Nutritious Nibbles: Chai cookies (Tian’s Version)

By: Tian Davidson, SFU Student

In celebration of the release of 1989 (Taylor’s Version), I decided to make Taylor Swift’s viral chai cookies, an old recipe she shared on Instagram and Tumblr that fans revived from the vault. I wanted to put my own spin on them by changing the dough ingredients to be slightly more chewy by using more butter and less oil. True to Taylor’s Version, this recipe involves the iconic frosting and masala chai bags. So cozy up, get into your cardigans and your gowns shaped like pastries, and get baking while listening to the new record. 

Prep time: 30 minutes
Bake time: 10 minutes
Total time: 40 minutes
Yields: 18 cookies

Ingredients:

For the cookie dough:  
1 cup unsalted room-temp butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 masala chai tea bags

For the glaze:
1 ½ cups powdered sugar
3 tbsp milk
¼ tsp nutmeg

Optional: You can substitute the milk for eggnog or dairy-free milk, and add cinnamon instead of nutmeg.

Equipment:

Oven
Baking pan
Mixing bowls
Parchment paper
Stand mixer or hand mixer*

*Optional, but makes creaming the butter easier.

Instructions:

1. 1. 1. Preheat the oven to 350 °F.
      2. In a large mixing bowl or standmixer, cream softened butter for about 5 minutes or until fluffy.
      3. Stop mixing when fluffy, then add brown sugar and granulated sugar. Continue creaming for 5 more minutes, or until fully incorporated.
      4. Add 2 eggs to butter and sugar mixture, and mix until fully incorporated, then add vanilla extract.
      5. In a separate bowl, add flour, baking powder, and salt and mix.
      6. Take 2 tea bags, cut open, crush them into a fine powder, and pour the contents into the flour mixture.
      7. Mix dry mixture with wet until fully incorporated.
      8. Roll cookie dough into 1.5 inch balls and bake for 10 minutes. Let cookies cool before adding glaze.
      9. For the glaze, mix all the ingredients in a bowl and add onto cooled cookies. 
      10. Enjoy!