These homemade Chai Cookies are filled with warm chai spices in both the cookie dough and the spiced sugar coating. Made with melted butter, they’re ready in less than 30 minutes with no chilling or mixer needed!
If you love warm, spiced cookies, you’ll want to try these Chai Cookies! They’re made with a blend of chai spices in both the cookie dough and the sugar coating, so you get plenty of spice flavor in every bite.
They’re also incredibly easy to make. The dough uses melted butter, so there’s no need to wait for butter to soften or pull out your mixer. And since the dough doesn’t need to chill, you can have a batch of homemade chai cookies ready in less than 30 minutes!
These cookies are a delicious change from traditional sugar cookies and snickerdoodles, especially during fall and holiday baking season.
Ingredient notes and substitutions
- Butter: You can substitute salted butter and reduce the salt to 1/4 teaspoon.
- Spices: The spices in both the cookies and in the sugar help to give the cookies chai spiced flavor. Feel free to adjust them according to your tastes.
- Salt: If you use table salt instead of kosher salt or sea salt, use half the amount.
How to make chai cookies
Here you’ll find instructions and step-by-step photos showing how to make this recipe. The full recipe, including ingredients, is given below.
Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
Step 2: To a large bowl, add melted butter and sugar. Whisk until fully combined.
Step 3: Add egg and vanilla. Mix until combined.
Step 4: Add dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, allspice, cloves, salt, and pepper). Mix again until just combined.
Step 5: In a separate small bowl, stir together sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, allspice, cloves, and pepper. Set aside.
Step 6: Using 1 ½ tablespoon cookie scoop (medium cookie scoop), scoop out balls of cookie dough.
Step 7: Roll each ball in the chai sugar mixture.
Step 8: Place on the baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between each cookie. Lightly flatten the top with your hands.
Step 9: Bake for about 8-9 minutes, or until cookies are lightly golden brown but still look a bit underbaked.
Step 10: Let cool completely on the baking sheet.
Recipe Tips!
- Measure the flour carefully: Too much flour can make cookies dry or prevent them from spreading properly. For the best results, weigh the flour or spoon it into the measuring cup and level it off.
- Don’t use overly hot butter: Follow the recipe instructions for cooling the melted butter before mixing the dough. Very hot butter can affect the dough’s consistency.
- Don’t skip the spiced sugar coating: Rolling the cookies in chai-spiced sugar adds another layer of flavor and gives the cookies a sweet, lightly textured exterior.
- Don’t overbake: Follow the recipe’s doneness cues and remember that cookies continue to set as they cool.
Storage
Store any leftover cookies in an airtight container. The cookies will keep for about 3 days when properly stored.
More easy cookie recipes!
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Chai Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
Cookie dough
- 1 cup unsalted butter melted and cooled for about 10 minutes
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ¼ cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¾ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¾ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper
For rolling
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ⅛ teaspoon ground allspice
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- Pinch of ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
- To a large bowl, add melted butter and sugar. Whisk until fully combined.1 cup unsalted butter, 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- Add egg and vanilla. Mix until combined.1 large egg, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, allspice, cloves, salt, and pepper. Mix again until just combined.2 ¼ cups all purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, ¾ teaspoon ground ginger, ¾ teaspoon ground cardamom, ¼ teaspoon ground allspice, ¼ teaspoon ground cloves, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, ⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper
- In a separate small bowl, stir together sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, allspice, cloves, and pepper.¼ cup granulated sugar, ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon ground ginger, ½ teaspoon ground cardamom, ⅛ teaspoon ground allspice, ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves, Pinch of ground black pepper
- Using 1 ½ tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop out balls of cookie dough.
- Roll each ball in the chai sugar mixture.
- Place on the baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between each cookie. Lightly flatten the top with your hands.
- Bake for about 8-9 minutes, or until cookies are lightly golden brown but still look a bit underbaked. Let cool completely on the baking sheet.
Notes
- Butter: You can substitute salted butter and reduce the salt to 1/4 teaspoon.
- Spices: The spices in both the cookies and in the sugar help to give the cookies chai spiced flavor. Feel free to adjust them according to your tastes.
- Salt: If you use table salt instead of kosher salt or sea salt, use half the amount.
- Nutrition values are estimates.
Nutrition
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