These soft chai spice cookies are like the best snickerdoodles combined with your favorite fall flavors! Homemade chai spice mix makes for a warm and comforting cookie.
Cozy up by the fire with a plate of these cookies and a mug of Homemade Hot Chocolate. These Pumpkin Spice Meringue Cookies would be a delicious addition too!
Table of Contents
Why this Recipe is Best
I’ve been on a bit of a Chai kick lately! My homemade Chai Spice Mix is so easy to add to everything from breads to cookies and even chai latte cupcakes.
- These cookies have everything you love about snickerdoodles but with even more fall spices.
- The crackly sugar spice topping yields to a delightfully soft sugar cookie base.
- You can make the dough ahead of time and keep it in the fridge or freezer until you’re ready to bake!
The flavors are perfectly balanced between sweet spices like cinnamon and the bold taste of ginger and cloves.
These Chai Cookies pair wonderfully with hot tea, apple cider or the warm drink of your choice on a chilly fall day. Be sure to try our pumpkin snickerdoodles next, for another fall treat.
Ingredient Notes
- Cream of Tartar. The cream of tartar adds a subtle tanginess to the cookies and also makes them nice and chewy!
- Chai Spice . This homemade chai has layers of flavor that give warmth and spice to these cookies.
- Butter. In order to have the most control over the salt level, use unsalted butter. If using salted butter, reduce the added kosher salt in the recipe to ¼ teaspoon.
- Sugar. Using both granulated and brown sugar gives you the best of both worlds. Granulated sugar provides structure to the cookie while the brown sugar adds flavor and helps with the chewy texture.
PRO TIP- We love making our own homemade vanilla extract, but if using store bought, be sure it’s pure extract, not imitation (for best flavor).
Easy Instructions
STEP 1. Prepare and chill the dough. Mix together flour, salt, cream or tartar and chai spice in a bowl.
In a larger mixing bowl, cream together the softened butter and sugars. Next, beat in the eggs and homemade vanilla extract.
Gradually incorporate the flour mixture into the bowl with the wet ingredients. Cover and refrigerate the dough for at least 30 minutes.
STEP 2. Add topping
When you’re ready to bake the chai cookies, preheat your oven. Then, mix together granulated sugar and chai spice in a small bowl.
Roll the dough into small balls. Roll each ball in the sugar mixture.
STEP 3. Bake
Place each spice coated cookie on a baking sheet. Bake for 7 to 10 minutes.
Let Chai Cookies cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes. Then, move them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Tips and Tricks
- Be careful not to overmix this cookie dough. If you’re using an electric mixer, switch it to low speed when you add your dry ingredients.
- The cookies should be just beginning to brown on the edges when you remove them from the oven. Do not overbake! They will continue firming up as they cool.
- I like to prepare the dough the night before. Let it chill overnight and you’re ready to bake a fresh batch of chai cookies the next day.
- Love chai? Use the spice mix to whip up a loaf of this delicious Chai Apple Bread! Use the bread in our apple bread pudding! Or bake a batch of easy chai donuts for breakfast.
- Freeze Cookies. Use my tips on how to freeze cookie dough for later.
Recipe FAQs
Store your chai cookies in an airtight container at room temperature, and they will stay soft and fresh for up to 7 days!
Refrigerating cookie dough solidifies the fat and reduces moisture in the dough. This results in a cookie that has more concentrated flavor, less spread, giving you a great tasting cookie with a soft, chewy texture.
Over measuring your flour will result in a cookie that remains in a ball. If measuring with a cup, spoon the flour into to the cup then level it off, instead of scooping your flour. If your baking soda is old then the cookies will spread too much and they will be flat. Chilling the dough is an important step in helping the cookies spread properly.
Baked cookies can be placed in a freezer-safe container and kept in the freezer for up to 2 months. You can also freeze cookie dough balls. Thaw them in the refrigerator, roll in chai sugar, and bake according to recipe instructions.
It is important to remove your cookies from the oven when they are still slightly undercooked, to help them to be soft. Bake until the outside edges have just started to brown and the inside looks slightly wet.
