Iced chai sugar cookies are soft and tender sugar cookies filled with warm chai spices. They're topped with a simple cinnamon icing and a must-try for fall!
After years of reading about Taylor Swift's chai sugar cookies, I decided to give my classic soft sugar cookies the fall treatment with this iced chai variation!
This recipe starts with my classic sugar cookie dough as the base. I've added chai spices, a little extra sugar, and a sweet cinnamon icing on top. They're perfect for fall cardigan weather with a cup of coffee or tea!
Add iced chai sugar cookies to your holiday cookie tray. They're perfect for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Love chai? Try my chai spiced oatmeal cookies next.
Ingredients and substitutions
- Unsalted butter - Can be substituted with salted butter (you'll want to omit the salt listed in the recipe). Your butter should be room temperature - not cold, not melted.
- Granulated sugar - Adds sweetness and moisture to the dough. I don't recommend reducing the sugar listed in the recipe because your cookies could turn out dry.
- Large eggs - Eggs add moisture and structure to the dough and should be room temperature. Set them on the counter 1 hour before baking or place your whole eggs in a small bowl covered in warm tap water for 15 minutes.
- Vanilla extract - Adds flavor to the dough.
- All-purpose flour - I have only tested this recipe with all-purpose flour. If you have a different flour on hand, I suggest searching for a recipe using your preferred type of flour. Many times it's not an easy 1:1 substitution and a recipe written for a particular flour will turn out better.
- Baking powder - Cannot be substituted with baking soda - these are two different ingredients that will react differently with the other ingredients listed. Check the expiration date before beginning - expired baking powder will result in a flat, dense cookie.
- Chai spices - I recommend using your favorite chai spice blend, which can be store bought or homemade. Want to make your own? Check out my recipe for chai spice blend.
- Salt - Enhances the flavor of your cookie and balances the sweetness without making them "salty".
- Confectioner's sugar - The base of the icing. The fine consistency of confectioner's sugar melts seamlessly with the milk to produce a smooth texture. Confectioner's sugar can't be substituted with other sugars like granulated sugar or brown sugar.
- Milk - You'll need a few tablespoons of milk to thin your icing. Any milk will work in this portion of the recipe, like almond milk or cow's milk. I used whole milk.
- Cinnamon - Adds warm flavor to the icing. Cinnamon could be substituted with nutmeg if you'd like a flavor similar to Taylor's chai cookie recipe.
Cookie tips and tricks
Room temperature ingredients - It's very important to use room temperature ingredients for a few reasons. Room temperature ingredients incorporate together seamlessly to create a smooth, even dough. An even dough (without flecks of butter or egg) helps create perfect cookies. Creaming together the butter and sugar helps create lift in your cookies when they bake.
To bring butter to room temperature quickly - Unwrap and slice butter into small pieces, leaving it on the counter and in the wrapper or a small bowl for up to 30 minutes. Small pieces warm up faster than a whole stick.
To bring eggs to room temperature quickly - Place whole eggs into a bowl and cover with very warm tap water. Eggs come to room temperature in about 10 minutes using this method.
Don't overmix the dough - Once the gluten (flour) has been added to the recipe, take care not to overmix the dough. Overworking the gluten can cause your cookies to turn out tough.
Flatten dough balls - For flat tops that are easy to ice later on, gently press your dough balls using the bottom of a glass sprayed with cooking spray or dusted with flour. If your dough isn't flattened before baking, they'll bake up with domed tops, like my soft sugar cookies recipe.
Icing tips and tricks
Making icing - Add milk one tablespoon at a time and mix until smooth. You'd be surprised at how little milk is needed to create icing with confectioner's sugar! It's much easier to add milk sparingly than to try and thicken your icing after the fact.
Bubbly icing? - If your icing is bubbly, thin, and frothy, too much milk has been added. Add more confectioner's sugar and stir until your icing looks thick and smooth.
Icing cookies - I like to dip my cookies straight into the icing, allow excess to drip off, then flip and allow to dry on a cooling rack. You could also use a spoon or knife to gently ice the tops of each cookie.
Storage
Iced chai sugar cookies will keep for about 3 to 4 days in a tightly sealed container at room temperature. To help keep your cookies soft, add a slice of bread to the container and replace as it gets stale.
Dough and baked cookies can be frozen for up to 3 months in a tightly sealed, freezer-safe container. To thaw baked cookies, place on the counter top and allow to thaw for about 1 hour. To thaw dough, transfer to the refrigerator to thaw overnight.
Frequently asked questions
In 2014, Taylor Swift adapted Joy the Baker's giant vanilla sugar cookies recipe to create her own chai sugar cookie recipe, which she posted to Tumblr. You can see Taylor's handwritten recipe here on reddit: Taylor's chai sugar cookies recipe.
