Y’all, it’s not often that I bother making cookies that contain no chocolate so, when I do, the cookies have to be good….really good. And, these are. In honor of my upcoming trip to Kenya, I hope you’ll enjoy these Chai-Spiced Sugar Cookies. They are sweet, but not too sweet, with a little bit of zing from the spices. The glaze is made with tea, milk, sugar and spices. It’s chai masala, after all. (For the cookies, I was inspired by this recipe, which I found on Pinterest and altered slightly.)
Here’s what you need:
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups white sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Here’s what you do:
Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
Combine sugar and spices. Remove 1/4 cup of the mixture and set aside for glaze.
Cream butter and remaining sugar mixture. Add egg and vanilla and beat until fluffy. Gradually add flour mixture and combine well.
Scoop dough into small balls (I used a small cookie scoop.) and press with palm to flatten slightly. (I did this for half the batch, and it really made for a prettier cookie!)
Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes. Remove and cool on wire wrack.
To make glaze:
In a small saucepan, combine 1/2 cup milk with remaining sugar and spice mixture and add two tea bags. Bring just to a boil and remove from heat. Put 2/3 cup of powdered sugar in a small bowl and add chai mixture one tablespoon at a time until the mixture is thin enough to drizzle. Drizzle over cooled cookies. (You will have a good bit of chai left. I only used 4 or 5 tbsp. to make the glaze…but you can always drink what’s left if you like!)
Enjoy!