All the spicy and wonderful tastes of chai tea in a cookie recipe that is perfect for the holidays. Chai spiced cookies and a cup of tea!
We are swinging right into the heart of Christmas cookie season, and one of the many many varieties that will be filling up the cookie jar in our house will be these sweet and spicy chai spice cookies.
Just like chai tea, when you take that first bite it will taste just like a wonderful, familiar sugar cookie.
But a few seconds later, you will get a teeny pop of heat – those are the mixture of spices that mixed together make up chai. And if you think chai tea is delicious, wait until you taste it in a cookie!
There is something about that blend of cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and, yes, pepper, that just tastes like heaven.
I have no idea what took me so long to figure out that what worked in tea could work in a cookie, but better late than never, right?
Oh, and speaking of Christmas, if you have been following along with my Carolina Christmas Tree Saga (wherein I purchase a tree that is WAY too small even for our cozy Casita, and then my friend Brandy sends me a link to a Christmas tree that is perfect)…that new tree has arrived!
Here it is next to the original…
…and I am beyond happy with how it looks with the precious snowflake and star ornaments my mama has given us throughout the years…
…and don’t worry about that first sweet little tree – it is now shining away on our front porch and looking very merry.
And so my tree adventure comes to a happy ending – all I need are some sweet little chai spiced cookies to eat next to it!
This is a basic sugar cookie recipe but with all those chai spices mixed in. You are going to be tempted to leave out the white pepper but I’m begging you…don’t! It’s totally, absolutely necessary to the whole chai taste. Trust me.
One last thing about this recipe…I actually worked it up in the summertime, because that was when my chai cookie lightbulb went off in my head, and once they came out as deliciously as I hoped they would, I brought some over to my mama.
She took a bite of one and said, “These taste like Christmas!” And you know what? They do!
So just in time for Christmas, here are some chai spiced cookies from me to you.
Love, Kate
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Chai Spiced Cookies
Prep Time: 1 hour 15 minutes (includes chilling time)- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
- Yield: About 48 cookies 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
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All the spicy and wonderful tastes of chai tea in a cookie recipe that is perfect for the holidays. Chai spiced cookies and a cup of tea!
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 3/4 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup of butter, room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup sugar for dusting
Instructions
- Mix together cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, pepper and salt until well combined. Set aside.
- Sift together flour, cream of tartar and baking soda. Stir in spice mixture until well combined.
- Cream butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar in a mixer at high speed for 3 minutes. Reduce speed and add eggs and vanilla. Add flour mixture in large spoonfuls until well combined.
- Put mixing bowl in the refrigerator until dough is chilled, about 90 minutes (although it can be longer if you want to make the cookies later in the day).
- When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350. Scoop out tablespoons of dough, roll them between your palms into balls, dust them with sugar and put them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking sheet. Press them down with the bottom of a juice glass.
- Bake for about 7 minutes or until they are just turning golden. Cool on racks.
Notes
Need to add something to your kitchen equipment to make this recipe? Below are some of the items we used in the Framed Cooks kitchen to help cook this up. These are affiliate links to things we use and love, which helps to pay for all that bacon I keep buying!
Updated (and made even more delicious!) from a previously published Framed Cooks post!
We decided to purchase an artificial tree this year after many years of having a live tree. We ordered ours from Balsam Hill and I couldn’t be happier with it! It’s a fairly good sized tree, so fluffing it took a bit of work, but not having to string the lights was so worth it! Your Balsam Hill tree is beautiful and perfect for your casita! Merry Christmas Kate!
Thanks Kelly – I love that we are both celebrating new trees this year! I hope you and your families have the merriest of Christmases too! :)
Mmmmmmm! Love some chai. And I am on the look-out for tasty little gems that will travel well. I’m putting together a box of treats to go to my daughter and son-in-law in CA. They are both in the Navy and are not able to travel at this time. :( So I’m sending a bit of homemade love their way. These will be a great addition! And by the way…new tree looks fab!
Ahh – I can only imagine how much you must miss them, but they will love that box of homemade love. And thanks on the tree – I am SO happy with it! :)