Disclosure: For Mother’s Day as part of a sponsored post for Collective Bias® and Bigelow Tea I made delicious Chai Coconut White Chocolate Biscotti using Bigelow Vanilla Chai tea to celebrate Mother’s Day in a very special way. #AmericasTea
Bigelow tea has always been part of my life. Growing up I always remember my mom drinking tea and I remember the Bigelow loose tea tins where always in our pantry. The aroma of freshly brewed Earl Grey, Darjeeling and English Breakfast takes me right back to my childhood and memories of my mom. I grew up to love tea and drink it all the time: Chai transports me to exotic places with it’s spicy flavor and aroma, Chamomile is perfect to relax after a long day and Constant Comment is great to enjoy when I get a to take a moment to myself. I also like herbal teas, iced or hot depending on the time of the year. I can tell you there is always a wide variety of Bigelow teas at my house.
Bigelow is my favorite brand of tea because with more than 100 varieties of flavored, traditional, green, organic, herbal, decaffeinated and iced teas there are so many varieties and flavor to choose from depending on my mood or the time of year. I love that they have lots of herbal teas and caffeine free black teas so that I can enjoy tea without the caffeine and also share it with my kids. Bigelow is a family owned company that has been around for more than 65 years and they take pride in their heritage and in tradition. For me family, tradition and heritage are so important, specially living in the USA and trying to keep my culture and my traditions alive in my kids, so I can really identify with a company like Bigelow.
So it was really easy and natural for me to make tea a special part of this mother’s day. In my home country, Guatemala, and in most of Latin America Mother’s Day is celebrated on May 10th so on Friday we visited my mother in law and brought her Bigelow tea and flowers we bought at Walmart. You can see more pictures of our shopping trip and my cute little helper in my Google+ Album HERE.
For Mother’s Day we had planned a tea party pick-nick at the beach so on Saturday the kids helped me make White Chocolate Coconut Chai Biscotti, we used fresh coconuts from the palm trees on our front yard and we had a great time cooking together. The whole house was filled with the sweet aroma of coconut and spices. That night, after the kids where asleep I indulged in a warm cup of Bigelow Vanilla Chai latte accompanied by the freshly baked biscotti.
White Chocolate Coconut Chai Biscotti
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- ½ cup 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon coconut extract
- contents of 2 Bigelow vanilla chai tea bags
- ¾ cup unsweetened coconut
- 1 egg white
- 6 ounces white chocolate such as Lindt or Baker's, chopped, or white chocolate chips
Instructions
-
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line heavy large baking sheet with parchment paper. Combine 2 ½ cups flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt and Bigelow chai tea in medium bowl; whisk to blend.
-
Using electric mixer, beat sugar, butter, 2 eggs, vanilla extract and coconut extract in large bowl until well blended.
-
Add coconut and fold in.
-
Mix in flour mixture.
-
Divide dough in half. Using floured hands, shape each piece into shape into 2 9 x 2-inch logs. Transfer both logs to prepared baking sheet, placing them logs 4 inches apart on baking sheet .
-
Whisk egg white in small bowl until foamy; brush egg white on top and sides of each log.
-
Bake logs 30 minutes or until golden brown.
-
Cool completely, wait for about 15 minutes. Leave oven on at 350°F.
-
Transfer logs to cutting board and using serrated knife, cut logs on diagonal into 1/2-inch-wide slices.
-
Arrange slices, cut side down, on same sheet.
-
Bake 8 minutes; turn biscotti over. Bake until just beginning to turn golden, about 5 minutes.
-
Transfer biscotti to cooling rack.
-
Place chocolate in microwave safe bowl. Heat for 90 seconds.
-
Stir and put melted chocolate in plastic bag, cut off a small corner and drizzle melted chocolate over biscotti.
-
Let stand until chocolate sets, about 30 minutes.
On Mother’s Day my husband and the kids made breakfast for me and then we headed to the beach. It was a beautiful and warm day so we made some delicious and refreshing Bigelow Raspberry iced tea. There is a beach just 10 minutes away on the shores of the Caloosahatchee river, the water on the river was so calm early in the morning and we picked a nice table close to the pier.
After swimming and observing the fishermen on the pie we had our pick nick .The White Chocolate Coconut Chai biscotti where a total hit with everyone, they where so easy to make and I enjoyed making them together with my daughter who loves to cook, just like me.
It was such a gorgeous day that we decided to head out to Barefoot beach, about 45 minutes away. We spent all day at the beach, the kids playing in the surf and chasing birds and I had one of the best Mother’s Days ever. We had brought the Bigelow Red Raspberry iced tea along and that kept us refreshed and hydrated. The day was filled with memories, old and new and I loved sharing with my family and passing on to my kids family traditions like my love of tea. For me tea time is about togetherness and about creating memories and building traditions.
My greatest gift was being able to spend all day with my family and feeling so loved and appreciated. I got some great presents but my favorite was the beautiful hand made cards made by my kids. And as the day drew to an end I felt so thankful and so lucky to have such an amazing family.
