Chewy Chai Snickerdoodles.
Are you ready for this?
What if… the current universe was comprised of all chai spiced things instead of pumpkin spiced things?
I could get behind it. I most definitely could.
Which is huge, because I didn’t realize how much I absolutely love chai spiced things until I ate chai spiced snickerdoodles. Very, very good day.
Also, as a sidebar, you need to know that I can’t even say “chai tea” without first calling it “tai chi” because this one time, my mom went on and on and on (and ON) about what a delicious “tai chi latte” she had.
Yep. I seriously wish you could have been there.
Eeeeek. I am so excited to ramble about these cookies today because 1. they taste absolutely FANTASTIC, 2. they are perfect for this season with all their warm flavors and what not and 3. they come from my friend Adrianna’s new book, The Year of Cozy.
The Year of Cozy. Just how… COZY… is that name?! It makes me want to wrap myself up in one of those million dollar blankets from Restoration Hardware and sit by a fire while burning my basic Leaves candle (tell me it isn’t the best) and sipping something hot and chocolatey and spicy.
I met Adrianna years ago and I’ve always admired her authenticity and creativity. She is waaay cooler than me, like if we were 12 years old she’d be the hip friend that I’d want to read YM magazine with and copy her entire closest but fail because I’d use too much neon or glitter. (I want to do both of those things and I’m definitely two times+ the age of 13.)
This is why I love her book so much, because it’s so HER. Guys, this isn’t just a cookbook! It has crafts and seasonal ideas and DIY gifts and stuff. Things that you can do even if you weren’t born with a crafty bone in your body, aside from being able to dump glitter on things. So in short, I can’t stop devouring her book and even better, it’s so PRETTY that it has a permanent space on my desk right this minute.
My desk being the kitchen table, but you know. Details.
The cookies.
The cookies are a downright dream. They are spicy and cinnamony and really, a high class snickerdoodle. A classy snickerdoodle. Definitely not a trashy snickerdoodle. The have a slight crunch on the outside and a soft and chewy inside which is EXACTLY how I like my cookies.
No really, I’m trying to figure out how Adrianna got inside my brain because these cookies speak to me.
And they somehow get even better when dipped in coffee. I still think I’m a coffee gal over a chai tea gal, especially if I can have my chai in my cookies.
I love how this is working out.
Chewy Chai Snickerdoodles
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 2 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and warm
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- topping
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- pinch of cardamom
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, allspice and pepper.
- In the bowl of your electric mixer, add the sugar, cream cheese and butter. Beat until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Beat in the oil until combined. Add the egg, milk and vanilla extract untiled combined and smooth. Add the flour in two additions, scraping down the sides if needed and beating until just combined.
- Mix together the topping ingredients (sugar, cinnamon, cardamom) on/in a large plate or bowl. Take the cookie dough and divide it into 24 equal pieces, rolling each into a smooth ball. Roll each ball in the topping and place it on a baking sheet, keeping the cookies about 2 inches apart. Use the bottom of a drinking glass to gently press the cookie balls into flattened pieces of dough. Sprinkle the tops with any extra cinnamon sugar mixture.
- Bake the cookies for 11 to 12 minutes, turning once during cook time. Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to completely cool before serving.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
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99 Comments on “Chewy Chai Snickerdoodles.”
sigh, these look and sound amazing! I wonder if they would taste as good in gluten free form. I will have to try it and find out!
ooooh let me know! do you use an all-purpose gluten free mix?
These look amazing! Haha, and that’s so funny about “tai chi”! My grandma always pronounces the word thai as thigh and I nave to try so hard not to laugh!
AHH! This is fall, and love all mixed together!! Also, Tai Chi … I die! Such a good recipe, and they obviously have an amazing amount of dunkability … total win!
These doodles look so good! I love the chai flavour!
Im cracking over the tai chi hahah, I think it will now come to my mind everytime I see/think/drink/hear about chai tea stuff. Oh and these cookies. I love them. And I’m also following Adrianna’s blog and I can say you are both cool, each on your own way!
