Step up your Christmas cookie game this year with these soft and chewy chai spice brown butter snickerdoodles. These cookies are warm, cozy & perfect for holiday baking!
This is a Christmas cookie recipe you'll want to bring to your next cookie swap or add to your Christmas baking list because it has alllll the holiday feels.
Even just the smell of these chai spice brown butter snickerdoodle cookies baking in the oven is heavenly...I'm talking sweet cinnamon, toasty chai spice, & nutty brown butter!!!
Hellloooo new Bath and Body Works Candle fragrance ;).
I love Christmas time but I especially love baking Christmas cookies.
It reminds me of my mom and Grandma who would bake cookies every year.
We'd eat the cookies all the way up until Christmas, and even through the New Year if there were leftover cookies stored in the freezer (which there always was!)
These snickerdoodle cookies are reminiscent of the classic recipe, with a twist of chai spice and brown butter.
Definitely high on my list of favorite cookies!
Ingredients in Chai Spice Snickerdoodles:
- butter
- flour
- cream of tartar
- baking soda
- chai spices (ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, allspice, black pepper)
- salt
- granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- vanilla extract
If you’ve been up to date on most of my posts, you know very well that I LOVE brown butter. I’m telling you guys, it can make any recipe go from blahhh to "HOLY COW THIS IS GOOD" with just that one simple ingredient.
If you've never made brown butter before or just need a refresher on how to make it, see my How to make Brown Butter post.
The original Snickerdoodle cookie recipe is from Sally's Baking Addiction (original recipe here). They’re absolutely delicious on their own but I added Chai Spice to really give them that comfy-wintry-Christmas flavor that balances flawlessly with the brown butter.
Why do you need cream of tartar in snickerdoodles?
Traditional Snickerdoodle cookies have cream of tartar which is most commonly used as a stabilizer, but in this cookie recipe it creates a nice soft texture and adds a slight tang which is a classic snickerdoodle trademark.
Snickerdoodle cookies are so easy to make, which is another reason these are one of my favorite holiday cookie recipes.
After making the dough, you roll them into about 1” balls and then roll them in cinnamon sugar. No chilling necessary :).
The cinnamon sugar makes them so pretty, like they’re coated in edible sparkles and ready for a party.
Whether you make a batch of these chai spice brown butter snickerdoodles cookies for Christmas or just to have with a cup of tea, they’ll definitely get you in the holiday spirit.
(I recommend blasting some Christmas music and having a glass of wine while baking).
For more cozy cookie recipes try:
- Apple Cider Oatmeal Cookies
- Espresso Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
- Cream Cheese Stuffed Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Lavender & Sea Salt Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Chai Spice Brown Butter Snickerdoodles
Step up your Christmas cookie recipe game with these soft and chewy chai spice brown butter Snickerdoodle cookies. They’re warm, cozy & perfect for holiday baking!
Ingredients
- 1 cup 2 sticks Unsalted butter, divided
- 3 cups All Purpose Flour, 375 grams
- 2 tsp Cream of Tartar
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 1 tsp Ground Ginger
- ½ tsp Ground Cinnamon
- ¼ tsp Ground Cardamom
- ¼ tsp Ground Cloves
- ¼ tsp Ground Allspice
- ¼ tsp Black Pepper
- ½ tsp Salt
- 1 ⅓ cup Granulated Sugar, 267g
- 1 Egg, room temp
- 2 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
Rolling Sugar
- ⅓ cup Granulated Sugar, 70g
- 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside
- Make the brown butter: melt 1 stick of butter in small saucepan. Continue to melt, swirling around, until mixture starts to foam up and you see small brown specks. The butter will start to smell nutty. Immediately remove from heat, transfer to a small bowl and set aside to cool.
- Whisk together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, spices, and salt together in a medium bowl.
- In your stand mixer with a paddle attachment (or in a large bowl with a hand mixer), beat the remaining 1 stick of butter along with the cooled brown butter and granulated sugar on medium high speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes.
- Add the egg and vanilla extract. Beat on medium speed until combined, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed.
- Slowly add the dry ingredients in 3 stages, and mix just until combined.
- To Make the Rolling Sugar: combine the granulated sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl.
- Roll cookie dough into 1" balls, and then roll in the cinnamon-sugar topping. Place about 3" apart on cookie sheets.
- Bake cookies for 10 minutes, rotating half way in between. While they are still very warm, gently press down on them with the back of a spoon or fork to help flatten them out.
- Allow cookies to cool on the cookie sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.
- Store in airtight container and keep room temperature for up to 1 week. Or, place in freezer for up to 3 months.
Notes
*The original Snickerdoodle recipe is from Sally's Baking Addiction-recipe here.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 24 Serving Size: 1 gramsAmount Per Serving: Calories: 184Total Fat: 8gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 28mgSodium: 106mgCarbohydrates: 26gFiber: 1gSugar: 14gProtein: 2g
Jenn
I made these, followed your recipe exactly as you wrote it and couldnt figure out what I did wrong when all I had was dry crumbly dough. THEN I watched your video and saw you put 2 eggs in, not one like the recipe said. 😭
Wine a Little Cook A Lot
Hi Jenn, I’m sorry your dough didn’t come out right but the recipe is correct, it is just 1 egg. I think what you’re seeing in the video is the 1 egg and then the vanilla? I’m not sure what made your dough so crumbly, the only thing I can think of is maybe you over-mixed the dough.
Remy
Why do you only brown one stick of the butter? Is its flabor too strong?
Wine a Little Cook A Lot
Hi Remy, I only brown one stick of butter because you need the consistency of the room temp butter for the creaming process to take place. If you want a stronger flavor you could brown both sticks but you’d have to wait for them to cool completely back to room temp instead of being melted.