You can visit the Bigelow tea website to learn more about the company and about the wide variety of teas. Like Bigelow on Facebook and follow Bigelow on Twitter @BigelowTea to stay informed about their products, giveaways and get some great tea recipe ideas too!
Paula studied architecture and now makes a living as a freelance writer,traveler and amateur photographer.She started her writing & publishing career as the editor of Bebé y Mamá, the first parenting magazine in Guatemala.She is the founder of www.GrowingUpBilingual.com and www.365thingsswfl.com and writes articles in Spanish and English for both magazines and the web on travel,food and bicultural and bilingual parenting .
When she is not on a plane or road trip she likes to create recipes inspired in the flavors of her native Guatemala.
- Guatemalan Dulce de Chilacayote Recipe (Crystalized Chilacayote Candy) - February 26, 2024
- Guatemalan Naranjas en Miel Recipe (Candied Oranges Recipe) - February 25, 2024
- Traditional Guatemalan Candy - February 25, 2024
We love tea, and the Raspberry Ice Tea Looks so Good!
Paula, we are of one mind! I took my mom some Bigelow tea for Mother’s Day as well, as she really enjoys hot tea. We got her five or six boxes of Bigelow samplers, including the fruit tea, herbed tea and Earl Grey. I am not a hot tea drinker, but like to brew the Bigelow tea hot, then pour it over ice and add Stevia as the sweetener. The tea also is great for mixing a cocktail – depending on which flavored vodka or flavored silver rum you like. Try it And, I live nowhere near the beach, so thank you for the beach photos.
I really think tea is the perfect gift for Mother’s Day, specially for my mom. I have not tried using tea for cocktails but that sounds like a great idea. I’m glad you enjoyed the beach pics. 🙂
It looks like you had a beautiful Mother’s Day! The biscotti looks delicious and so does that raspberry iced tea!
What lovely photos! I never thought to try baking biscotti at home, thanks for the recipe. We grew up with Bigelow tea also, Earl Grey is still my tried and true!
I had never tried making biscotti before but they where so easy I will be making them again pretty soon.
I really like the pics of that raspberry iced tea. It look SO refreshing
Thanks Starr. The raspberry tea was just the perfect refreshing drink for a beach day.
This looks delicious.
Qué receta tan rica! Todo se ve delicioso y las fotos están lindísimas!
Gracias Natalia!
Beach,Biscotti and Babies- a perfect Mother’s Day!! Loved the post, the info and the flow. Good job Preciosa. Ahora- abakeiar!! ; ) BB2U
You should give them a try, couldn’t believe how easy and fool proof these where. I am usually weary of baking but I will be making these again for sure.
Sounds like you had a great Mother’s Day. I love their tea! Your pictures are beautiful. Great post!
Those biscotti look amazing! I’ve heard of cupcakes being made with Earl Grey (my tea of choice) but never thought of using chai in something. My husband is a HUGE chai fan, so that’s something I might need to make for him. 🙂
They where so easy to make and had just the right amount of spice to make them interesting to the palate and fragrant but still kid friendly. You should try them with Earl Grey too, I’m sure it would work. 🙂
Me encanta que hayas un pasado un dia de la Madre fenomenal! me encantan los tés de frutas
Gracias Lisbith, espero que tu tambien hayas pasado un muy feliz Dia de la Madre.
yummy, yummy oh what a great way to pair the food. Great recipe
Exquisite photos! Great post….I love the taste of this tea! I prefer mine iced cold….Hope you had a great MOther’s Day…the kids are sooo cute!
Thanks Myrah, hope you had a wonderful Mother’s day too. un abrazo
Que bien que la pasaste el Dia de la Madre! Me encantan esas infusiones! Yumm
¡FELIZ DÍA!ॐ
http://mamaholistica.com
Great photography. I can’t wait to try the biscotti and the iced tea. Yum!!
Que manera tan creativa de compartir con nosotras sobre este producto. Las fotografías realmente te invitan a probar el té. Y Feliz Díá de la Madres.
Gracias Teresa y Feliz Dia de las Madres para ti tambien!
Paula, thank you for the biscotti recipe!! i am def going to make them!! a mi esposo y yo nos ENCANTA los biscottis con un cafecito o te! i have made gingerbread ones for christmas before and they were yummY! 😀
My pleasure Nina! Yo no tenia idea que eran tan faciles de hacer, es la primera vez que los hago y estaban deliciosos y tan faciles de hacer.
Este artículo es ideal para mí. Me encanta el té y el biscotti. Tomo té 3 veces al día, me gusta probar diferentes variedades pero el de la noche siempre es el de manzanilla.
Apunto la receta ya!
I need to make these for my mom!
Celebrating Mother’s Day on beach sounds so heavenly! I love that shot of the kids in the background and Bigelow Tea in the front. It sounds like Bigelow has wonderful memories for you with your mom, so what a perfect fit for your day.