What’s better than a cup of tea with delicious chai cookies for dunking? If you ask me, practically nothing. Add the drizzle of a vanilla glaze, and I’m in cookie heaven.

If you love the taste of warm spicy taste of chai, you’ll love these cookies. They’re easy to make and you can adjust the baking time to have them come out as a soft or more crispy cookie.

Ready to get baking? Let’s go! Or watch the chai cookie web story for a quick overview.

What are Chai Spices?

Chai is actually the Indian word for “tea”. What most people mean when they say chai spice, is the spice blend used in Masala Chai, which is a traditional tea drink made with black tea, milk and a blend of spices. Interestingly, there’s no definitive blend of chai spices because each family has their own traditions.

Chai spices can contain a mixture of any and all of the following:

• Cinnamon
• Ginger
• All Spice
• Cloves
• Cardamom
• Nutmeg
• Star Anise
• Black Pepper

The chai spice mix in these cookies includes 6 of the most common masala spices: cinnamon, ginger, all spice, cloves, cardamom, and nutmeg.

Chai Spice Cookie Ingredients

Chai Cookie Dough Ingredients

• ½ cup unsalted butter (softened)
• ½ cup white granulated sugar
• ½ cup light brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon warm water
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons Chai Spice Blend (link to recipe)
• 1 ½ cups all purpose flour

Vanilla Glaze Ingredients

• 1 cup powdered sugar, also called confectioners’ sugar, icing sugar or 10X sugar
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter (softened)
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
• Dash salt

Chai Spice Ingredients

This cookie recipes uses a traditional chai spice blend. Here is the easy chai spice blend recipe that I use. I always save old spice jars to reuse for spice blends just like this one. Then I have it on hand whenever I have the urge to make a chai dessert.

• Cinnamon
• Ground Ginger
• All Spice
• Cloves
• Cardamom
• Nutmeg

How to Make Chai Cookies

Make the Chai Cookie Dough and Bake

Preheat oven to 350° F.

In a large mixing bowl mix the room temperature butter, white sugar, and brown sugar together with a fork or mixer until it starts to become a light and grainy texture.

Dissolve the baking soda in warm water and then add it into the butter and sugar mixture along with the egg, vanilla, salt, and chai spice. Whip vigorously for 1-2 minutes until the mixture becomes light and fluffy.  Whipping the dough is important if you want a soft and fluffy cookie.

Sift in the flour ½ cup at a time and mix until all the ingredients have come together and have formed a sticky dough like texture.

Roll the cookies into  1 ½ inch balls and place on a parchment covered baking sheet.

Bake for 10-12 minutes. If you are looking for a soft cookie, remove from the oven after 10 minutes. The edges should look slightly golden brown. Transfer cookies immediately to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely before icing them.

Make the Glaze and Ice the Cookies

Add all the Icing ingredients to a small-medium sized mixing bowl and beat with a fork or mixer until all the clumps have dissolved and the glaze is smooth.

Dip the cookies in the glaze however you want. Or drizzle it over the cookies if you don’t want as much glaze.

Place the cookies back on the cooling rack and let the excess glaze drip off and harden. Store in an airtight container for up to 7 days. 

Chai Cookies with Vanilla Glaze Recipe

Add this chai spice Christmas cookie recipe to your list of holiday treats! Want to save this Chai Cookies with Vanilla Glaze recipe to bake later? Save it to a favorite Pinterest Board and pass it on!