Chai Sugar Cookies with Maple Glaze
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! If you’re a baker or foodie you know that holidays are like the superbowl for recipe developers and content creators. Holiday season is pretty much just cookie season. It’s my absolute favourite and I’ll let you know right now…I looked at the weather forecast and there is a 100% chance of cookies every single week until Christmas. You heard me right, I’m bringing you a whole bunch of new, delicious cookie recipes perfect for baking your heart out! So far, we have the best Paleo Biscotti and Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies and today I’m sharing these Chai Sugar Cookies. I love that these cookies are a twist on the classic sugar cookie and you can cut them into cute shapes and decorate them or just drizzle them with my chai maple icing. I’m sure after a night of all sorts of cookies, Santa will enjoy these Chai Sugar Cookies!
I’ve always loved chai tea, the warm spices mixed with black or tea just warms my soul. I took inspiration from this classic Indian drink to make these flakey, buttery Brown Butter Chai Sugar Cookies. Holy moly, these cookies do not disappoint they are packed with warming spices that remind me of chai and they are super flakey and crisp on the outside. I like to dip these cookies in a maple chai glaze to take them to the next level but you can leave them without a glaze and they are still super yummy! I hope these cookies warm your heart and soul as much as they do mine!
This recipe is really great because after you make the dough, you divide the dough in half and chill the two discs of dough. I like to bake one disc of dough right away, after chilling it. Then I place the other disc of dough in the freezer to keep on hand for cookie cravings or emergency situations, such as a rough day or long week or wanting to give someone cookies with little notice.
What you’ll need for these cookies:
Butter: I like to brown my butter for these cookies to really amplify the caramel and chai flavours. You can skip this step, but it really makes these cookies delish!
Sugar: white sugar gets creamed together with the browned butter for a crisp, delicious, sweet but not too sweet cookie.
Egg: a classic sugar cookie is butter, sugar, egg, and flour. Egg helps to bind these cookies together.
Flour: I made these with all-purpose flour to keep the recipe straight forward.
Spices: I use black pepper, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, ginger, and allspice. The combination makes these cookies warm and delicious.
That’s it, these cookies are just five ingredients, well 10 if you count each spice individually. It really doesn’t get much easier than that. For the glaze, I just use maple syrup, icing sugar, a touch of milk and more of the same spices from the cookies.
Chai Sugar Cookies with Maple Glaze
Author: ElizabethServings: 2 to 3 dozen cookies
Ingredients
Cookies
1 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground cardomom
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 cups all purpose flour
Maple Glaze
1/2 cup icing sugar
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 tablespoon milk/non-dairy milk
1/8 teaspoon each cinnamon, ground ginger, ground cardomom, allspice, ground cloves
Instructions:
1. BROWN THE BUTTER In a skillet, add your butter. Over medium heat, allow your butter to melt then stir it occassionally until it foams and begins to brown. Stir it regularly until it turns a medium, rich brown then pour the browned butter and all the bits into a bowl and refrigerate until it's the consistency of room temperature butter. This will take a few hours in the fridge or 30-40 minutes in the freezer.
2. MAKE THE COOKIE DOUGH In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together using a mixer until lightened in colour and fluffy. Blend in the egg.
3. Add the spices and flour and combine until it just comes together. If it's too dry add 1-2 tablespoons of milk, just until it comes together. It is a dry cookie dough, this is normal!
4. Divide your dough into two discs and wrap your dough in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 1-2 hours or freeze until ready to use.
5. BAKE Preheat oven to 325ºF. Between two pieces of parchment paper, roll out the first disc of dough to 1/4 inch thick. Cut out desired shapes and lift with a spatula onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until the edges of the cookies begin to brown. Let cool for 5 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely before icing.
6. MAPLE GLAZE Make your glaze by whisking together all of the ingredients, icing sugar, maple syrup, milk, and spices until smooth. Dip the top size of your completely cooled cookies into the glaze, allow excess to drip off the place back on the cooling rack over a piece of parchment to catch the drips. Allow to set, about 15-20 minutes before serving. Enjoy!
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Lastly, if you make these Chai Sugar Cookies with Maple Glaze be sure to leave a comment on Instagram or share it on Pinterest! Above all, I love to hear from you and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favourite!
