have one piece of news I can share publicly now – I have a new job! I will be starting June 10, but first flying to Dallas for onboarding and training. My official start in the SF office will be that Friday. YAY! I’m equal parts excited and terrified. I’ll be working as the marketing coordinator for a big architectural firm – they’re based out of Houston originally but I’ll be the marketing person for SF. Wheeee!

That being said, desserts might take a slight hiatus for a few weeks, since I already know the next two weekends are going to be insanity. Hopefully I can squeeze something in, but no promises!

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I know there’s been a huge run of panna cotta tarts lately over here, but we both love them and they’re so convenient to make ahead when I’m working! Also, I’ve had my eye on this flavor combination for AGES so I was jonesing to make it before I didn’t have time to bake properly for awhile.

I hope you have a great holiday weekend!

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Matcha & Verbena Panna Cotta Tart

Earthy, grassy, and delicious. This is a sure bet for anyone who loves tea – since both matcha and verbena are such great fresh flavors, they go really well together. Lightly sweet, as always – great for dessert with ice cream or a special breakfast. Gluten free, dairy free & refined sugar free. Yield: 1 9″ tart, serves several. A Wait are Those Cookies original!

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For the crust:

In a large bowl, stir together almond flour, shredded coconut, cornmeal, sea salt, and baking soda. Add in vanilla, maple, and melted coconut oil, and stir until completely combined. The dough will look crumbly, but you’ll be able to press it together with your fingers.
Preheat the oven to 350, and lightly grease a 9″ tart pan (w/ removable bottom) with coconut oil. Press the crust into the plate and up the sides with a spoon or your fingers, creating a smooth edge (or not, your call!). Poke the bottom with a fork a few times, and bake for 15 minutes. Remove and let cool for a few minutes.

Panna Cotta:
1 package unflavored powdered gelatin
1.75 cup full-fat coconut milk
1/4 c dried lemon verbena
1.5 tbsp vanilla bean paste
Scant 1/4 cup maple
Scant 1/4 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp matcha powder
1/4 c lemon verbena tea, cold*

*I use loose leaf dried verbena; I steep a small handful in 10oz of freshly boiling water for ~5min to make tea

Pour the coconut milk into a small saucepan. Add lemon verbena, maple, and salt. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring consistently. Remove from the heat and cover to steep for 15 minutes.

In a small bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over 1/4 cup of the cold lemon verbena tea. Let stand without stirring until the gelatin is moistened, about 10 minutes.

Strain the verbena out of the coconut mixture. Pour it back into the saucepan and add matcha (blend if necessary with an immersion blender if you have a few matcha blobs), then bring it back to a simmer. Remove from heat, and whisk in the gelatin mixture. Stir until completely dissolved, about 3 minutes. Cool until lukewarm. Pour the panna cotta mixture into the cooled tart shell. Place in the refrigerator until set, approximately 4 hours.

Store in the fridge – keeps well overnight for breakfast the next morning :)

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January 13, 2014January 13, 2014

Happy Monday! You know you want cookies…

Random thought of the day: I’m currently watching a very acrobatic squirrel do some amazing things on the eaves outside of my house. Go squirrel!! Show Monday whatcha got.

I showed Monday, that’s right: I’m post-Jazzercize! I maybe love it. A LOT. I really can’t think of a better way to start a Monday. Besides, my skin is sooooo dry, and getting my sweat on/fogging up the windows in the studio seemed like a fab idea. I feel better now, thank you…

And these!! I made them to fill a post-yoga void in my stomach (funny how those always occur when I do mid-morning yoga). I loooove tea… as anyone who hangs out with me regularly knows… who else carries two bags of assorted and miscellaneous tea bags in their purse?! Right. I do. Just in case. You never know when you’re going to want tea.

But then!!! You can put tea in COOKIES! Who knew?! That’s like two of my favorite things all smooshed up into one big ball of awesome. Or a little ball, as the case may be, but whatever. Beside the point. Smoosh that [variegated size] ball of awesome into a flatish thing, dollop a bit of naturally-sweetened jam in the middle, and you got yourself a winner! Tea. Tea in my cookies. Tea cookies with my tea. Yummm. Can’t go wrong (Unless you’re a coffee fan, in which case I apologize and will get back to you with some coffee type cookies if you ask me nicely).

Happy Monday! Get your sweat on and then go eat some cookies, I promise it will make Monday better.

Earl Grey Thumbprints with Wildberry Jam

I made a little teeny batch that was actually supposed to be bigger: I got six adorable cookies out of mine, which were adorable but I wanted more. I’ll post the bigger batch here, which would yield 12. The recipe is lightly adapted from 5’oclock A Tea Bag, here! Could probably be easily gluten free, though mine weren’t. They are free of refined sugar, however.

6 tbsp butter (I used salted)
8 tsp coconut sugar
3/4 c + 4 tsp whole wheat pastry flour
6.5 tbsp almond flour
4 tsp Earl Grey tea leaves (mine was decaffeinated; this would be about 4 tea bags)
large pinch of salt
enough jam to dollop each cookie (I used apple juice sweetened wild berry)

Cream together butter and coconut sugar until fluffy. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, almond flour, tea leaves, and salt. Combine wet and dry ingredients, stirring until just combined. Refrigerate dough for about a half an hour.

Preheat oven to 350. Roll the dough into smallish balls, flatten each one, and with a thumb make an indentation in the top. Dollop your jam into the imprint, then place on a cookie sheet. Repeat until all cookies are done… then pop into the oven and bake for about 12 minutes! They should be lightly golden brown.
Enjoy them with tea! Obviously…