Chai Cookies

My boyfriend loves chai tea. It's his go to drink when it's cold out. He's not a coffee drinker at all and only somewhat of a tea drinker, but chai tea is a whole other story. Granted, I like it, but I don't want it all the time. While dreaming up new varieties of cookies, I thought why not chai cookies.

I wanted these cookies to be soft and chewy, not hard like some brittle sugar cookie you get at the grocery store in those see though plastic containers. I did a little research and came up with the perfect chai cookie. Seriously, they are that good. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to photograph them, they way my son and boyfriend were eating them. I think it would be a really good vanilla cookie too, without the chai spices.

It was trial and error with the spices. I didn't want it to be overpowering, but I wanted it to taste like chai. I thought I might have to make a few batches to get it right, but the stars were aligned and they turned out perfect. I tasted the dough to get an idea of what they would taste like and I couldn't stay out of it.  You should never eat raw cookie dough if it has raw eggs in it. It's bad for you. Very bad.

Chai Cookies

Yield: 24 - 30 medium sized cookies

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: About 10 minutes

Total Time: 3+ hours including chilling the dough

Ingredients

1 cup AP flour

3/4 cup bread flour

3/4 light brown sugar

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 egg

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cardamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°

2. Beat butter, brown sugar, vanilla and egg in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed, or mix with a spoon. In a separate bowl mix together the remaining dry ingredients. Stir flour mixture into wet ingredients. 

3. Roll into 3/4 inch balls and place about three inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. 

4. Bake approximately 10 minutes without opening the oven door (See photo below). Immediately remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. 

Enjoy!

Lace Cookies

I have a huge notebook full of recipes that I have cut out of magazines and I've only made a few of the recipes. I've made it a goal to start making them and organizing them. They are currently a huge mess. At one point in time, they were well organized. But then a certain three year old found it and in seconds, it was a mess. Needless to say, I haven't re-organized it. I have, however, put it up high out of reach of little hands. Lesson learned. Do you have recipes cut out of magazines? Are they neatly in a notebook or folder or a complete mess like mine?

I've been eying these cookies for some time now and finally decided to make them. You'll like the crispiness of this buttery cookie. When cooked until crisp, they melt in your mouth, but when slightly undercooked, they are chewy and tend to stick to your teeth for what seems like hours. 

These were fairly easy to make and will make a nice addition to my Christmas cookies this year. I would list these under candy instead of a cookie because of it's brittle like texture and toffee taste. 

The nuttiness from the pecans and the toffee like texture would pair well with a rich coffee ice cream. Or you could offset the sweetness with a steaming cup of tea. 

Lace Cookies adapted from RealSimple, Sara Quessenberry

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons heavy cream (can substitute greek yogurt)
1/3 cup very finely chopped pecans
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt

Heat oven to 350° F. In a small saucepan, combine the butter, sugars and cream and bring to a boil. Boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves, about 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in the pecans, flour and salt. 

Drop level teaspoons of the warm batter, spacing them 4 inches apart onto parchment-lined baking sheets. If the batter cools between batches and can't be scooped, rewarm it slightly. 

Bake, rotating the sheets halfway through until golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Cool on the sheets until firm, about 5 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely. 

Enjoy!