More Easy Cookie Recipes
- 3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies
- Oatmeal Cream Pie
- 7 Layer Bars
- Andes Mint Cookies
- Eggnog Cookies
- Sugar Cookies
- Smores Cookies
Chai Cookies
Ingredients
For the Cookies
- 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 4 teaspoons chai spice
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup light brown sugar packed
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the Topping
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 ½ tablespoons chai spice
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, salt, and chai spice.
- In a separate large bowl, use an electric mixer to cream butter and sugars until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla and beat an additional 1-2 minutes.
- Pour the dry ingredients into the butter mixture and mix on low speed just until the flour is incorporated. Do not overmix.
- Refrigerate the dough for at least 30 minutes, or overnight.
- When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350°F.
- For the topping, mix the granulated sugar and chai spice in a small bowl.
- Scoop the dough into 1 ½ tablespoon scoops and roll each into a ball. Roll the ball in the chai-sugar
mixture. - Arrange about 3-inches apart on a cookie sheet. Bake for 7-10 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies are just starting to turn brown.
- Allow to cool on the cookie sheet for several minutes, then transfer to a wire cooling rack.
Notes
- Chai Spice- use our homemade chai spice mix for baking!
- How do I store the chai cookies? Store your chai cookies in an airtight container at room temperature, and they will stay soft and fresh for up to 7 days!
- Is it necessary to refrigerate the dough? Refrigerating cookie dough solidifies the fat and reduces moisture in the dough. This results in a cookie that has more concentrated flavor, less spread, giving you a great tasting cookie with a soft, chewy texture.
- Why didn’t my cookies spread properly? Over measuring your flour will result in a cookie that remains in a ball. If measuring with a cup, spoon the flour into to the cup then level it off, instead of scooping your flour. If your baking soda is old then the cookies will spread too much and they will be flat. Chilling the dough is an important step in helping the cookies spread properly.
- Can I freeze the cookies? Baked cookies placed in a freezer-safe container and kept in the freezer for up to 2 months. You can also freeze cookie dough balls. Thaw them in the refrigerator, roll in chai sugar, and bake according to recipe instructions.
- Why are my cookies hard? It is important to remove your cookies from the oven when they are still slightly undercooked, to help them to be soft. Bake until the outside edges have just started to brown and the inside looks slightly wet.
Nutrition
Bring comfort and warmth to your kitchen! Aromatic spices, brown sugar and a chewy texture make these Chai Cookies unforgettable!
Amazing! For the white sugar I did half sugar half granulated sweetener and they turned out great 🙂
Ummm. I accidentally added WAY too much chai spice. I confused the measurements for the topping with the one meant to mix into the cookies. Any suggestions on how to fix this?😅h
These are absolutely delicious. Really flavorful and a beautiful texture. I added a bit of allspice to the spice mix and used extra spice mix in the dough but other than that followed the recipe. Will definitely make again and again!
The cookies were not spicy enough for me, while I like the idea of chai spices in a cookie, I think I will stick with snickerdoodles.
I was looking for a chai spiced cookie similar to snickerdoodles and WOW! I’ve only made one batch and I’m freezing 1/3 of them for later. I cannot wait to make these again. This could be a new favorite in our place!
Could I use almond flour and a natural sweetener for the sugar?
These cookies I just made are beyond wonderful and I say that because my husband who is in a big cookie eater just made three trips to get them off of the cooling rack before I could even put them away. Look forward to making many many more batches of this.
These cookies have definitely become a new FAV. So yummy and addicting!
These cookies are a new favorite in our house. They are easy and the flavor is fantastic. Thanks for all the tips too!
I love chai so I knew I had to make these immediately! They are so delicious, thank you!
These are delicious, spicy cookies. Great for this time of year. I did make slight modifications, using one half teaspoon less chai spice to make them more kid friendly, substituting dark brown sugar for the light brown sugar, and as a true southerner, I had to add a half cup of chopped pecans, which were complimentary with the chai spice.