London Fog Cookies
These perfectly soft and chewy London fog cookies are incredibly easy to make and have the best pillowy, melt in your mouth texture. They have super chewy, buttery, sweet centers and tender edges, and are bursting with Earl Grey and lavender flavor. A generous spread of silky lavender cream cheese frosting is the finishing touch. They’re the perfect treat to enjoy with a cup of tea!
Why You’ll Love These London Fog Cookies
- Soft, melt in your mouth texture– They’re fluffy, buttery, tender and chewy all at the same time.
- Lots of Earl Grey & lavender flavor- The sugar cookie dough is flavored with ground Earl Grey tea, then rolled in lavender sugar before baking to give the cookies the perfect London fog flavor.
- Equal parts butter and sugar– 1 cup of butter, 1 cup of sugar is the key to the cookies perfect texture. The butter and sugar are creamed together really well, and the egg is beat into the butter and sugar until very fluffy to help the cookies get a little lift, making them pillowy and perfect.
- Thick and pillowy– I hate a flat sugar cookie, so I wanted to make sure these were anything but. They’re extra thick, like little pillows of tender, soft cookie heaven.
- Lavender vanilla bean cream cheese frosting- Adding a bit of finely ground lavender and vanilla bean paste to the cream cheese frosting adds a finishing sweet note. It’s silky, fluffy and complements the cookies perfectly. (I also added a bit of natural food coloring to the frosting to give it a pretty lavender hue.)
For the full recipe, including measurements, step by step instructions, and bake time, please see the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is just a brief overview!
London Fog Cookies FAQs
Nope! Simply make the dough, scoop, roll the balls in sugar and bake! (I Actually think the cookies are best when baked straight away.)
If you need to make the dough in advance and bake the next day, you of course can. For the best results I would just recommend letting the dough return to room temperature before attempting to scoop and bake!
Store in an airtight container or Ziploc baggie for about 3 days for best taste. As they sit they somehow become softer. They go from super chewy right after baking to super soft the more days that go by!
Yes. Store in a Ziploc baggie and freeze for up to a month.
I have been on my own gluten free journey lately and have found that most of my recipes turn out great GF- Hooray! There is a caveat though, I can only say the recipe will come out good with Bobs Red Mill 1 to 1 gluten free baking flour. This is not sponsored, but my true opinion. This is the only gluten free flour I use as it bakes most similarly to regular, all-purpose flour.
Tips for baking perfectly chewy London Fog cookies
Very softened butter. You’ll want to make sure your butter is super soft. As in, you should be able to press your finger into it very easily. This will make it easier to cream together with the sugar and help give the cookies the best texture.
Measure your flour properly. This is always my #1 baking tip. Do not ever scoop a measuring cup into your flour. This will always lead to using too much flour. Instead, sprinkle spoonfuls of flour into your measuring cup and swipe excess flour off with the back of a knife. Or better yet, weigh your flour with a kitchen scale. 1 cup of flour equals 125 grams.
Beat the egg and vanilla thoroughly. Make sure to beat your egg and vanilla into the butter and sugar until the mixture is pale in color and very fluffy, not just until it’s combined. This helps to give the cookies their pillowy texture.
When the cookies are straight out of the oven, scoot a large circular cookie cutter around them to give them a perfect circular shape! Because we’ll be rolling them into balls and shaping before baking, the cookies should be pretty round after baking, but to make them extra perfect use this trick! ?
A note on lavender, Earl Grey & vanilla bean paste– While I used loose leaf Earl Grey, you can of course use tea bags and cut them to remove the tea leaves. (Three tea bags should be around the equivalent of 3 tablespoons of loose leaf tea.) Because vanilla is such a prominent flavor component in a London fog, I chose to use vanilla bean paste for this recipe as it has a stronger vanilla flavor than vanilla extract, but vanilla extract will work similarly in the recipe. I really recommend using dried lavender for this recipe, opposed to lavender extract, to ensure a strong lavender flavor. I think a lavender extract could easily get covered up by the strong flavor of Earl Grey tea, whereas real lavender buds compliment the flavor profiles of the tea.
If you make these cookies please leave a star review! Also, tag me on Instagram @inbloombakery_ so I can see your creation! Follow me on Pinterest for other dessert ideas!
Other Recipes to Try
London Fog Cookies
Ingredients
For the Earl Grey Cookies
- 3 tbsp (12 g) Earl Grey tea
- 2 3/4 cups (344 g) all purpose flour, spooned and leveled (please see notes)
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated white sugar
- 1 cup (227 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 egg, at room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla bean paste
For the Lavender Sugar
- 1/2 cup (100 g) granulated white sugar
- 1/2 tbsp culinary lavender
For the Lavender Cream Cheese Frosting
- 4 oz (113 g) cream cheese
- 1/4 cup (56 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup (130 g) powdered sugar
- 1/2 tbsp culinary lavender
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
- purple food coloring (optional)
Instructions
For the Lavender Sugar
- Add the lavender to a food processor and pulse until finely ground. Pass through a sieve to separate any large bits. Set aside half for later use in the frosting.1/2 tbsp culinary lavender, 1/2 tbsp culinary lavender
- Mix the remaining lavender and sugar together in a medium bowl. Set aside.1/2 cup (100 g) granulated white sugar
For the Earl Grey Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Add the Earl Grey tea to a food processor and pulse until finely ground. Pass through a sieve to separate any large bits.3 tbsp (12 g) Earl Grey tea
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and ground Earl Grey tea. Set aside.2 3/4 cups (344 g) all purpose flour, spooned and leveled (please see notes), 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt
- Add the sugar and softened butter to a bowl. Cream together with an electric mixer on high speed for 1-2 minutes until very light and fluffy.1 cup (200 g) granulated white sugar, 1 cup (227 g) unsalted butter, softened
- Add in the egg and vanilla and mix on medium speed until pale in color and very fluffy, about 1-2 minutes.1 egg, at room temperature, 2 tsp vanilla bean paste
- Add in the dry ingredients. Mix on low speed just until combined.
