Simply put, I made the most amazing chai snickerdoodles today! I had been wanting to make something chai inspired for sometime now, and I thought I could make the been-there-done-that garden variety snickerdoodle into something fun! So I got out a basic snickerdoodle recipe and knew what spices I would need to add to make it taste like a chai latte in a cookie and got to work.
I have seen other recipes for chai cookies that seem to be missing quite a few spices that would make it distinctly chai tasting so I began looking at all the different chai teas I could find, combing through their ingredients so I would know exactly what spices I shouldn’t forget to put in these cookies.
Putting together the chai sugar was easy and right then, I knew these cookies would turn out right. The aroma from the fresh ground spices smelled like a chai latte come to life in my little Magic Bullet cup! The first tray out of the oven screamed to be eaten – and since I wanted to gauge the spice blend against a chai tea, I prepared a cup of my favorite chai blend by Tazo Tea and would you know it tasted exactly the same? My mouth couldn’t tell the difference between the tea and the cookie, it was that good. A friend of mine that is a chai tea lover would swoon over these cookies so I grabbed a couple dozen and stuck them in a baggie (she would be pretty disappointed to have less than a dozen (or two) to eat…, put Mei in the car and headed over to deliver these little gems!
She could smell them from outside of the bag, and pounced on the cookies like a cat with a new catnip toy, and the first bite confirmed my suspicions… these cookies were amazing! The lingering taste and smell of the chai after each cookie was devoured left you wanting more of another cookie – paired with a glass of milk, hot or cold, it is the perfect snack!
Ingredients:
- 2 C sugar
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp ground cardamom
- 1/2 tsp ground allspice
- 1 tsp ground cloves
- 1 star anise pod, ground
- 1 C butter softened
- 2 large eggs
- 1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2-3/4 C all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp cream of tartar
- 1 tsp baking soda
Preheat the oven to 350F/180C, line baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, combine the sugar and spices and remove 1/2C of this mixture and reserve it.
Add the butter and cream to the main sugar mixture and cream together until fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time and then the vanilla until it is all well incorporated.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, cream of tartar and baking soda. Add this to the sugar mixture and stir until it is fully incorporated.
Shape the dough into 1″ balls and roll in the reserved spice mixture. Or plop scoops onto the parchment lined baking sheets with a tablespoon and generously sprinkle the tops of each mound with the spice mixture.
Bake for 12 minutes or until the edges are slightly browned. Cool for at least 5 minutes on the baking sheet then transfer to a wire cooling rack.