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These Chai Chocolate Chip cookies are loaded with chai masala spices and melty dark chocolate chunks. These cookies are soft and fudgy with crisp edges. Similar to my cozy chocolate chip cookies this recipe is easy to prep in 15 minutes and it mades a TON of cookies. It freezes well so make a double batch to enjoy during to holidays with a cup of Homemade Hot Chocolate.
As soon as the weather starts to cool down even a little bit, I’m making these Chai Snickerdoodles, Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies and these Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies. They make your home smell warm and cozy as they bake and all of these recipes make a ton cookies. You can give them as gifts or keep an emergency stash in the freezer!
Ingredients You’ll Need for Chai Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Chai Masala – A mix of ground ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, allspice, and freshly ground black pepper gives these cookies all the flavors of a cup of chai.
- Butter – Instead of creaming the butter with the sugar, it’s first melted to give the cookies a soft and fudgy middle.
- Sugar – A mix of brown and white granulated sugar is essential to a soft and chewy chocolate chip cookie.
- Chocolate – I love to use chocolate chunks instead of chocolate chips because they leave more pools of melty chocolate. Dark chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate will work perfectly here.
For the rest of the ingredients, please refer to the recipe index card below!
How To Make Chai Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Whisk dry ingredients and spices together in a medium bowl then set aside.
- Make the cookie dough – To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment beat together melted butter, brown and white sugar until fluffy, add eggs then vanilla extract. Pour in the flour mixture all at once, cover with a clean kitchen towel then continue mixing until you don’t see any more speckles of flour. Pour in chocolate and mix one more time.
- Chill cookie dough for at least 1 hour. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit then line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper.
- Scoop out cookie dough onto a prepared baking sheet, leave a good amount space in between each one because these cookies will spread as they bake.
- Bake for 7 – 8 minutes or until they are light to medium brown. Sprinkle with salt then repeat with remaining cookies.
Tips and Tricks
- Make cookie dough in advance – You can make the dough and store in the fridge for up to 2 days tightly wrapped with plastic wrap.
- How to freeze cookie dough – Form cookie dough into balls, place on a sheet pan then freeze until very cold, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a freezer-safe bag. Keep in the freezer for up to 3 months. When you’re ready, bake from frozen.
Recipe FAQs
Chai literally translate to “tea”. The spice mixture that’s in chai is called “chai masala”. If you wanted to make a cup of chai it would also include black tea, with these cookies it leans on the spices often found in the tea like ground cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, cloves and allspice.
This depends on the recipe and what kind of texture you’re going for. For this recipe, you’ll use melted butter to give the middles a soft and fudgy texture while still keeping the exterior crisp.
Because we are using melted butter it won’t cream the same as if you are using softened butter. Your butter/sugar mixture should look fluffy after 3 minutes of beating with a mixer. It might look a little grainy, but that’s totally fine, as long as it you mix for the recommended amount of time.
More Holiday Recipes
Desserts
Chai Snickerdoodles
Holiday
Fluffy Gingerbread Rolls
Desserts
Alfajores (Peruvian Style)
Desserts
Homemade Mint Milano Cookies
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Chai Chocolate Chip Cookies
Equipment
- 1 Stand-up Mixer fitted with the paddle attachment
- 1 Medium cookie scoop
- 2 Sheet pans lined with parchment paper
Ingredients
Dry Mix:
- 3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Wet Mix:
- 1 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
- 1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 12 ounces dark chocolate chunks
Instructions
- To a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, ground ginger, ground cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, allspice, black pepper and salt together. Set aside.
- To the bowl of a stand-up mixer with the paddle attachment (you can also do this with a hand-mixer or by hand in a medium/large bowl), add the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar. Beat together until nice and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, until combined. Pour in the vanilla extract and beat once more.
- In one batch, add the flour. You will probably have to lift up the head part of your mixer to be able to add it all at once. Cover the mixer with a clean kitchen towel and turn it on low speed. Mix until the flour is mostly combined and then increase speed until you no longer see any flecks of flour. Pour in the chocolate chunks and mix one last time. Transfer the dough to the fridge to chill for an hour or up to 2 days.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Using a medium cookie scoop, scoop out balls of dough. If it’s super chilled, you may need to push some dough into the scoop so it’s nice and compact and then release the lever. I like to add all the balls of cookie dough to a sheet of parchment versus scooping dough, as I bake.
- Transfer 6 to 7 balls of dough onto the prepared baking sheet, spacing them a part because these do spread. Place in the oven and bake for about 7 to 8 minutes. If the dough is super cold, it may need up to 10 minutes to bake. They should be light to medium golden brown. Sprinkle with a few pinches of salt upon exiting the oven. Repeat until you’ve baked all the cookies.
