Tea time
Tea Time

These are the best novelty cookies around for dunking into a cuppa and are the ideal addition to the tea table especially for Dementia week which is next week. A packet of these for a gift for someone who you know would appreciate them is so worth the effort.


These cookies are made from shortbread as this is the sturdiest cookie recipe I use and it seems to hold its own when hanging off the side of a hot steaming cup of tea. As long as no chocolate is involved the cookie is great. When dunked in the tea what happens next all depends on the length of time that you dunk the cookie for. I personally am not a dunker but many people are. Alternatives to using a shortbread cookie which I think will work are a ginger cookie. Loads of people love to dunk a ginger snap and I am going to have to try a recipe with this in mind before the end of the week. The tricky part of making these dipping cookies is getting the shape right and then baking them with the arms in the correct position. This involves a lot of foil positioned carefully and fingers crossed they work. Then not damaging them after they are baked is the next important step. I will take some photos as I make some of these cookies at the weekend , just in time for “time for a cuppa” week , a special week to remind people about Dementia and the problems it can cause. I think the idea is to share a cuppa with an older person as one concept is that with Dementia the loneliness and isolation that many sufferers feel is elevated by the lack of contact with the outside world. So make the cookies and visit a lonely neighbour who may be delighted to have the company, make that cuppa and share the cookies over tales from the past and present. Make it a regular thing and feel pride in the fact that you are reaching out to someone who may well appreciate all that you have done for them.

One note of interest, I have my first ranking from Foodies 100, of which I have been a member of for one month and I now have a ranking. I am quite proud of this result and aim to improve upon it with time.

I love reading the news on this site as it has plenty of ideas to help with blogging. There are competitions to enter and some wonderful prizes (mainly food related) which is brilliant.

I would not add any extra ingredients to the shortbread recipe which you can find on my recipe of the week page which is on my website. I am also going to add this recipe to my website and to Yummly as well as on my blog. It is a very basic shortbread recipe using only three ingredients unlike some other shortbread recipes. It does make very good shortbread which I use for many other recipes, including my caramel slice and pinwheel cookies.

[lt_recipe name=”Dipping Cookies” servings=”18″ prep_time=”45M” cook_time=”10M” total_time=”55M” difficulty=”Advanced” print=”yes” summary=”Nutritionally, one cookie contains 192 calories, 11.5g total fat (15% daily total fat), 20.7g total carbohydrate (8% daily total carbohydrate), 0.5g fibre (2% daily fibre) (based on a 2000 caloire diet).” image=”https://www.love-to-bake.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/teacup21-1.jpeg” ingredients=”12oz plain flour;4oz caster sugar;250g butter.;” ]Preheat the oven to gas 4.;Line a baking tray.;Weigh out the ingredients into a bowl.;Rub the butter into the mixture until a dough is formed.;Chill the dough for 30 minutes.;Roll out the dough, cut the cookies, place on a baking tray.;For the one armed cookies twist the arm into the desired position.;For the two armed cookies position foil over the cookie and under the arms.;Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until slightly coloured.;Allow to cool thoroughly on the tray before serving.;[/lt_recipe]