My cookies are a variation which uses my soft sugar cookies recipe as the base, adding slightly more sugar, chai spices, and a cinnamon icing. My goal was to avoid the harder to find ingredients listed in Taylor's original recipe (like a single chai tea bag and eggnog) to make it easier to prepare year round. The result is a soft, pillowy, and slightly thicker sugar cookie with a thin layer of sweet cinnamon icing. If you love fall spices, I think you'll enjoy this variation!
Troubleshooting
Dry cookies are caused by overbaking. Every oven runs at a slightly different temperature, even when set the same. Use visual cues instead of relying on time alone. Your cookies are done when they're just set across the tops and barely beginning to brown around the edges.
If your cookies are dry and also bland, it sounds like too much flour was added to the recipe. I highly recommend measuring flour by weight instead of using a measuring cup, which adds up to 25% extra flour to a recipe.
This recipe contains the proper ratios of wet to dry ingredients, including plenty of moisture-retaining ingredients (butter, sugar, egg), and will not turn out dry or bland if the proper measurements, ingredients, and baking recommendations are followed.
Use a kitchen scale and follow the gram measurements listed in the recipe card for 100% accuracy. If you don't have a kitchen scale, use a spoon to gently add flour into your measuring cup, then level off with a knife. Do not scoop flour directly from a bin. This compacts the flour into the cup and adds up to an extra 25% flour to your recipe. Extra flour = dry, bland cookies. Check out my flour test in my post 10 tips for baking cookies for a visual!
The dough may be too cold (maybe left in the refrigerator too long), or too much flour was added to the dough (see the question above on how to properly measure flour).
- Leave dough balls on the counter top to warm slightly before baking. Cold dough spreads less and warm dough spreads more.
- Use your hands or the bottom of a flour-dusted glass to press down on the dough balls before baking. This helps the dough spread more and creates a flatter top.
- If too much flour was added to your dough, try adding a tablespoon of milk to the dough to help balance with the extra flour.
Recommended
📖 Recipe
Iced Chai Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
Cookies
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 ¼ cups (248 g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 cups (360 g) all-purpose flour, *measured properly
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 tablespoon chai spice blend
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup (56 g) granulated sugar, for rolling
Icing
- 1 cup (113 g) confectioner's sugar
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon, or nutmeg
- 2 tablespoons whole milk
Instructions
Cookies
- In a large bowl, add room temperature butter and sugar. Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat until light and fluffy, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla extract and beat until fully incorporated and fluffy, about a minute.
- In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, chai spice blend, and salt. Gradually stir dry ingredients into butter mixture (or use a mixer on low speed) until just combined.
- Cover bowl and chill dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Refrigerating allows time for flavors to meld and also creates a firmer dough that's easy to roll into balls.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Remove dough from refrigerator. Scoop dough using a medium cookie scoop or shape by hand into 1.5 tablespoon balls. Gently roll dough balls in granulated sugar.
- Place cookie dough balls 2 inches apart onto prepared baking sheet. Flatten balls slightly using your hands or the bottom of a glass dusted with flour. This creates a flatter top for icing later.
- Bake for about 10-12 minutes, or until tops look set and edges barely begin to brown. Allow to cool for 2 to 3 minutes (or until tray is cool enough to handle) before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
Icing
- In a bowl, add confectioner's sugar, cinnamon, and milk. Stir until smooth and shiny. Add more milk as needed to reach desired consistency.
- Carefully dip the tops of each cookie into the icing and allow excess to drip off before flipping upright and placing back on the cooling rack to dry. Optionally, use a small spatula or the back of a spoon to gently coat each cookie with a thin layer of icing.
- Allow cookies to dry for several hours before stacking and/or storing.
Equipment Recommendations
Notes
- * How to measure flour properly: Use a kitchen scale to measure flour for accurate results every time. If you don't have a kitchen scale, use the spoon and level method. Stir the flour (especially if it's been packed down in a bag/container), then gently spoon into the measuring cup, leveling off the top with a knife. Scooping with a measuring cup compacts flour into the cup and adds up to 25% extra to the recipe, resulting in dry, bland cookies that don't spread properly.
- Storing cooking dough: Cookie dough will keep in refrigerator for 2-3 days, or up to 3 months in the freezer.
- Storing cookies: Cookies will keep for up to 5 days in a tightly sealed container at room temperature or in the freezer for 3 months. Add a slice of bread to the cookie container to help keep cookies moist. Replace as needed (bread will dry out).
- More tips: Be sure to check out my 10 tips for baking cookies, based on reader comments and questions!
I had so much fun creating this recipe! I hope you give it a try and love it as much as I do. If you have a question, check out the post above, which is packed with information about the recipe. Tried the recipe? I'd love to hear your thoughts — leave a comment and a star rating to share your feedback!