- To freeze, add the cookie dough balls to a baking sheet and stick in the freezer until very cold, about 20 minutes and then transfer to a freezer-safe plastic bag.
Notes
Tips and Tricks
- Make cookie dough in advance – You can make the dough and store in the fridge for up to 2 days tightly wrapped with plastic wrap.
- How to freeze cookie dough – Form cookie dough into balls, place on a sheet pan then freeze until very cold, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a freezer-safe bag. Keep in the freezer for up to 3 months. When you’re ready, bake from frozen.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Adrianna…I just wanted to tell you…I ran over to TJs today, and they have very similar multigrain bread flats for your sandwiches. They are small……3” día.,…….but usable!
Thank you again….do you have a summer vegetarian recipe for lomo saltado? I couldn’t find it in your index….thank you again. I live that you are a oh lover……jk
My family does both – we have our classic Thanksgiving recipes – my Grandma’s corn pudding, my mom’s pumpkin pie, and mashed potato casserole. (Basically mashed potatoes with a TON of butter + sour cream and paprika on top that you bake in a casserole dish. Sounds weird, but it’s delicious!) But my Mom usually switches up the turkey recipe every other year, and she’ll usually try a few new vegetable side dishes. She made Moroccan vegetables one year and we were so obsessed that they’re a new classic.
Hilariously, we always have 2 stuffings, because my Dad’s Mom always brings her cornbread stuffing even though she and my Grandpa are the only ones who eat it. (It’s always dry, and I honestly think the only reason my Grandpa ate it is because she made him haha.)
I’m interested in classic Thanksgiving recipes, as my husband and I will be hosting the holiday for the first time ever in our new home… However, I’m vegetarian and would also love ideas about what to do instead of a turkey. I want to offer the meat eaters something that they enjoy, yet if I can find a suitable veg substitute for poultry… I’m going with it!! Thank you so much! x
Do you eat fish? You could do a “stuffed” fish. Basically get a thick cut of fish (probably a filet for each person) and cut a slit in the top down the middle. Then put your favorite stuffing in it (and on top) and bake.
Thank you Brooke! I don’t eat fish – but my husband and family does, so that’s something to consider for them. If not on Thanksgiving, definitely during the holidays 😉
I’m a vegetarian too – usually for Thanksgiving I’ll make stuffed acorn squash – it’s a meal for me and a (huge) side for the meat eaters.
I definitely love the BEST in classics for Thanksgiving! Also can’t wait to try these cookies, I’m ready to leaaaaan way into fall.
I’m usually a classic lover for Thanksgiving – but always love to throw in one something new to keep it fresh! However, this year, my daughter announced that her family doesn’t want turkey – of any kind! So, I’d love to hear suggestions of what to do instead. I love all the sides but can you do that and just skip the turkey?
Haha that’s so funny. One year I did cornish hens! That was a cute option and they also cook very quickly (especially compared to turkey). And yeah, I’ve heard of some people simply skipping turkey all together! 🙂
I know a lot of people do lamb at Christmas. Maybe just move that up a month? I don’t like turkey but “suffer” through it twice a year. How about chicken or duck? Still poultry and stuffable.
Usually in life and in cooking, I’m all about little twists and making things interesting or (gasp!) better. BUT, for Thanksgiving, I agree – I would LOVE a post on really damn good classics! Because I always like to try new and different things, I feel like I’ve never really mastered the classics. Would love lessons from Cozy Kitchen 😀
Ooooo this sounds encouraging. I might do this with a couple of side items because I’m so passionate about them! 🙂
When the whole family gets together we have done away with turkey, since every one has already had it on one side of the family or the other. We have had things like Spanish pile-on or Hamburgers, or Ham with all the fixings.
Love having my Grandmothers dressing, it’s a must have every year. That along with a few other standby dishes are pretty standard fare for us. But dessert is where we usually go all out and try something new or different.
Agreed. I think dessert is when it’s time to get fun and crazy!
Classic Thanksgiving. I’m a candied yams, buttery mashed potatoes, stuffing kind of girl! I once brought a Sweet Potato Souffle topped w/toasted marshmallows to my mother’s house and my brothers looked at me like I committed murder! Traditional from then on. Lol
CLASSIC EVERYTHING. There’s no other way.
SAME!
I always like to try to create unique desserts so I do not go traditional for Thanksgiving. The closest I’ve come to traditional is a pumpkin pie….with a whole lotta bourbon!!! But the rest of the meal is usually pretty traditional.
And chocolate chip cookies with chai is brilliant. These look divine! Can’t wait to try them! (walnut-free for me!)
This is a good plan! And good to know; I feel like most of the answers have been like this!