You’ll never need a brew with your biccy again thanks to a new range of Ripon-made shortbreads that come complete with a cup of tea.

Family-run SK Biscuits is bringing a whole new meaning to the idea of ‘taking tea’ with hand-rolled shortbreads that combine tea oils and loose leaf tea in the bake.

Already famous for its elegant oatcakes, luxurious cookies and shortbreads, made to 150-year-old recipes, SK Biscuits has teamed up with Sheffield’s award-winning Birdhouse Tea Company to create three shortbreads inspired by its teas.

During the creaming stage when the caster sugar and butter are combined, SK Biscuits’ White Chocolate & Lemon Shortbread is imbued with Bergamot oil, used in Birdhouse’s Earl Grey-style blend, the All Butter Shortbread is given a hint of English Breakfast Tea, and the St Wilfrid’s Apple & Cinnamon Shortbread has a dash of the Birdhouse Tea Company’s Chai Spice.

Biscuit makers Robin and Nicky Jaques were keen to work with mum and daughter team Julie and Becky English at Birdhouse because of their award-winning, top quality loose-leaf teas, many of which are hand blended in Yorkshire.

Nicky said: “Who needs a drink when you’ve got your tea in the biscuit. It’s been a pleasure to work with an independent tea company such as Birdhouse, who are as passionate about their products as we are. Loose leaf tea, and tea in general, is such an exciting area at the moment and we’re so glad to be part of it.”

Award winning duo Robin and Nicky Jaques bring 30 years’ experience in the food industry to bear on their biscuits, employing painstaking methods of hand rolling to give their shortbread fingers their signature crispy edges and soft insides.

 Becky English from the Birdhouse Tea Company, whose unique collaborations have included tea beer and tea Easter eggs since the business started trading 18 months ago, said: “Tea and biscuits are an all-time classic and we knew if we combined them with a really good quality, Yorkshire-made biscuit they’d be even better. We’ve proved loose leaf tea can be enjoyed inside and outside the cup not just trapped inside a teabag!”

The Birdhouse Tea Company-inspired shortbreads will be available at farmers’ markets across Yorkshire, online at www.sawleykitchen.co.uk or www.birdhouseteacompany.com, and at the Birdhouse Tea Company shop in Nether Edge, Sheffield.

The biscuits will be launched by The Birdhouse Tea Company on 1 July at their pop-up ‘Tea and Treats’ shop in the Winter Gardens, in the centre of Sheffield.

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