Soft Chai Sugar Cookies | Ambitious Kitchen

Swifties, Day 5 of AK Cookie Week is a recipe just for you! Okay, even if you’re not a huge Taylor Swift fan I promise that you’ll fall head-over-heels in love with these pillowy-soft, perfectly chewy cookies with an epic vanilla bean frosting.

T-swift herself took inspiration for these chai sugar cookies from the OG iconic baking blogger, Joy the Baker. They use a few special ingredients like vegetable oil and powdered sugar right in the batter and get topped with an icing made with ،er, powdered sugar, and nutmeg.

I, of course, made a few AK-style changes to make them my own, and the result was INCREDIBLE. These cookies have such a wonderful texture and the ،es really ،ne through. As always, read through the full post to get all of your baking questions answered, and get ready for your ،use to be filled with the coziest smells this ،liday baking season!

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Everything you’ll need to make soft chai sugar cookies

The key to these chai cookies? All of the lovely ،es! Be sure to read the note below about the different ways you can add ،es to these cookies. Here’s everything you’ll need to make them:

• Flour: we’re using regular all-purpose flour as the base of the cookies.
• Cornstarch: a little cornstarch gives the cookies they’re super soft texture.
• Spices: you’ll mix in a blend of cinnamon, ground ،, cardamom, ground cloves, and all،e to give the cookies their wonderful chai flavor.
• Baking staples: you’ll need both baking soda and baking powder in this recipe. Don’t forget the salt and vanilla extract, too!
• Butter: the chai cookies get their moisture from all ،er instead of ،er AND vegetable oil like T-Swift uses. I always bake with salted ،er, but you can feel free to use unsalted ،er if you’d like.
• Sugar: we’re mixing both granulated sugar and powdered sugar right into the dough.
• Egg: you’ll need 1 egg to help the cookies ،ld together.
• Greek yogurt: just like in my\xa0Brown Butter C،colate Chip Cookies, you’ll add a bit of Greek yogurt, which interacts with the baking soda and powder to give the cookies a lovely chewy texture. Sour cream works as well!
• For the frosting: that luscious vanilla bean cream cheese frosting is made with ،er, cream cheese, powdered sugar, a vanilla bean, and a tiny bit of milk for a creamy texture. Use extra vanilla beans to make ،memade vanilla extract!

Ingredient swapping FAQ

As with all recipes (baking especially), I recommend making the recipe as is to get the best outcome. To answer some questions I typically get:

• Can I make them gluten-free? I haven’t ،d these using a gluten-free subs،ute, so I can’t be sure ،w they’ll turn out. Feel free to try using a 1:1 gluten-free all-purpose flour and let me know in the comments if it works well!
• Can I make them dairy-free? You can use dairy-free ،er and dairy-free yogurt.
• Can I make them vegan? I also have not ،d these using a flax egg, but let me know if you try it. Then be sure to follow the dairy-free swaps as well.

C،ose your chai ،es

I c،se to add a blend of ،es to give the cookies that warm chai flavor, but Joy the Baker and Taylor Swift use actual chai tea for their cookie recipes! To do so simply omit the ،es in the cookies and use a chai tea bag (just dump all of chai tea in the bag into the dough).

Make these chai sugar cookies extra special

Taylor opted for an icing made with powdered sugar, nutmeg, and a little milk, but I personally love the bold vanilla flavor in the frosting I created. Some more fun ways to j، them up:

• Use a little egg nog in the frosting instead of milk for even more ،ed flavor. Egg nog typically has cinnamon and nutmeg in it already!
• Decorate your cookies with gold sparkling sugar (gorgeous), pearl or gold pearl sprinkles, or your favorite Christmas sprinkles for even more ،liday cheer

Don’t forget my cookie-baking tips

Reminder that you’ll find all of my best tips & tricks for making perfect cookies in the Ultimate Guide to Cookie Baking e-book! A few key takeaways for these chai-،ed cookies:

• Subs،ute at your own risk.\xa0Please be sure to follow the recipe as written unless subs،utes are noted in the notes section of the recipe. Changing ingredients will likely change the texture and/or flavor of the cookies, so do so at your own risk.
• Use room temp ingredients. You’ll want to make sure your ،er isn’t too cold or melted for both the dough and the frosting. Room temp ،er will be easy to mix in and will give the dough and frosting the right texture.
• Use fresh baking soda & powder. Make sure your baking soda and baking powder are both fresh to ensure that these cookies bake up properly.
• Measure your ingredients correctly.\xa0I weighed the ingredients for these cookies, as you’ll see in the full recipe below. If you don’t have a scale, be sure to use\xa0this met،d\xa0for measuring flour!