Oh my, those look so darn delicious!!!! I will have to make them too =D Also am totally behind the chai tea instead of pumpkin spice thing!
xoRosie
Rosie’s Life
I would take chai over pumpkin any day!
add me to your list of supporters for this movement! do we need to set up a kickstarter? :)
I wonder if you could use coffee instead of milk for a dirty Chai flavor. I’ve been obsessed with dirty chais lately. Best of both worlds!
uh omg. want it that way immediately.
I am SO making this recipe when my Mom comes for Christmas. My Mom is a huge chai tea drinker and would love these!!
You must try Chai Spiced Cranberry cupcakes. I have made them many times and they are ALWAYS hit even with people who don’t know that they like Chai Tea. Tart and spicy and sweet. Yum! You can find them here: http://kelseysappleaday.blogspot.com/2011/10/cranberry-chai-cupcakes.html
these sound fantastic.
I would be A-Ok with chai taking over pumpkin spice …as a matter of fact, i had my first pumpkin spice latte the other day, and it wasn’t that great – i know – GASP! But these cookies? They look dreamy and absolutely amazing! I just preordered the book and need need NEED to make these!!
i agree, not loving on the PSL this year either!
Best of both worlds in my opinion = Pumpkin Spice Chai Tea Latte. To. Die. For.
I literally cannot wait to get this book!!! And yes, I agree, it all looks so freaking cozy,.
A. Totally making this. ASAP.
B. Trader Joe’s now has Pumpkin Spice Cookie Butter.
have you tried it?? i saw it. it looked very… unappetizing(?) to me? i couldn’t do it! but if i hear it’s delicious, i may try.
Not yet! I’m usually a purist and make my own pumpkin spice for all sorts of applications, so I may be very critical of it…but hey, even if it’s gross on the spoon out of the jar, you can always add it to oatmeal. Oatmeal is the great saver of “eh, could have been better, but I’m not going to waste it” for me.
These look so yummy..do you think adding in choc. chips would be good or would you recommend keeping them as is?
i don’t think i’d add them – they are SO delicious as is!
I’m obsessed with chai, and these look SO good! I know what I’m making this weekend!
I am very pro chai – we need to kick all of the pumpkins out of power! These look freaking amazing. And now I need to go get myself a tai chi latte ;)
Kristina does the Internets
I also think we should kick all of the pumpkins out of power, at least where drinks are concerned. They taste NOTHING like the deliciousness that is actual spiced pumpkin.
HAHA love.
These look amazing! I’m always game for a delicious cookie!
Paige
http://thehappyflammily.com
1. I also could get behind a world of chai-spiced everything. Based on social media, I may be the only person who actually HATES pumpkin spice lattes. But seriously, I hate them. And I love pumpkin!
2. I laughed out loud, quite loudly, at work about your Tai Chi Latte story. Amazing. And now I might call them that just because.
Well now I’m gonna be hummin’ “get ready for this” all day. I guess I will technically be “do-do”-ing it all day, but that sounds…um…not right for a comment.
I simply adore a chewy cookies….these are so soft and wonderful for fall. Like a cozy sweater.
In case you haven’t noticed, there’s a small typo on the ingredient list. I think you meant baking soda, cause I have no idea what baking salt is! Also, I’m totally making these as soon as I get off work. I’ll be sure to tag you on insta!
hahaha thank you, i’m a doofus.
YES. Just, yes. Chai + coffee = love forever and ever.
These look so YUM! Do you think I could swap coconut oil for vegetable oil? My coconut oil is basically always liquid due to living in SoCal and not having AC. :-)
i haven’t ever swapped coconut oil for an existing recipe but i have baked with it. i’m honestly not sure! i want to say yes but… let me know if you try?
I just made these with coconut oil, they are perfect and so delicious. Crunchy and chewy. Loved it!
I totalllyy NEEED these they look SO good! and chewy is perfect, thats my favorite kind of cookie! ;-)
I have to try this recipe, looks so yummy. Thanks for sharing! <3
http://beautyfixations.blogspot.com
These look insanely delicious. I love a cookie that’s chewy in the middle! I love Adrianna’s blog/insta/snapchat so I definitely need to get my hands on that book!
