Melt in your mouth Chai Cookies are full of cozy winter flavors! They are so soft they practically melt in your mouth. The cookie is loaded with cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, allspice, and a dash of black pepper. It comes together easily and is bound to become your new favorite cookie.
Inspired by my favorite tea, Chai Cookies come together in a snap! They are melt in your mouth tender and insanely delicious!
Tender, buttery cookies filled with loads of chai spices. You get hints of warm cinnamon, cozy cardamom, spicy ginger, allspice, and just a minute essence of black pepper.
Incredible! It’s the best way to describe them.
They are soft and pillowy like these banana nut bread cookies and these Meyer lemon cookies.
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If you plan to share these cookies with your family and friends, I can guarantee they will be gobbled up within seconds. You may decide to keep them all for yourself and that’s okay because they will stay soft and fresh for up to 1 week!
This recipe was inspired by my favorite tea. I love to sip on chai tea with a splash of heavy cream. It’s absolutely wonderful on a cold winter morning.
It really is the best combination of cozy spices and will warm you from the inside out. It’s better than coffee, and I love my coffee!
The dough for today’s chai cookies comes together easily. It does need to chill for two hours before baking. Because of this, I like to make the dough the night before and bake the cookies first thing in the morning.
When making the dough, start with room temperature ingredients. Beat the butter and sugar together just until combined. Don’t mix until it’s light and fluffy. There’s no need for excessive amounts of air in the batter.
The cookies get their soft pillowy texture from cream of tartar. Don’t leave it out! If you omit it, the cookies will be crisp and chewy, much like these butterscotch toffee cookies.
When it comes time to roll the dough into balls, roll them a tad bit taller instead of an even round ball. They won’t spread as much and will come out thicker.
When the cookies first come out of the oven, they may look like little puffy domes but as they cool, they’ll flatten out a bit.
Wait for them to cool and enjoy!
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Chai Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 and 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon allspice
- 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Beat the butter and sugar together in a large bowl using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or a hand-held mixer on low speed just until combined. Beat in the egg and vanilla just until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, cream of tartar, baking soda, ginger, cardamom, salt, allspice, and black pepper; stir with a whisk. Add all of the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat on low speed just until incorporated. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 48 hours.
- Heat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Scoop 1 and 1/2 to 2 tablespoons of dough and roll into balls. Roll the balls slightly taller instead of perfectly round. Place the dough balls 2 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets.
- Bake for 8-9 minutes or until lightly golden around the edges. The cookies will appear underdone and very soft. Cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Make ahead tip
- The cookies will keep for up to 1 week stored in an airtight container at room temperature.
- The dough can be rolled into balls and frozen for up to 3 months.
Papa Merit says
These are the cookies that you dream of. So unique but yet familiar. I started with 1 batch to try them out and immediately had to make another double batch. The pretty time consuming cookies at the family Christmas luncheon were left and these magically disappeared!
My ever so slight twist was to brown the butter to a golden amber and then to bring it back to a solid. I also added the zest of a small clementine. Either way there delicious!
Jen Sobjack says
Thanks for sharing! I love the addition of brown butter and citrus zest. I can’t wait to give it a try!!
a says
what if i dont have cream of tatar? i hope i can just leaave it out!
Jen Sobjack says
Yes, you can omit it if you don’t want to use it. That should be okay.
@_eyecandyphotos says
I want to try this recipe, they look Fantastic! I’m not a fan of pepper so is it key to have the 1/8 tsp of black pepper or could I leave it out? What taste does it give?
Jen Sobjack says
The pepper is such a tiny amount, you can barely tell it’s there. But, it gives a nice subtle hint of spice. You can leave it out if you don’t want to use it.
Louise Forman says
Loved these! But I think you need to use less dough for each ball/cookie to avoid them running into each other. I only got 24 cookies by following your recommendation. Next time I’ll try 2 teaspoons, not 2 tablespoons.
Jen Sobjack says
If you roll the dough balls slightly taller instead of perfectly round, they won’t spread as much. Also, chilling the dough prevents excess spreading. The instructions also state to roll 1 1/2 tablespoons to 2 tablespoons. 1 1/2 tablespoons will yield you 30 cookies.
Sarah @Whole and Heavenly Oven says
I’m SUCK a sucker for chai-flavored anything and these cookies look unbelievably amazing, Jen! So wishing I had a few of these for breakfast right now!!