These are the best chai cookies! They are super chewy cookies, made with warm fall spices and brown butter, and rolled in spiced sugar. They're the perfect cookie for fall and the Christmas holiday season!
If you're looking for other fall desserts, try my chewy pumpkin cookies, pumpkin cheesecake, apple cider cupcakes, apple pie cheesecake, maple pecan sticky buns or pumpkin cheesecake cookies!
Why You'll Love These Chai Cookies
They have the best texture- These are chewy cookies! Each cookie has a soft center and crispy edges.
They are made with brown butter- This easy extra step takes the flavor of these cookies from good to amazing.
They have the perfect amount of spice- The dough is flavored with cinnamon, cardamon, nutmeg and other spices, then rolled in spiced sugar before baking. They're like snickerdoodle cookies but way better!
Simple Ingredients for Chai Sugar Cookies
- Unsalted Butter- will be made into brown butter
- Light Brown Sugar- we're using only brown sugar in the cookie dough to keep these cookies extra chewy
- Egg Yolks- make sure they're room temperature
- Vanilla- as always I recommend vanilla bean paste for the best flavor, but vanilla extract will work perfectly fine as well
- Flour- just the right amount of all purpose flour helps give these cookies their perfect texture
- Ground Spices- cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, allspice, ginger and cloves are used to bring warm fall flavors to these cookies, you can also add a pinch of black pepper if you'd like
- Baking Soda & Baking Powder- equal parts are used to just slightly leaven these cookies
- Salt- brings out all the flavors in these cookies
- Granulated White Sugar- used for the spiced sugar
Step by Step Instructions
Please see the recipe card below for the complete recipe, including measurements and baking time!
STEP ONE: Brown the butter then let it cool completely.
STEP TWO: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, allspice, cloves, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Then set aside the flour mixture.
STEP THREE: In a large bowl whip the cooled brown butter with an electric mixer on high speed until it is fluffy, about 1 minute. Then add in the brown sugar and mix on high speed until creamed together, about 2 minutes. (You can also use the bowl of a stand mixer fit with a paddle attachment.)
STEP FOUR: Add in the egg yolks and vanilla and mix for one minute on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Scrape the sides of the bowl as necessary.
STEP FIVE: Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and combine on low speed.
STEP SIX: Scoop the dough into 22 portions with a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop, then roll into balls. Roll the cookie dough balls in the spiced sugar mixture.
STEP SEVEN: Transfer the cookie dough to a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Bake 8 cookies at a time. Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet, then transfer the baked cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Then serve!
FAQs
Do I have to brown the butter? I've only tested these cookies with brown butter so I'm not sure the ratios would work the same if the butter wasn't browned. But luckily brown butter is super easy to make and adds the best flavor to anything it's in!
How do I make these like Taylor Swift's chai sugar cookies? Make a simple, kind of thick icing with powdered sugar, nutmeg and a little eggnog to put on top of the cookies!
How do I store these cookies? Store the cookies in an airtight container for up to three days, or freeze them for up to two weeks!
Pro Tips
For best results, measure your flour properly. This is always my #1 baking tip. Do not ever scoop a measuring cup into your flour. This will always lead to using too much flour. Instead, sprinkle spoonfuls of flour into your measuring cup and swipe excess flour off with the back of a knife. Or better yet, weigh your flour. 1 cup of flour equals 125 grams.
When the cookies are straight out of the oven, scoot a large round cookie cutter around them to give them a perfect circular shape!
If you make these cookies please, please leave a star rating! Tag me on Instagram @inbloombakery_ and follow me on Pinterest also for other dessert ideas!
Other Recipes to Try
The Best Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
📖 Recipe
Chai Cookies
Ingredients
For the Spiced Sugar
- 6 tablespoon (75 g) granulated white sugar
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ⅛ teaspoon ground allspice
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
- pinch of ground cloves
For the Chai Cookies
- 1 ¼ cups (280 g) unsalted butter
- 2 cups (250 g) all purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1 ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground allspice
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ¼ cups (275 g) light brown sugar
- 4 egg yolks, at room temprature
- 2 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
For the Spiced Sugar
- Add the granulated white sugar, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, nutmeg, cardamom and cloves to a bowl. Whisk to combine.6 tablespoon (75 g) granulated white sugar, ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon ground ginger, ⅛ teaspoon ground allspice, ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom, pinch of ground cloves
For the Chai Cookies
- Add the butter to a pot and heat it over medium heat. Allow the butter to melt and come to a simmer. Simmer until the butter is foamy, giving off a nutty scent and has browned. The whole process should take about 5-8 minutes. Remove the butter from the heat and transfer it to a small bowl. Pop it in the fridge and allow it to cool completely until it is solid but still malleable.1 ¼ cups (280 g) unsalted butter
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, nutmeg, cardamom, cloves, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Then set aside the flour mixture.2 cups (250 g) all purpose flour, spooned and leveled, 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon, 1 ½ teaspoon ground ginger, ½ teaspoon ground allspice, ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg, 1 teaspoon ground cardamom, ¼ teaspoon ground cloves, ½ teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon salt
- In a large bowl whip the cooled brown butter with an electric mixer on high speed until it is fluffy, about 1 minute. Then add in the brown sugar and mix on high speed until creamed together, about 2 minutes. (You can also use the bowl of a stand mixer fit with a paddle attachment.)1 ¼ cups (275 g) light brown sugar
- Add in the egg yolks and vanilla and mix for one minute on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Scrape the sides of the bowl as necessary.4 egg yolks, at room temprature, 2 teaspoon vanilla
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and combine on low speed.