Chai > Pumpkin always and forever! My husband loves snickerdoodles so I can’t wait to make these :)
I made these tonight per the recipe. My dough was really soft and almost hard to form into balls. They baked really flat (we’re still crisp around edges and chewy in the middle though). The last batch I put in the fridge for an hour or so and they rolled much better and baked up much fatter. Either way, they ended up tasting well. I just wondered if the dough was supposed to be refrigerated and I missed it?
I had the same issue tonight with the dough being pretty soft too, and I considered chilling it, but instead my solution was to leave the soft dough as balls and skip the flattening step. They still spread, but don’t get so thin.
Maybe also worth noting: dividing the dough in 24 makes some pretty large cookies. I could easily see this recipe making 36-48 if you went with 1 – inch dough balls instead. Might need more cinnamon sugar to roll in though. Personally, I love the big cookies!
Hi Carolyn, Good call! I made them again over the weekend and I still needed to flatten them a bit so I’m scratching my head a bit but regardless, I’m glad they worked out and you like them! I like big cookies, too.
Hi Kenseh, Sorry the dough gave you a bit of trouble. The dough is definitely supposed to be soft. And the first go around that you describe–flat, crisp around the edges and chewy in the middle–sounds exactly how they’re supposed to bake up!
I had this exact same problem! Even after they chilled for an hour, the dough was still very soft and the cookies were flatter than I would have liked. I’d have chilled them longer, but I had to get going. The flavors were good, though, and I’m guessing if you let the dough chill for ~2 hours, it’d give the spices time to develop more in the dough as well as make the dough firmer for a fluffier cookie.
Idk, pumpkin spice and chai spice are both pretty awesome! But i love this idea of putting chai spices in snickerdoodles, they sound scrumptious :D
The word “chai” means “tea.” So if you call it “chai tea” you are saying “tea tea.” Call it one or the other. If you mean spiced tea, that would be “chai masala.”
I have to agree, masala cookies are much nicer than pumpkin-spiced cookies!
¡Fantástica receta! Fácil de elaborar, con buenas fotografías y un resultado final delicioso. Muchas gracias por compartirlo con todos/as.
/ http://www.mascasaonline.com
i love pumpkin anything, but this looks wonderful too! I am not familiar with the cardamom listed in this recipe so I will have to check that out! Thanks for the recipe~ looks great tasting and easy enough to make!
these picturea re great. Oh my god. You really made me excited for autumn
This may be a silly question… but when you say “turning once during cooking time”, do you mean the trays, or the cookies??
I’m pretty sure I have everything needed for these, so I am going to make these this afternoon. They will be perfect for the grey, cold, rainy day we are having here outside of NYC!
These look delicious, but I wish they didn’t have cream cheese. I like recipes I can just whip up when I’m in the mood, and I don’t keep cream cheese on hand.
Hi Anne, Not sure if you keep creme fraiche in your fridge but another blogger made them with creme fraiche and they turned out great.
These look so very yummy! I love chai! and im making these for sure
Holy shit girl… **just had a foodgasm* that is all!
Completely smitten! Two of my favorite flavors rolled into one, a perfect combination!
Just made these! They are delicious!! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
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I have made a number of recipes from your site and loved them all. I never had a problem with a recipe until now. The dough is so, so soft, I mean like drooping off the spoon, no way to form a ball. But i plopped it into the sugar and then glopped it onto the baking sheet, no expectations at this point. BUT what th…they are fabulous! Crispy and yet chewy, wonderful warm chai flavor with a tiny bite of the pepper. I am in love with these. I put some of the dough in the refrigerator and that definitely helps. I don’t know why they turn out so great even when gloopy but I’m extremely happy with these and I’m making more!
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Made these last night and brought for the office today and they were a HUGE hit! People even took some home to share with their partners/families!! The only thing that confused me was dividing the dough into 24 equal pieces. Instead, I just measured out rounded tablespoons and rolled those up into balls. That made perfect sized cookies, but I ended up with about 38 of them, not 24 (which was great for me!!).
Thanks for posting!
I’m looking for a new recipe for these – I’ve never tried it with cream cheese before! These sound amazing! For those of you that have made it, do you feel like it tastes “chai” enough, and not just like cinnamon with a hint of something more? I felt like I had to adjust the last recipe I had SO MUCH to get it to taste like more than only cinnamon.
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