What are your plans for Halloween? It’s another year of candy duty for me. The hubby and I moved to a very family friendly community recently, so I’m not sure if our 3-5 pounder bags of candy are gonna cut it. In an attempt to be healthier, I humored giving out kiddie teas instead of candy, but my hubby warned against it, not wanting our house to get egged.
These Matcha Shortbread Shots set the tone for a festive, peppy Halloween evening. Candy is fun, but nothing beats milk and cookies! These edible cups can easily be filled with sipping matcha, vanilla-infused matcha milk, or my favorite–homemade Pumpkin Milk!
These shot cups are made from a sturdy, simple shortbread recipe–no eggs, no leavening. The putty-like, soft dough is packed into a popover pan where the sides are held up with shaped foil during baking. The foil ensures a uniform center well to make room for the tasty sips to come later.
Painting the insides of the shot cups with chocolate gives you a few more moments to enjoy each bite of cookie. The chocolate layer serves as a fat barrier so that the shortbreads don’t sog up as fast when the liquid hits. Regular melted chocolate, white chocolate, or even matcha-infused chocolate all work great here.
This recipe for Pumpkin Milk is a simple one, made from almond milk, melted pumpkin ice cream, and pumpkin purée. The sip is like a light milkshake, rich and creamy. Best of all, it reminds me of the kind of magical treat you’d find straight out of Harry Potter.
I like that these can be made fancier or more kid-friendly depending on what you fill them with. These are great for parties as you can make the cookie shots way ahead of time, packing them in an airtight container until ready to serve. You can’t go wrong with a generous coating of ceremonial matcha on the shot rims…the extra caffeine boost will get you through the rowdiest of Halloween nights!
The Tea Lover’s Organic Ceremonial Matcha used in this recipe is courtesy of My Matcha Life.
Matcha Shortbread Shots with Pumpkin Milk
Makes 9 cookie shots & 1 quart of milk.
Ingredients:
{Matcha Shortbread Shots}
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp culinary matcha, sifted
1/2 tsp salt
nonstick spray, to grease pan
extra matcha, for rims and sprinkling (I used My Matcha Life’s Organic Ceremonial Matcha)
{Pumpkin Milk}
2 cups almond milk
1 cup pumpkin ice cream, melted
1 1/4 cup pumpkin purée
Equipment:
thin rolling pin, dough tamper, or mini vodka bottle
foil
mixing bowl
stand mixer with paddle attachment
1/4 cup measure
cooling rack
large pitcher
Directions:
1. Make the foil center molds by wrapping long pieces of foil around a thin rolling pin. To prep them as molds, give the cylinder-like molds a light spray of non-stick spray around their outsides.
2. In a mixing bowl, mix together the flour, matcha, and salt. Set aside.
3. In the stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together for a few minutes until light and fluffy. Gradually add the dry ingredients, scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally. Mix everything until just homogenous.
4. Measuring out 1/4 cup portions of the cookie dough, use your fingers to push the cookie dough tightly into the bottom and sides of molds to about a 1/4″ thickness. Use the rolling pin, dough tamper, or mini vodka bottle to help even out the dough on all sides. Be patient and meticulous when filling the dough–it’s important to avoid creating air pockets.
5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Meanwhile, allow the shaped dough cups to chill in the fridge. When the oven comes up to temperature, bake for 18-20 minutes until very lightly browned and hardened.
6. Upon taking them out of the oven, carefully remove the foil center molds, then use the end of the rolling pin/tamper/mini vodka bottle to compact any risen dough back down into the base of the pan. Bake for an additional few minutes to continue to harden. Remove the pan from oven, then set the mold on a cooling rack to cool. Let the cookies sit in the popover mold until cool enough to handle, then ease them out from the molds and onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
7. Make the Pumpkin Milk by thoroughly mixing the milk, melted ice cream, and pumpkin purée in a large pitcher. Pour the prepared Pumpkin Milk (or your drink of choice) into the shortbread shots, then garnish with extra matcha to finish.
