😍❤️🎁 Chai Snickerdoodle Cookies feature everything you love about classic snickerdoodle cookies, but with the added bonus of chai spices! They’re soft, pillowy, and the cinnamon-sugar coating makes them irresistible!
Why You’ll Love These Chewy Chai Spice Snickerdoodle Cookies
I love snickerdoodle anything. I’ve made various cookies, bars, blondies, breads, and cakes with snickerdoodle flavors. I also adore chai spices and decided that chai snickerdoodles had to happen.
- The chai spice cookies are easy to make and are slightly chewy around the edges with soft, pillowy centers. The chai spices give the cookies so much depth of flavor. Cozy, comfort-food cookies that warm you up inside.
- Snickerdoodles are a perfect cookie to chai-i-fy. They already have a cinnamon-sugar coating and the soft, buttery dough soaks up the warming notes of the chai spices beautifully.
- To make sure the cookies are packed with robust chai flavor, I used Winter Spice Chai Tea from Teabox in the dough. Teabox has hundreds of varieties of tea on their website, the quality is top-notch, and their prices and shipping times are great. Substitute any chai tea you like best.
Love snickerdoodles?
Add my snickerdoodle poke cake, snickerdoodle bread, cream cheese snickerdoodle bars, and snickerdoodle bundt cake to your baking list, too!
What’s in the Chai Cookies?
To make this dessert, you’ll need:
- Unsalted butter – Substitute plant-based butter if preferred
- Sugar – I use both granulated sugar and light brown sugar to sweeten the cookies, giving them structure while keeping them soft and moist
- Egg – Don’t use egg substitutes
- Vanilla extract
- All-purpose flour – I haven’t tested it, but imagine these cookies would work with gluten-free flour as long as you use a 1:1 all-purpose gluten-free flour
- Chai tea leaves – Any brand will work
- Spices -Cinnamon, cardamom, ground ginger, ground cloves, salt. Substitute a chai spice mix if you can find it. I like the bolder flavor all the spices add in both the dough and the coating, but you can always dial the spices down if you prefer things a bit milder
- Cream of tartar – Cream of tartar (sold in the baking or spice aisle) is a leavener that gives the cookies lift, lightness, provides the classic snickerdoodle flavor, and is key in this recipe
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Chai Snickerdoodle Cookies
If you’ve made classic snickerdoodles before, then you can definitely handle this chai spice cookies recipe!
- Cream together the butter and sugars.
- Mix the dry ingredients and the (many) spices with the wet ingredients until you have a smooth, pliable dough.
- Scoop or roll the dough into balls and chill on large baking sheets for at LEAST 3 hours before baking.
- Just before baking the cookie dough balls, roll them in a spiced sugar mixture. I add teh mixture to a shallow bowl, and roll dough balls one at a time. I find it’s the easiest way.
- Bake until the bottom of the cookies are set and the tops of the cookies are just set. Be careful not to overbake! Cool on the baking sheet, no need for a cooling rack.
Chai Snickerdoodle Cookies
Equipment
- 1 Stand Mixer Fitted with a Paddle Attachment
Ingredients
Dough
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons chai tea leaves, pulsed in food processor until finely ground
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¾ teaspoon cardamom
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
- ¼ teaspoon salt, optional and to taste
For Rolling
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon cardamom
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
Instructions
- Dough – To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or large mixing bowl and electric mixer) combine the butter, sugars, and beat on medium-high speed until creamed and well combined, about 3 minutes.
- Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the egg, vanilla, and beat on medium-high speed until well combined, light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the add the flour, chai tea, cinnamon, cardamom, baking soda, ginger, cloves, cream of tartar, optional salt, and beat on low speed until just combined, about 1 minute.
- Using a medium 2-inch cookie scoop or your hands, form approximately 12 equal-sized mounds of dough (2 heaping tablespoons each), roll into balls, and flatten about halfway.
- Place mounds on a large plate or tray, cover with plasticwrap, and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, up to 5 days. Do not bake with unchilled dough because cookies will bake thinner, flatter, and be more prone to spreading.
- Preheat oven to 350F, line a baking sheet with a Silpat or spray with cooking spray.
- For Rolling – In a small bowl, combine sugar, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, cloves, and stir to combine.
- Dredge each mound of dough through cinnamon-sugar.
- Place dough mounds on baking sheet, spaced at least 2 inches apart (I bake 8 cookies per sheet) and bake for about 9 minutes, or until edges have set and tops are just set, even if slightly undercooked in the center; don’t overbake for soft, pillowy cookies. Cookies firm up as they cool.
- Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for about 10 minutes before serving. I let them cool on the baking sheet and don’t use a rack.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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The link to chai tea is not particularly helpful because the Winter Chai tea no longer listed.
What are you substituting?
I haven’t made these cookies in years. You can use your favorite chai tea from a tea shop, the grocery store, or online.