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, auntie 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!
The best part about these cookies (aside from their amazing flavor), is that they don't need to be chilled in the refrigerator before baking.
All you have to do is make the dough, roll them in sugar, and they're ready to bake.
P.S. you'll want to make extra because these chai snickerdoodles will go fast ;).
Ingredients in Chai Spice Snickerdoodles:
- butter
- flour
- cream of tartar
- baking soda
- chai spices (ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, allspice, black pepper)
- salt
- granulated sugar
- eggs
- 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.
It's very simple to make, as long as you don't walk away and let it burn because it can go from perfectly browned to yuck very quickly!
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.
My original recipe only included 1 egg which I never had a problem with.
However, I've most recently updated the recipe to include 2 eggs which has made a more moist and fluffy cookie.
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.
As mentioned before, 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).
Make these Snickerdoodle Cookies Ahead:
You can make the snickerdoodle cookie dough and chill it in the refrigerator up to 3 days in advance or you can freeze the dough up to 3 months.
If freezing, let the dough come to room temperature before rolling and baking.
Baked cookies will stay fresh in an airtight container or zip lock bag for 4-5 days or you can freeze them up to 3 months.
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
Don't forget to leave a star rating or comment below if you give these chai cookies a try! I always love to hear your feedback :).
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
- 2 Eggs, 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 slightly cool.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, spices, and salt, set aside.
- 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 3-4 minutes.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla extract and 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. They should be lightly browned on the bottom but not on the top. If they look flat, cook another 1-2 minutes.
- 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.
*I have updated the recipe as of 2022, to include 2 eggs instead of 1. This has yielded a moister, fluffier cookie.
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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
Bethany
I made these and they were amazing! When I made them a second time, I used a little Chinese five spice with the cinnamon to roll in. Delicious and I love the browned butter.
Wine a Little Cook A Lot
Thank you Bethany! So glad you liked them 🙂
jackie
I loved these cookies, but my picky seven year old said they are too spicy. I want to try again. What spice do you think that making it too spicy? Any recommendations on how I can alter the recipe so he will like them?
Wine a Little Cook A Lot
Hi Jackie, you can try cutting the spices in half so they aren’t as spicy. Hope this helps!
Anonymous
Just made these and they’re so good! Forgot to roll them in the sugar cinnamon mix before going in to oven so I whipped up a quick glaze with tazo pumpkin spice chai tea and powdered sugar - absolutely delicious!
Wine a Little Cook A Lot
Great idea with the glaze! That sounds delicious :). Happy you liked the recipe.
Anonymous
These are wonderful! I made them exactly as the recipe said. They did need longer in the over, closer to 15 min in my oven with my pans. Next time I'd add more cinnamon in the sugar cinnamon mix.
Wine a Little Cook A Lot
Thank you for the feedback! So glad to hear you liked them :).
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.
Lauren
The same thing happened to me!
Catalina
My dough came out dry and crumbly too!
Wine a Little Cook A Lot
Hi Catalina, I'm not sure why some people are having a problem with their dough being crumbly. I have made the recipe again using both 1 egg and 2 eggs and both of my doughs came out fine. I am updating the recipe to include the 2 eggs just to ensure the dough does not come out crumbly. I hope you try the recipe again this way :).
Lauren Behl
I have not yet made these but did make note of the difference between Sally's baking addiction and your recipe.
Sally's recipe includes the chai spices in her sugar roll portion,while you omit them.
You have the spices in the dough,while Sally's leaves them out.
I am tempted to include the spices in the dough and the rolling mixture.
Would that result in too much spice?
Would appreciate your input on this.
Wine a Little Cook A Lot
Hi Lauren, I think it's up to your own preference! These cookies have a subtle chai flavor so I don't see anything wrong with also adding the chai spices to the sugar mixture. Let me know how they come out if you try it 🙂
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.