I remember the first time I ever tasted chai as a teenager.
I was amazed.
It was like the flavors of autumn but even more interesting and slightly exotic.
And that was just an iced chai from the Starbucks at the mall.
These cookies are infused with all the chai spices you know and love. I even topped them with an espresso glaze, so I guess technically these are dirty chai cookies.
Whatever you want to call them, they make the perfect afternoon pick-me-up all season long and will make your home smell better than every fall candle from Bath & Body Works.
Chai Sugar Cookie Recipe Tips
The Sugar
This recipe calls for granulated sugar (white sugar) with a splash of honey. That liquid sweetener helps to create slightly puffy and soft cookies because of the extra moisture it adds. You can omit the honey if you don’t have any, but your cookies won’t be as soft and fluffy.
Cornstarch
There’s just a touch of cornstarch to again help make these cookies a little softer. Feel free to omit if you don’t have any.
Eggs
I use an extra egg yolk in this recipe for an extra dose of richness, moisture, and a slight chewiness.
The Spices
I used pretty traditional chai spices, but feel free to experiment with the spices and amounts. Whatever you do, just make sure your spices are fresh and aromatic.
The Glaze
The espresso glaze is simply made by combining a splash of espresso with powdered sugar. You can also use very strong coffee if you don’t have espresso. I just used instant espresso powder + boiling water to make things easy.
If you’d prefer, you can also omit the glaze entirely. I just like the added flavor and interest it gives these cookies.
To make picture-perfect glaze, remove the glaze to a sandwich baggie. Snip a small hole in one corner and use that to ‘pipe’ the glaze onto the cookies.
Make sure the glaze is completely set and dry to the touch before stacking these cookies to transport or store.
Make Ahead & Storing
Click here to learn how to freeze this cookie dough and bake off from the freezer.
These cookies will keep well in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. If you want to ensure they stay soft, add a little scrap of bread, tortilla, or apple core to the container to prevent the cookies from drying out.
Cookie Customization Guide
Want to learn how to make your cookies softer, chewier, cakier, crisper, or whatever else your heart desires?! Download my FREE Cookie Customization Guide here!
they look amazing cannot wait to try. Have you baked them without flattening them?
These cookies look so delicious. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
If I was feeling extreeemely lazy… could I just ground up some tea leaves and put that in instead of the spices? I love love looove chai tea!
Just made these. With zero substitutions (instant coffee instead of espresso) and they are AMAZING! Soft, chewy – totally outstanding. Perfect for the non chocolate people 🙂
Yay! Glad to hear it 🙂
Hi!
Where I live ground cloves are nowhere to be found, and I already tried to ground them myself making other recipes but it was like it wasn’t even there. Do you think I can change it to something else but still keeping the taste you got in there? I tried to look for them online but even with the fastest shipping I would not receive them before early January..
delicious and posted on IG thanks for all the testing you do. I only made half of the espresso glaze since I wanted a little less sweet.
Can i skip the creaming process?
Texture will not be the same.
these came out so delicious! I made a few changes since I am dairy free > I substituted out the butter for canola oil (about 8 tablespoons) & I used a pre-mix of masala chai spices from the Indian grocery store that I had on hand but it didn’t have cinnamon so I added that. I also only used one whole egg instead of the extra egg yolk. My cookies didn’t flatten much in the baking process but I was totally fine with that since they were still soft and chewy!
but I am going to be making these often + I loved the espresso glaze – such a nice touch!
What a wonderful idea! This cookie suits the Canadian fall weather we’ve been having. It was a hit from my family and friends. I altered the recipe a little, adding nutmeg and allspice predominately. And honestly I have never heard of a coffee glaze before (or maybe i’m late to it) but it really hit the spot. I was worried it would be too much. Both with and without the glaze taste awesome! Thank you for this recipe!
Am making this for a kids birthday, do you think if will still be good if i skip the spices. Honey sugar cookies sound so good by themselves
these taste really good but mine are a bit dry…i’m not sure what i did wrong? also my glaze is much more runny than in the photos. in orer to get a nice “structural” drizzle, coul i add more sugar?
For the glaze, you would half the recipe, and add more powdered sugar, until right consistency. If you made the full glaze recipe and added more powdered sugar, you would end up with loads. As for dryness, you could add a little more butter, as you mix it, watch the texture, or try a teaspoon of milk. Could be your butter, every brand has a different amount of milk solids, resulting in different results than Tess.
Loved it…even added some chai xmas tea mix into the batter…very good and I love the fact you can mix it up a bit to make your own cookies too!!
Can these be frozen? If yes should I wait to glaze til after they thaw or will the glaze freeze and defrost well too?
Freeze unglazed!
I LOVED this recipe and so did my kids…I actually put real chai tea into it to give it more flavour and made super strong espresso for the icing…these disappeared in a day!!
Very good cookies…thinking of some spicy peanut butter cookies now too!
I baked them, I loved them…! 🙂
Replaced half of the flour with Almond flour and was perfect…
These are delicious! I had to tweak though to get it right. I made the recipe as stated. Measured carefully and whisked. The cookies were very flat and spread considerably. Tasted good but looked terrible. So I went back and substituted shortening for the butter (113 gr) and sifted the dry ingredients. Used American measurements with the exception of the shortening. These turned out beautifully! Might just be the weather it’s humid right now.
I’ve made these twice and they are so good. I’ve made them for Christmas and also for a sister who is a chai tea lover. She and my mom love them! I would like to know the calorie count if possible.
I plan to make these using a chai spice mix instead of each spice individually. Any idea on how much of the spice mix I would use? Thanks in advance for any feedback!
I used a chai spice mix ( King Arthur) and measured out 5 tsp to equal the amount of the others combined. Additionally, I substituted half the butter for shortening as they spread too much on the first go round. Also, sifted the dry ingredients to better incorporate. They were perfect!
Thanks, Debra!
Ahhmazzing! Tastes like you are eating a chai tea. Thank you for the recipe. Do not over bake. Cookies will feel soft when done. Otherwise they will get too crispy if over baked.