- Scoop the dough into 22 portions with a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop, then roll into balls. Roll the cookie dough balls in the spiced sugar mixture.
- Transfer the cookie dough to a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Bake 8 cookies at a time, for 11- 12 minutes.
- Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet, then transfer the baked cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Then serve!
The taste is definitely five stars. However, my cookies did not flatten out at all, even though I faithfully followed the recipe. Also, my first batch did not cook enough for 12 minutes at 350 so I increased my oven temperature to 380. I measured the dough before rolling and it made over 30 cookies. There was a lot of extra sugar/spice mixed remaining, which I used in my coffee.
can you make the dough ahead and bake the next day?
Hi Spencer! Yes you can! Just let it come to room temperature before baking 🙂
I’ve made these twice as the flavor is delicious however both batches did not spread out at all, giving mule a dense cake like cookie. I altered the flour in the second batch but they turned out the same, any suggestions-the taste is truly amazing. Thank you
Super delicious cookies. The warm spices & browned butter make for the perfect rainy day pick me up. However, mine first batch didn’t spread out at all and needed extra cook time so for the following batches, I smushed them down and cooked for 15 minutes.
These are completely amazing. Would they come out the same if I doubled the recipe?
I'm so glad you like! Yes, doubling the recipe would result in the same cookies!
Very good me and my mom and brother and sister made them with our own special ingredient , cereal
These cookies are delicious! like other reviewers they seemed to take a lot longer to bake and they didn’t spread out. I baked them for about 22 minutes, flattening them with a spatula about halfway through, and they still seemed very raw when I took them out, breaking apart if I tried to pick one up because it was so soft. I left them to cool on the baking sheet for a while and they formed up nicely, still a soft cookie but stable and didn’t fall apart. They have a delicious flavor too! 4/5 stars not for flavor, just because of the baking process being different than the recipe stated. Great recipe and amazing cookies though!
Hi there! The cookies should only require 11-12 minutes. At 22 minutes I would think they would start to burn... If they are not spreading I would wonder if it's because too much flour is being used. Either weigh your flour with a kitchen scale, or use the spoon and level method where you spoon the flour into a measuring cup and swipe the excess with the back of a knife. If you are just scooping a measuring cup into a bag of flour, you are using more flour than the recipe calls for. This would dry out the cookie dough and the cookies would not spread.
They tasted great, and had a very nice, soft texture. However, the first couple I made did not really spread, resulting in slightly underbaked cookies. With the next ones, I pushed them down by hand before they went into the oven, which solved the problem. There was also a lot of sugar topping left. Overall, they were good.
Oh, I also really liked that the amount needed was written below the instructions. Not having to scroll up to find the measurements was convenient.
I made a really silly mistake in this recipe, as I usually do. I wanted to strain the brown butter but needed a bowl so I emptied the spiced sugar mix into the dry ingredients because i completely forgot you rolled the dough in it! However, i continued, hoping that all the spiced sugar mix was used up when rolling anyway and they turned out a little crumbly but chewy in the middle but of course delicious. They had to bake for an extra 10 minutes and weren't as flat as the picture but I'm sure that was because of my mistake. Overall, flavour was 9/10!
Hi! I would love to try these, but i was just wondering if I can bake them all at once on two trays and then just swap the position of the trays halfway? Thanks!
Hi Ellie. No, I don't recommend doing that. I don't think they would bake the same!
These cookies taste really good and are perfect for fall. I ran into a problem where my cookies spread too much and got close to burning. I followed the recipe exactly, maybe the amount of flour should be increased by one or two tablespoons. I had to lower the temperature I baked them at just to prevent them from burning.
SO GOOD!! Perfect fall dessert.