Imagine biting into a melt-in-your-mouth, soft and buttery Chai Snickerdoodle, cookie coated in sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, and cloves. The aroma of chai spices and buttery cookies being baked in the oven is quite intoxicating.
A cup of hot tea, coffee, or milk might encourage you to slow down and take a deep breath while sinking your teeth into these buttery gems.
Snickerdoodle cookies are my absolute favorite cookie that my grandmother used to bake growing up. She even used to call me snickerdoodle, so whenever I think of these cookies I am immediately transported back in time and feel a sense of connection with her.
Not only do they hold a special place in my heart, but they are absolutely DIVINE and quite possibly some of the best cookies I have ever eaten!
The only slight change I’ve made to the recipe is adding a lovely chai spice blend to coat the cookies in, instead of just cinnamon and sugar. I’m pretty positive my grandmother would even approve!
How to enhance the flavor and texture of these cookies
- If you can’t find ground cardamom in your local grocery store (here is an Amazon affiliate link–>), grind whole cardamom pods in a mortar and pestle (take them out of their green shell first) with the other spices to help create friction. Or you can put them in a Ziploc bag and pound them with a small pan or rolling pin. Don’t worry if they don’t completely grind into a powder. Those tiny speckles of cardamom will enhance the aroma and flavor of the cookies.
- Instead of creaming the butter and sugar right off the bat, cream the butter first with the salt until it’s the consistency of thick mayo to create an even lighter and fluffier texture. Then add the sugar to the butter and cream once more.
- Lastly, don’t over-bake the cookies! Take them out of the oven just after they just start to crack on the surface. If they are still a little underdone, they will still continue to bake outside of the oven. You might have to sacrifice one cookie to test for doneness once they have cooled for a few minutes. If they are still gooey in the center, stick them back in the oven for 1-2 minutes. SET THE TIMER TOO!!!
- Although chilling the dough seems like a hassle, it really helps the gluten relax and enhances the soft and buttery texture. Place in the fridge for two hours or up to overnight to allow the dough to chill. This step is very important because it helps the dough to relax and improves the texture. If you are like me and are in a hurry, simply place the logs in the freezer for one hour or then it’s ready to be baked.
How to shape the snickerdoodles
Since we have the cookie dough chilling in a log shape, simply slice the cookie dough slices about an inch wide and roll them in a ball in your hands.
What if my cookies don’t crack on the surface?
It may be hard to tell but the photo of the cookies below had teeny tiny cracks on the surface. Sometimes the cracks are bigger, but sometimes they are really small.
Either way, I would recommend taking them out of the oven right at 8 minutes and letting the rest and testing one cookie out since it’s easy to over-bakes these cookie.
“No joke, these are some of the best cookies I’ve ever had.”
Comment from this pin on Pinterest
Bon Appétit Ya’ll,
Leslie O.
Chai Snickerdoodles
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients
- 2 sticks butter softened to room temp
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
Dry Ingredients
- 2 3/4 cup All purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
Chai Spice Sugar Mixture
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp ground cloves
- 1 tsp cardamom whole pods or pre-ground
- 5 TBSP sugar
Instructions
For the wet ingredients
- Bring the butter to room temperature. With an electric beater or stand mixer, beat the butter and salt for 1-2 minutes until it's the texture of thick mayonnaise. Add the sugar and beat for another 1-2 minutes until light and fluffy.
- With the mixer on low, add the eggs one at a time and the vanilla. Scrape down the bowl to incorporate the eggs.
For the dry ingredients
- Sift the flour and baking powder together. Keep the mixer on low speed and slowing add in the dry ingredients in stages until incorporated. Scrape down the bowl periodically. STOP MIXING as soon as the ingredients are incorporated!
Options for Chilling the Dough
- Press the dough into one long log or two shorter logs and cover with parchment paper or plastic wrap. Chill in the fridge for at least two hours, or up to overnight.
- If you are short on time, you can also freeze the logs for one hour until they are chilled.
For the Chai Spice Sugar Mixture
- While the dough is chilling, grind the cardamom if using whole pods. Remove the seed from the shell and mix with the other spices. Grind together in a mortar and pestle or in a Ziploc bag with a rolling pin or the back of a small pan. It's ok if the seeds aren't completely ground.
You can certainly use pre-ground cardamom instead. Mix the remaining 5 Tbsp. sugar with the spices on a plate or bowl and set aside. - Unwrap the chilled dough and cut into 1-inch slices. Roll into balls and roll into the sugar and spice mixture to coat.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet 3 inches apart.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes until they just start to crack on the surface. DON'T OVERBAKE! Remove from the oven and let cool on a rack before serving. If you are unsure if they are set in the middle, open up one cookie after they have cooled a bit. If they are still gooey, put back in the oven for 1 minute at a time. SET A TIMER!!
These look so yummy! I can’t wait to sit down with a hot cup of earl grey and a plate of these with a friend!
Oh earl grey is my favorite tea! I think that would be a perfect tea to compliment these cookies.
I love the addition of chai spice to the snicker doodles!
I already love snickerdoodles and the idea of adding chai spices just takes them over the top! Wonderful!
This is my husband’s favorite cookie! What a delicious recipe!
This is my grandmother’s beloved recipe with the simple twist of chai spices. I really think it’s the best snickerdoodle I’ve ever had!
Genius! Coating these snickerdoodles with chai spice & cinnamon & sugar! Yes! I can’t wait to bake these & make my house smell SO yummy!!!
Oh totally Nellie! I’m making these for Christmas Eve again myself:)
Wow, one of my favorite cookies with chai? What a winner, thank you for sharing this recipe!
I’m a chaiaholic, so this recipes goes right on my to-do (soon) list!
Never tried a snickerdoodle, but they sound wonderful with all those chai spices. I might just have to try some 🙂
Oh gosh, you really should try them, especially this recipe, as my grandmother made the best snickerdoodles ever! Not-too-sweet and buttery, tender cookies.
I can just image the lovely smells as you make these.
The chai spices are such a yummy addition to this recipe. Snickerdoodles are one of my Christmas time favorite and it looks like you’ve managed to improve on them!
We love snickerdoodles anything! These cookies fit the bill just perfectly!
I love snickerdoodles and adding chai spices would make them that much better. I can’t wait to try these.
The order of ingredients in the list is confusing to me. Normally the list follows the order you add them to the recipe. So I decided to not pay attention to the order and follow the recipe, but the salt is not discussed. When should it be added?!
Sorry for the confusion! If you read the second sentence of the first step in the instructions it says, “With an electric beater or stand mixer, beat the butter and salt for 1-2 minutes until it’s the texture of thick mayonnaise.” This is when you add the salt.
I’ll switch the order of the list of ingredients so it makes more sense. If you make these cookies, please feel free to come back and let me know how they turned out.
Thanks for the feedback!
Bessie!! Your video includes vanilla while your written recipe does not. I questioned it when I got to the eggs, double checked and went on. My dough is in the freezer… hope it still tastes good 😣
Thank you for catching that! Actually, I added vanilla in the video even though my grandmother’s recipe doesn’t call for it. It will still taste wonderful. It’s such a habit to add vanilla to every cookie recipe that I wasn’t even paying attention. It tastes great both ways, but I’ll add it to the recipe to reflect the video too. Let me know how they turn out! Take care.