Russian Mint Tea Food

PRYANIKI - RUSSIAN HONEY SPICE COOKIES

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan, dissolve the instant coffee in the water.
• Add the butter, sugar and honey to the dissolved coffee in the saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil on medium heat and cook, stirring, just until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves and the mixture is homogenous. Take off the heat, pour it into a large bowl. and cool for about 10-15 minutes.
• Add all the spices - vanilla, allspice, nutmeg and anise. You can also add cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, cloves, mint extract, etc.
• Whisk in the eggs, the baking soda dissolved in vinegar and baking powder. You will notice that the mixture will fizz a little when it's all mixed up.
• Add the flour and mix with a large wooden spoon until all the flour is incorporated.
• Cover the cookie dough with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and set aside at room temperature for at least 4 hours or overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Shape the cookie dough into approximately 1 Tablespoon balls and place them on the prepared baking sheet, leaving some room around each cookie, since they will expand while baking. I use a 1 Tablespoon measuring scoop to get the cookie dough out of the bowl and then roll it around in my hands. This will make sure that all the cookies are the same size and will bake evenly.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes. Do not over bake, or the cookies will be too hard.
• Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and the milk to make a glaze. You can flavor the glaze by adding some kind of extract to it, like vanilla, mint, almond, etc.
• Dip the cooled cookies into the glaze, letting the excess run off. Set the glazed cookies on a rack or parchment paper to dry. When the glaze is dry, you can flip the cookies over and glaze the other side as well. When glazing the cookies, work fast, since the glaze will be harder to work with when it starts to dry up. You can add a tiny splash more of milk to thin it out if it hardens.
• Store the cookies at room temperature in a sealed container.

PEPPERMINT WHITE RUSSIAN

Steps:

• For each drink, combine 1 ounce each vodka and coffee liqueur and 3/4 ounce peppermint schnapps in a short glass; fill with ice. Pour in 1 ounce cold heavy cream. Serve with a peppermint stick.

REAL CITRUS SPICED RUSSIAN TEA (VIDEO)

Steps:

• In a pot, combine the water, oranges, lemons, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and sugar and bring to a boil. Boil for about 5 minutes and remove from heat.
• Add the tea bags into the mixture and allow to steep covered for about 5 minutes. Remove the fruit, spices and tea bags (without squeezing out the bitter tannins out of the bag).
• Taste and adjust sugar to taste. Serve immediately, reheat if necessary.

FRESH MINT TEA

Steps:

• Take a few leaves of the mint in one hand and sharply clap your other hand on top, then drop the leaves into a teapot or cafetiere. Repeat with the rest of the mint, saving a few small sprigs for each glass as a garnish.
• Fill up the pot with boiling water and let it infuse for 2-3 mins or until the liquid starts to take on a slight pale yellow/green hue. Strain the tea into cups or heatproof glasses and sweeten with honey to taste. Drop the reserved mint into the cups to decorate if you like.

RUSSIAN TEA COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, cream butter and 1/2 cup powdered sugar until smooth. Add almond and vanilla extracts. Slowly add flour and salt to butter mixture, and mix until incorporated. Mix in pecans and walnuts.
• Use a cookie scooper to scoop the dough and then roll into balls (or use your hands to form 1" balls). Bake for 10-12 minutes. (These cookies barely brown, so if they don't look done, it's okay!).
• Roll in powdered sugar while still warm, and roll again when cool.

PEPPERMINT TEA CAKES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 400°F.
• In bowl of a food processor, place peppermint candies; cover and process until very finely crushed. In large bowl mix cookie mix, flour, melted butter and egg with spoon until soft dough forms. Stir in 1/4 cup crushed candies. Press firmly to shape dough into 56 (1 inch) balls. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet.
• Bake 5 to 7 minutes or until set but not brown. Cool 2 minutes on cookie sheet. Remove to cooling rack. In small bowl place powdered sugar. In another small bowl, place remaining crushed candies. Roll each warm cookie in powdered sugar, then crushed candies. Place on cooling rack. Cool completely; at least 20 minutes. Store in airtight container at room temperature.

GRANDMA'S RUSSIAN TEA

Steps:

• Steep tea bags in boiling water until the tea is of desired strength, 4 to 5 minutes. Remove and discard tea bags.
• Combine 1 1/2 quarts water, cloves, and cinnamon together in a large pot; bring to a boil. Stir brewed tea, pineapple juice, sugar, orange juice concentrate, lemonade concentrate, and allspice into the boiling water to dissolve the sugar. Serve immediately or reduce heat to low and keep at a simmer until ready to serve.

RUSSIAN TEA

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine instant tea powder, orange drink mix, lemonade powder, sugar, cinnamon and cloves. Mix thoroughly. Store in a sealed jar.
• To use, mix 3 to 4 tablespoons of mix with 1 cup hot or cold water. Adjust to taste.

RUSSIAN MINT TEA

Steps:

• Tie tea leaves, cherries & mint leaves into a muslin or cheesecloth bag.
• Bring 2 qts water to a brisk boil then add tea bag.
• Remove from heat & allow to steep for 20 minutes
• Serve and add sugar or honey as desired.