Spicy Chai Cookies

A sugar cookie that tastes just like a mug full of warm spiced chai tea. Cardamon, ginger, black pepper, and other spices combine to make this comfort-cookie.

I feel it is only fitting that the first recipe I share in here be one of my favourites, Spicy Chai Cookies. I first came across the original recipe at Evie's Kitchen. Over the many, many times I've made this recipe I've tried changing it up a few ways. I've made some adjustments to the amount of tea and have found that the grade of sugar and warmth of the butter can even change the texture of these cookies. No matter how I make them, though, they make my mother talk about the cardamom cookies my grandmother used to make, a personal recipe she took to her grave, but with a little bite.

I took these cookies to Neil Gaiman himself this past autumn. It was Hallowe'en, a reading and signing event for the UK release of The Graveyard Book, and a couple friends and I stood in line for hours to get him to sign a couple things and present a box of freshly baked gluten-free/wheat-free version of these cookies to him. I was dressed as a babycake (a lumpy brown cake with baby doll parts sticking out here and there, wrapped in cling film and adorned with a price tag) as he tasted the cookies and approved, 'mmm'ing at the cookies and calling my costume 'perfectly disturbing.' This recipe ties a lot of what I want to do here together. It's where I came up with the idea of this blog.



These cookies are beautiful at this time of year, especially as dunkers. They're like a warm cup of spiced chai tea and filled with typically wintery flavours. They're good to give as a gift because they're a social cookie -- it's like inviting the giftee to a cuppa', they're light and spicy and usually bring a smile as people realize what it tastes like.

Spicy Chai Cookies

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp cardamom
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3 tea bags of black tea (English Breakfast or Irish, use DECAF if there's an option; cut open tea bags and grind leaves into a fine powder in a coffee grinder)

1 cup superfine/bakers' sugar + 1/2 c raw sugar (bigger granules) to coat outside of cookies
1 egg
1 cup of unsalted butter, softened
2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
   
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, spices, and ground tea leaves.
   In an electric mixer, beat together sugar and butter. Add egg and vanilla. Beat until well incorporated.
   
3. Gradually add dry ingredients.
   
4. You will probably need to stick the dough (in bowl) into the freezer for about 15 minutes. It is extremely soft and hard to roll. This will firm it up. I usually stick the dough back into freezer between each batch.
   
5. Scoop dough balls out with a tablespoon. Lightly coating your hands with a quick squirt of cooking spray/vegetable oil mist will keep this tacky dough from sticking to you. Roll each one in the 1/2 cup of reserved raw sugar to coat and place on baking sheet. Work fast, this dough sticks to yours hands as it warms -- touch the pre-sugar-coated ball as little as possible.
   
6. Press each ball flat with the bottom of a drinking glass or measuring cup coated with cooking spray.
   
7. [Note: I live at sea level] Bake for 8 mins 30 secs for soft cookies. Bake 10 minutes for crispy dunkers (the edges will be light brown). Yields approximately 2.5 dozen.

Enjoy, and of course play with this and pass it around! I swear only good things can come of this recipe!