This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our privacy policy.
Chewy Chai Sugar Cookies pack a flavor punch with a blend of chai-inspired spices. If you love chai, these are the cookies for you!
I feel like the older I get, the less interested I am in shopping inside actual stores.
You know with other humans, shopping carts and checkout lines?
Lately, I feel like I’ve been heavily relying on Instacart to do my grocery shopping. And every single time the little popup shows me how many hours I’ve saved by having them do my shopping just keeps me ordering allthethings from the app.
I do actually drive to pick up the groceries as opposed to having them delivered, so there’s that.
Don’t even get me started on Amazon Prime. Let’s just say I’m on a first name basis with pretty much every single delivery driver in my town.
Since we have so many deliveries at this time of year, I love to leave a little box on the porch full of snacks, water and Gatorade for the delivery drivers to enjoy on their route.
While I’d love to say I thought of this, I actually got the idea from Kristen at Dine and Dish about 4 years ago and it’s become one of our favorite holiday traditions.
This year, I’m thinking of packaging up homemade cookies to leave for them as well!
I mean, who wouldn’t love to get Peanut Butter Blossoms, Chocolate Chip Cookies, or these Chai Sugar Cookies during the holidays?
What are chai spices?
Have you ever had chai?
“Chai” literally means “tea” in Hindi. In India, chai isn’t just a type of tea…it is tea!
Here in America, chai refers to a spiced, milky black tea. The spices usually include green cardamom, ginger, cinnamon and black pepper. Sometimes other spices such as cloves or star anise are used as well.
I love chai and like to use chai spices to flavor all sorts of baked goods, such as Maple Chai Cinnamon Rolls, chai spiced granola, and Chai Spiced Candied Nuts.
Pretty much anything that would be good with cinnamon would be good with chai spices. I even have a recipe for Chai Spice Blend that you can mix and keep on hand any time you want to add some chai flavor to your recipes.
Chai-spiced sugar cookies
Since I know that chai spices are a great substitute for cinnamon, I was inspired by snickerdoodle cookies to see what might happen if I flavored a chewy sugar cookie dough with chai spices.
Spoiler: The result was amazing.
Cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, allspice and black pepper combine to create an incredibly aromatic spice blend that transforms a plain, chewy sugar cookie recipe into a complex and comforting cookie.
Bonus? Chai Sugar Cookies pair perfectly with a piping hot cup of tea.
Make a batch of Chai Sugar Cookies, steep a pot of tea, and curl up to watch some Christmas movies with your loved ones.
They would also be a great cookie to take to a holiday cookie exchange! They are the perfect combination of familiar and new, with their chewy texture and spicy flavor.
I think you’re going to love them.
Chai Spiced Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ¾ cups white sugar
- 2 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- ½ teaspoon ground allspice
- ¼ teaspoon finely ground black pepper
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 egg
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.
- In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl combine sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, allspice and black pepper. Remove 1/4 cup of the sugar-spice mixture, set aside to reserve for rolling the cookies.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar-spice mixture until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- Beat in egg and vanilla extract, combine until fully incorporated.
- Slowly blend in dry ingredients mixing until just combined.
- Using a small scoop (2 teaspoons) roll dough into balls and then into the reserved sugar-spice mixture. Place dough balls on prepared baking sheet about 1 1/2 inches apart.
- Bake in preheated oven for 8 to 10 minutes.
- Let stand on baking sheet two minutes before removing to cool on wire racks.
Notes
- Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Hello! Instead of 1 cup butter can I substitute with 1 cup oil? How would that effect the end results?
I have not tried this substitution so I am uncertain as to how using oil will react with the recipe. If you give it a shot, let me know.
-Jamie
@Jamie,
Ran out of butter so substituted vegetable oil for 1/2 cup of the butter. Dough was drier and cookies cracked a little, but flavor wise was great! Thanks for sharing your recipe!
These are delicious! Nice and chewy and a good amount of spice. I made these gluten free with 1 to 1 flour and added about a tablespoon of milk as the dough was a bit dry with the GF flour. They turned out perfectly. Thank you so much for sharing the recipe!
So happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe, Theresa.
The King Arthur Flour Company makes a lovely selection of spice blends, including a Chai Spice that works perfectly in this already fabulous recipe. I used a rounded tablespoon.
I love that spice blend from KAF! Have you ever tried their pizza seasoning? It is sooo soooo good!
-Jamie
Can these be rolled out and cut into shapes with cookie cutters? The only recipes I’ve found for chai spice sugar cookies that CAN be rolled out and cut into shapes, have more of a shortbread consistency which is NOT what I like. I enjoy soft and chewy sugar cookies but I want to have the chai spice as extra flavor than just plain sugar cookies.
Hi April! I would not recommend using this dough as cut-outs. Sorry! If you find a recipe you love, let me know. :)
Do yourself a favor and DOUBLE THE SPICES. Amazing! This recipe works really well.
So glad to hear you enjoyed them, Beth!
I love your recipes! (Just had to get that out of the way.) This season, I’ve been wanting to tweak and experiment and try to come up with a “Vanilla Chai Snickerdoodle” – don’t have a recipe, just want to try it! These cookies, AS IS, are AMAZING. Probably an unfair question, but: (1) what do you think about adding some cream of tartar to *this* recipe, or (2) adding your chai spice blend to my go-to snickerdoodle recipe? (I’d double the vanilla for either option to try and bump up the vanilla flavor.) Thanks in advance for any of your expertise you’re willing to share! Bailey
Hi there! I am so excited to make these with my daughter today for Diwali! Can I use brown sugar instead of white?
These cookies are amazing! I followed the advice in the comments, doubled the spices (I did not double the pepper though), added an extra egg (I used medium eggs). And important to FOLD the dry and wet ingredients! The first time around I got too excited and whisked it in, so the cookies became super cakey! SO FOLD YOUR INGREDIENTS BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE :)
So happy to hear you enjoyed the cookies, Sarah! Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving your feedback!
-Jamie
Somehow I managed to get 51 cookies! They taste great, so this recipe is definitely a keeper! I may experiment with doubling the spices next time. I made these for a tea party where some people don’t like tea, so the spice amount in this case works!
So happy to hear you enjoyed the cookies, Amy! Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving your feedback!
-Jamie
Hi, thank you for sharing the recipe. Could you please let me know if by any chance there is a substitute of eggs?
Hello! I haven’t attempted this recipe without eggs, so I am not sure of the right substitution or result. If you happen to give it a try, I’d love to know how they turned out. Thanks so much for stopping by.
-Jamie