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These Chewy Chai Snickerdoodles are an all-time reader favorite. They’re chewy, fluffy and spiced with flavors of your favorite cup of chai. They’re easy to make (zero chilling time). Serve them with a cup of Homemade Hot Chocolate.
This recipe for Chewy Chai Masala Snickerdoodles has been the most-made recipe from my cookbook The Year of Cozy. When the holidays roll around, these are all I crave. They’re chewy, perfectly spiced with a combination of black pepper, cardamom, ginger, and cinnamon. These are a must-have in my Christmas cookie box every year, right next to my salted caramel linzer cookies and strawberry chocolate checkered cookies.
Ingredients You’ll Need for these Chai Snickerdoodles
- Spices – This cookie has all the spices from a cup of chai. We have ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, allspice, and black pepper. All of these spices are so warm and delicious.
- Cream cheese – This gives the cookie a bit of toothsome that is just delicious.
- Eggs – Giving these cookies structure, flavor, and color.
- Oil – This provides the cookies with a bit of moisture that is really delicious.
For the rest of the ingredients, please refer to the recipe card below!
How to Make Chai Snickerdoodles
- Dry ingredients – Whisk the dry ingredients together. We have the flour, leavening, salt, and spices. And we have a lot of spices!
- Wet ingredients – Beat together the sugar, cream cheese, melted butter, oil, egg, milk, and vanilla.
- Combine the two – Pour the dry ingredients into the wet and mix them until just combined. Make sure not to overmix the cookie dough.
- Make the sugar and spice mixture – This is what the cookies are going to be rolled in. Mix the two together on a shallow plate and set aside.
- Scoop out the dough – You could use a cookie scoop or a tablespoon. Roll the balls in between your hands and roll it in the sugar mixture. Transfer to the baking sheet. Repeat
- Sprinkle the tops with sugar – Add a bit more sugar/spice mixture to each ball of cookie dough.
- Bake them up! – When they come out of the oven, they’ll be warm and delicious.
Recipe Tips
To flatten or not to flatten – The final cookies you see in this blog post have been flattened on the baking sheet with a glass (before they’re baked). The ones you see in the video have not been flattened. Either way will work! I like the unflattened ones at the moment because they’re thicker and fluffier.
If the dough is too soft – Some people have said the dough is too soft to handle. That’s ok! Just stick in the fridge for 30 minutes. That’ll help firm up the dough so you can handle it.
Make them ahead! You can store these cookies in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
You can freeze the dough until ready to bake. I would bake them at 300°F from frozen.
Christmas Cookies
For festive Christmas cookies, drizzle them with icing and decorate with red, green, and white nonpareils. I used the same icing as the Iced Oatmeal Cookies. These are such a great addition to my Christmas cookie box! Here is the icing recipe below:
- 1 large egg white
- 1 1/4 cups / 150 g powdered sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
In a small bowl, combine the egg white, powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt. Mix with a handheld electric mixer until smooth and thick. Add the icing to a small piping bag or use a small spoon to drizzle icing over the cookies and top with your favorite holiday sprinkles!
More Cozy Baking Recipes
Desserts
Chai Chocolate Chip Cookies
Breakfast
Overnight Cinnamon Rolls
Cakes
Pumpkin Coffee Cake
Desserts
Apple Hand Pies
If you tried these Chewy Chai Snickerdoodles or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!
Chai Snickerdoodles Recipe
Video
Equipment
- 1 half sheet baking pan
- 1 (2-ounce) cookie scoop
Ingredients
Snickerdoodles:
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 1/2 cups white granulated sugar
- 2 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and warm
- 1/3 cup neutral oil, (such as grape seed, vegetable or avocado oil)
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoons milk, (oat milk works too!)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Sugar + Spice Coating:
- 1/4 cup white granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Pinch ground cardamom
Instructions
To Make the Cookie Dough:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, allspice, and pepper.
- To the large bowl of a stand mixer, add the sugar, cream cheese, and butter. Beat until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Add the oil and beat until incorporated. next, add the egg, milk, and vanilla. Continue to beat until smooth. In 2 additions, add the flour mixture, being sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl in between, until just mixed.
To Make the Sugar + Spice Coating:
- On a small plate, mix together the sugar, cinnamon, and cardamom.
To Bake the Cookies:
- Divide the dough into 24 equal pieces or about 2 tablespoons each (or you can use a medium cookie scoop). Using your hands, roll the dough pieces into balls. Working in batches, roll the balls in the sugar and spice mixture. Place them on a the baking sheet about 4-inches apart (these will spread). Sprinkle the tops evenly with some of the remaining sugar + spice mixture.
- Bake 1 tray at a time for 11 to 12 minutes, rotating the tray after 7 minutes, or until the edges are set and just beginning to brown. Continue until all the cookies are baked. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack and let cool to room temperature before serving.
Notes
-
- To flatten or not to flatten – The final cookies you see in this blog post have been flattened on the baking sheet with a glass (before they’re baked). The ones you see in the video have not been flattened. Either way will work! I like the unflattened ones at the moment because they’re thicker and fluffier.
- If the dough is too soft – Some people have said the dough is too soft to handle. That’s ok! Just stick in the fridge for 30 minutes. That’ll help firm up the dough so you can handle it.
- Make them ahead! You can store these cookies in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
- You can freeze the dough until ready to bake. I would bake them at 300°F from frozen.
- 1 large egg white
- 1 1/4 cups / 150 g powdered sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
The best snickerdoodle cookies ever! I made them for my mom and she ate them all in one day
These are just heaven! Made the dough yesterday and baked them this morning. They definitely have more complex flavor that set them so far apart from regular snickerdoodles. Made the kitchen smell just amazing! I got this recipe on How Sweet Eats, and I noticed here it has a bit less flour, like 1/4 cup. Not a baking genius here…what does the less flour do to the dough? Thank you a million for this, I am so loved in my house right now!
less flour will make them thinner! if you want, you can add more flour next time, if you like, and you’ll end up with a fatter cookie.
I made these with pistachio rose buttercream and they were incredible!! I would say it is helpful to add to the recipe instructions that they will spread some or put a recommendation for space between the cookies. I blanked on this (I dunno why) and failed to think about spreading, which they did. These were gone within a few hours and I am making a second batch already within less than 24 hours.
Good idea, I’ll definitely add that! So glad these worked out for you. 🙂
Can these cookies be frozen and baked at a later time as well?
These cookies are amazing! I baked them and posted the recipe on my blog with full credit to you. Thank you!
http://www.cozybaylife.com/2018/12/cookie-joy-chewy-chai-masala.html
Just made these today and they’re even better than I imagined! Another A Cozy Kitchen baking success!!
Happy Blogoversary!
I like the idea of adding cream cheese to the cookies. Happy baking and good luck with the the estate!
Adding these to my Christmas cookie “must make” list!
Masala literally means spice in Hindi just as chai literally means tea so translated that equals tea spice cookies! In the US, chai has become synonymous with Indian spices but chai masala is correct!
These look amazing but I have to admit the word Masala in the name vs. the name at the top of the blog has me a bit confused. I thought maybe you were using a certain spice in the cookie to explain the addition but I’m not seeing it. Does it just mean spicy? I look forward to trying the recipe. Sounds wonderful!!
These make my mouth water! I can’t wait to try them!