- Scoop the dough with a 2 tbsp cookie scoop, and roll them into balls. Then roll the dough balls in the lavender sugar.
- Place the cookie dough balls at least 2 inches apart on the baking sheets. Slightly flatten each ball and form into a circle as best as you can.(See photo in the blog post above.)Bake 6-8 cookies at a time.
- Bake the cookies for 9-10 minutes, then let them cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes.(When the cookies are straight out of the oven, scoot a large circular cookie cutter around them to give them a perfect circular shape.)
- Transfer the baked cookies to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
For the Lavender Cream Cheese Frosting
- Make the lavender frosting while the cookies bake and cool.Add the softened butter and cream cheese to a medium bowl. Mix together with an electric mixer until fluffy, 3-4 minutes.4 oz (113 g) cream cheese, 1/4 cup (56 g) unsalted butter, softened
- Then mix in the powdered sugar, the reserved portion of finely ground lavender and vanilla bean paste. Mix until very fluffy. (Add purple food coloring if you want it to have a lavender color.)1 cup (130 g) powdered sugar, 1 tsp vanilla bean paste, purple food coloring (optional)
- When the cookies are completely cooled, top each with about 1 tbsp of frosting. Use a mini offset spatula to evenly spread the frosting. Then enjoy!
As a london fog log lover, these cookies were truly delightful! Not overwhelmingly sweet and beautiful flavor
So unique and delicious! Recipe was easy to follow and worth the effort. Was a huge crowd pleaser at a dinner party I made them for.
Delicious!! I made the gluten free version and they were excellent!
this was the best recipe I’ve ever made. the amount of comments I got on the recipe makes this my top recipe! I agree there are alot of steps within this recipe but it is 100% worth it. I’ve already made this recipe twice in the span of a week! love this recipe and I will continue making it!
One of the best cookies I’ve ever made!
These are the most amazing cookies I have ever made! So unique and delicious
So amazing!! The cookie texture was perfect! I couldn’t find lavender but the earl gray and vanilla flavors alone were delicious!!
I seriously don’t know how you keep outdoing yourself with every recipe, I’ve been baking random recipes of yours since I found your page from the crème brûlée cookies. These are so good, I love London fog I did not know how it would transfer to a cookie but you nailed it. They’re soft perfectly sweet, as a white woman would say they’re dangerous. Idk how you do it but I will keep making your recipes until I memorize each one.
Even though these cookies taste good. They are SOooooo SWEET!!!
Almost sicking sweet!
They look like a mess in the oven, like you’re not going to be able to pick it up and eat it.
So if you like super sweet cookies, this recipe is for you.
I made them for a Tea Party. We will be drinking Earl Grey Tea so that’s why this sounded perfect for me.
I’m sure there will be guest that like sweet. Just not for me.
These were amazing! A lot of steps but turned out great – a very balanced cookie that I foresee myself making again and again!
Feels like eating a scone a bit – it’s yummy not super sweet
Going to try an make these next week.
Delicious! I ended up not making the icing because I was in a hurry but they worked out great even without icing!
Very tasty and popular among friends and family. I did have to add another egg because it was really crumbly after everything combined, similar to pie crust. I wish there was a better description for cookie size (like 1” thick) before it bakes. I also used my spatula to flatten the top a bit in the last 3 minutes of it baking which worked really well for frosting placement. Thanks!
This recipe was amazing! I was worried that the cookies would not have a strong “earl grey” flavor however they have a very strong earl grey flavor and are truly delicious!
I made these today and they are DELICIOUS! my cookies didn’t puff up like those pictured but they’re slightly chewy and still soft. The frosting is amazing. I used some purple sweet potato powder for a light purple color. I will definitely be making these again! Thanks for this wonderful recipe.
I am allergic to Lavender but the earl grey sounds nice. Will they taste ok to leave out the Lavender or any suggestion for a change? No rose either 🙂 Thank you. they do look delicious.
Since I haven’t tried making it without lavender I can’t guarantee how they would turn out. You would be able to make the cookie and then skip the rolling in lavender sugar and make the frosting without, but like I said I haven’t tried that. 🙂
Could i add a bit more icing sugar and stiffen the icing up so its pipeable to make flower designs? Thanks
My new favorite cookie!!! Love the hints of lavender, the soft centers and the cream cheese frosting!! 😋