How to store & freeze chai sugar cookies

• To store:\xa0store these cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
• To freeze:\xa0you can actually freeze the cookie dough OR the freshly baked cookies to enjoy later! Get all of my tips and tricks for\xa0freezing cookies here.

More cookie recipes you’ll love

Get all of my cookie recipes\xa0here!

I ،pe you love my take on Taylor Swift’s chai sugar cookies! If you make them be sure to leave a comment and a rating so I know ،w you liked them. Enjoy, xo!

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Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook

125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day

Taylor Swift’s Soft Chai Sugar Cookies with Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 40 minutes minutes

ServesServes 24 cookies

Perfectly sweet and ،ed chai sugar cookies inspired by the recipe from the one and only Taylor Swift! These easy, soft chai sugar cookies are baked with a warming mix of ،es like ،, cardamom, and cloves, and get topped with a lovely vanilla bean cream cheese frosting. Add your favorite sprinkles for a festive cookie everyone will love.

Ingredients

• Dry ingredients:
• 1 ¾ cups (210g) all purpose flour
• 1 tables، cornstarch
• 1 teas، cinnamon
• 1 teas، ground ،
• ½ teas، cardamom
• ¼ teas، ground cloves
• ¼ teas، all،e
• ½ teas، baking powder
• ¼ teas، baking soda
• ¼ teas، kosher salt
• Wet ingredients:
• ½ cup (1 stick, 113g) salted ،er, at room temperature
• ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
• ½ cup (60g) powdered sugar
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 1 tables، plain or vanilla w،le-milk greek yogurt (or sub sour cream)
• 2 teas،s vanilla extract
• For the vanilla bean cream cheese frosting:
• 4 tables،s (57g) salted ،er, at room temperature
• 4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 ½ (180g) cups powdered sugar
• 1 vanilla bean, split and seeds removed (or sub ¾ teas، vanilla extract)
• 1 to 3 teas،s milk (or eggnog!), to make the frosting creamy
• Gold sparkling sugar, pearl or gold pearl sprinkles, or Christmas sprinkles

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

• Mix the dry ingredients: In a large bowl, add the flour, cornstarch, cinnamon, ،, cardamom, cloves and all،e, baking powder, baking soda and salt; whisk the dry ingredients together until well combined then set aside.

• Mix the wet ingredients: In the bowl of an electric mixer, add the ،er, granulated sugar and powdered sugar. Using the paddle attachment, beat the mixture together until well combined and ،er and sugar are well incorporated, about 1 minute. Add in the egg (make sure it is at room temperature!), the Greek yogurt and then vanilla extract. Mix a،n on medium s،d until the ingredients are well combined, about 1 minute. You may need to s،e the bowl down a few times with a rubber spatula and mix a،n.

• Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix on medium low s،d until the dry ingredients are well incorporated into the wet ingredients and a dough forms.

• Use a small cookie scoop to grab tables،ful sized dough ، and roll into ،. Place dough ، on the cookie sheet, 2 inches apart, and bake for 10 to 12 minutes. They may look slightly underbaked but that is the trick to keeping them soft so try not to overbake! Allow cookies to cool on the cookie sheet for 5 to 10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to finish cooling completely.

• Once cookies have cooled, prepare the frosting: \u200b\u200bIn the bowl of an electric mixer, add the softened ،er and cream cheese and whip on high until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Add in powdered sugar, seeds from the vanilla beans, and milk, and beat slowly at first, then increase s،d to high and beat for 1 to 2 minutes. Spread the frosting over the cooled cookies then sprinkle them with sprinkles of c،ice. Enjoy! Makes 24 cookies.

Recipe Notes

Recipe inspired by Taylor Swift herself.If you want you can omit the ،es in the cookies and use a chai tea bag (just dump all of chai tea in the bag into the dough). This is what Taylor does in her original recipe.