These chai snickerdoodle cookies are the kind of holiday baking that makes your kitchen smell like you hired a cinnamon-obsessed goddess as your personal chef. Soft, chewy chai spice cookies with a hint of orange zest and enough Christmas cookie attitude to win every swap, steal every heart, and maybe side-eye a frenemy or two. Grab a mixing bowl - it's time to make dessert the main character. 🍪✨
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🗝️ Chai snickerdoodles are the cozy chaos you deserve
These chai snickerdoodles bring the kind of warm, spicy comfort that turns any kitchen into a holiday movie set… but with more side-eye and better snacks. Soft middles, cinnamon-sugar crackle, and chai latte swagger - they're the cookie equivalent of wrapping up in a blanket while stirring a little mischief. And bonus: they ship like champs, so you can mail a little chaos to the people you love (or merely tolerate).
🧾 Ingredients you'll need for this chewy cookie recipe
Just the usual cookie suspects - butter, sugar, flour - but we're inviting their glamorous cousins too: cozy chai spices and bright citrus zest that waltz right in and demand a spotlight. Nothing weird, nothing fussy… just everyday ingredients ready to transform into the soft, spiced cookies your holiday baking playlist has been manifesting.
- All-purpose flour. The glue that holds this mess together.
- Baking soda. Rise and shine, darling.
- Salt. Use kosher salt, please.
- Cream of tartar. The snickerdoodle signature. Respect it.
- Orange zest. A little sunshine with attitude.
- Sugar. Obviously.
- Brown sugar. Moisture + mischief. Helps them stay chewy.
- Vanilla extract. Gotta have it.
- Almond extract. Optional but adds that special extra oomph.
- Eggs. Binding agents. Like a good sense of humor.
- Butter. The reason anyone comes to the party.
- Cinnamon. Cozy but bold.
- Chipotle. The wink that turns heads and tingles your tastebuds.
- Cardamom. The quiet luxury of spices.
- Black pepper. Surprise. You'll like it. Trust me.
- Cloves. Big holiday energy. Makes your kitchen smell amazing.
- Nutmeg. Nutty spice royalty. Grate fresh from whole nutmeg.
- Ginger. Zingy little troublemaker.
grab the free chai snickerdoodles cheat sheet
Keep the sass in the spice, not in the scrolling. This quick printable packs pro tips, FAQs, flavor riffs, and troubleshooting magic so your cookies bake up soft, chewy, and full of chaotic holiday charm. Download it, tape it up, and act like you were born knowing how to multitask chai spice like a pro. 🍪✨
📖 Recipe
Chai Snickerdoodles Cookies
Print Pin Recipe Rate RecipeIngredients
Sugar-spice mixture for rolling
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 ½ tablespoons ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground chipotle powder, adjust to taste
- ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Line your baking sheets with parchment or live dangerously and go old school ungreased.
- Cream butter, 1 ¼ cups sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, and almond extract in a stand mixer until light and fluffy-like "mall bangs in the 80s" fluffy.
- Beat in the eggs, then add orange zest because subtle citrus sass makes everything better.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt. Add this to the butter mixture and beat just until combined. Don't overdo it-nobody likes tough cookies.
- Scoop dough into balls (about 1 ½ teaspoons each). Chill for 30 minutes if you can wait-this keeps them thick and chewy.
- In a shallow bowl, mix together sugar, cinnamon, chipotle powder, cardamom, pepper, cloves, nutmeg, and ginger. This is your flavor bomb.
- Roll dough balls in the spice-sugar mix like you're coating them in holiday magic. Place 2 inches apart on baking sheets.
- Bake 8-10 minutes, until the edges are just golden and the centers are set but still soft. Cool a few minutes before transferring.
Notes
- Cream the butter properly for best results. It should take about 5 minutes.
- Bake 1 test cookie. Always wise. Adjust time or size before committing to a full sheet.
- Don't overbake! Pull them when the edges are set but the centers still look slightly underdone.
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
This recipe has been tested several times. If you choose to use other ingredients, or change the technique in some way, the results may not be the same.
🔪 Quick & easy step by step instructions for these spicy snickerdoodle cookies
Time to turn that bowl of ingredients into full-blown cookie goodness. Follow these simple steps and you'll have soft, spiced beauties cooling on your counter - filling your kitchen with "I absolutely meant to be this impressive" energy. Let's bake.
- Beat the butter and sugars together, then add the eggs, vanilla, almond extract, and orange zest. It's already smelling dangerous.
- Add the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, salt, and all those spicy chai flavors. Dough should look like trouble in the best way.
- Scoop the dough into balls and roll each one in the cinnamon-spice sugar blend. Fully coat them like they're going undercover.
- Space the dough balls on a lined baking sheet and bake until they puff, crackle, and make everyone wander into your kitchen like stray cats at a tuna factory.
👩🍳 Your chai snickerdoodle survival guide
Have other questions? Be sure to download the free chai snickerdoodle kitchen cheat sheet or ask me in the comments!
Your butter was probably too warm, or your baking soda/cream of tartar has lost the will to live. Chill the dough for 20-30 minutes and check that your leaveners aren't from the Jurassic era.
Do not overbake - pull them when the edges are set but the centers still look slightly underdone. They finish cooking on the pan like the drama queens they are.
Oh yes. Lord yes. Chill up to 48 hours or freeze dough balls for 3 months. Roll in cinnamon sugar right before baking so they stay sparkly.
🍪 Because one cookie is never enough 🍪
If these chai snickerdoodles have you feeling some kind of way (and I know they do), then you're about to fall headfirst into my snickerdoodle universe. Try my Apple Snickerdoodle Bars for a gooey, cinnamon-spiked dessert that says "I own a pie dish but I refuse to use it today." Prefer something classic? My Old Fashioned Snickerdoodle Cookies are the pure nostalgia version - soft, chewy, and absolutely dunk-worthy.
And because the holidays demand extra, don't miss my Christmas Snickerdoodle Bars, which come dressed for the season and ready to steal the dessert table spotlight. Or, if you like your cookies with a bit more chaos, my Spicy Snickerdoodle Cookies bring the heat - sweet, fiery, unforgettable.
Bookmark them all. Your baking adventures are just getting started. 🍪✨
You did it - you conjured up soft, chewy, chai-spiced show-offs that will have every nosy neighbor sniffing around your doorway like sugar-deprived raccoons. These cookies aren't just baked goods… they're a chaotic blessing, a warm hug with a spicy wink, the exact level of cozy trouble you deserve in your life right now.
Bake them again. Gift them. Ship them to someone who needs a little delicious disruption. And remember - you didn't just make cookies. You made comfort in the shape of dessert. 🍪✨
Now go pour yourself a chai latte and admire your own creation, you glorious kitchen ceo.
If you love this recipe please comment below and give it 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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