These brown butter chai spice cookies are soft, chewy, and drizzled with vanilla bean glaze for extra flavor! They're like a cross between my chewy sugar cookies and my snickerdoodles but with warming chai spices instead!
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Why You'll Love These Chai Cookies!
Texture – These chai sugar cookies are soft, chewy and have that perfect crispy edge. Best of all, they keep their texture long after they come out of the oven!
Effortless – These cookies are SO easy to make. All you do is mix, scoop, chill, and bake.
Longevity – Most cookies are best eaten when fresh from the oven, but these brown butter chai cookies are delicious no matter when you serve them. Because of how soft and buttery they are, they keep that perfect chewy texture for up to a week!
Full of flavor – Between the brown butter, homemade chai spice, and vanilla bean glaze, these chai cookies are full of warming fall flavors!
These cookies are also delicious with a big mug of chai or a homemade pumpkin spice latte!
Ingredient Notes
You just need a few simple ingredients (and lots of spices) to make these chai spice cookies.
Brown Butter - My favorite ingredient of all time is brown butter!! Brown butter is just unsalted butter that has been melted and gently cooked to bring out a toasty, nutty flavor. Best of all, brown butter pairs beautifully with the warming chai spices. If you've never made brown butter before, you can check out this post with all my tips for how to make brown butter!
Vanilla Bean Paste - I love using vanilla bean paste for a more concentrated vanilla flavor. But you can also use regular vanilla extract instead!
Chai Spice - I love using my homemade chai spice mix, but you could also use pumpkin pie spice instead!
The complete list of ingredients and amounts is located in the recipe card below.
How to Make Chewy Cookies
Browning the butter is technically optional but the extra time is SO worth it! The biggest problem I see people run into when using brown butter in cookies, is not letting the butter cool completely to room temperature before adding it to the dough. So I highly recommend browning the butter the night before you want to make these chai cookies.
Using a stand or hand mixer, cream together the brown butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until smooth and creamy.
Add in the eggs and vanilla bean paste and beat until light, fluffy, and pale in color. This should take 2-4 minutes which seems like a long time, but you'll see a huge difference in the texture afterwards.
Stir in the flour, chai spice, baking soda, and salt and mix until thoroughly combined. The dough should be wet and sticky.
In a small bowl, whisk together the granulated sugar and chai spice for the topping.
Spoon a generous 3 tablespoons of dough and then roll cookie dough balls in chai sugar.
Cover the dough balls and chill in the fridge overnight (minimum of 2 hours if you just can't wait).
Preheat your oven to 350°F and line a light colored baking sheet with parchment paper.
Place dough balls at least 2-3 inches apart on the baking sheet (they will spread, I usually only do 6 cookies on a half sheet pan). Place the rest of the cookie dough balls back in the fridge while the first batch cooks.
Bake cookies for on the center rack of the oven for 9-11 minute or until the edges are set and the centers are still soft.
Remove from the oven and let rest on the baking sheet for 2-3 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack.
Once the chai cookies are cool, drizzle with the vanilla bean glaze if desired! (Use as much or as little glaze as you want!)
Why Do I Have to Chill the Dough?
Chilling the dough is super important for a few reasons!
First, letting the dough rest gives the flour time to hydrate. Eggs are the only liquid in these chai spice sugar cookies and it takes flour a long time to absorb that moisture. When the flour is hydrated it helps contain the spread of the cookie so that you get a nice set edge and soft, chewy center.
Similarly, the brown butter needs to be as cold as possible before baking so that the cookies don't spread too much.
But don't we want the cookies to spread? Yes, we do and they will. We just don't want them to spread too much because then you get a flat, dry cookie instead of one with a soft, chewy center.
Tips for Perfect Cookies
Measure your flour correctly! It's most accurate to use a kitchen scale, but if you're measuring by volume you want to spoon and level! Fluff up the flour a bit with a spoon, and then spoon flour into the measuring cup. Once it's overflowing, use the back of a knife to level it off. Don't ever pack flour into the measuring cup or you'll end up with way too much! Improperly measured flour can lead to dry, crumbly cookies that don't spread.
Make sure your oven is the proper temperature! Use an oven thermometer to make sure your oven is exactly 350°F. If the oven is too cold, the cookies will spread too much and if it's too hot they centers won't bake all the way through. For example, my oven is about 20 degrees off. So I have to set the oven to 370°F in order to get it to bake at 350°F.
Use a lightweight, light colored baking sheet for best results! Believe it or not, a lighter pan makes the cookies bake more slowly than a dark pan, which helps keep them from spreading too much. My favorite pans for baking cookies are:
You also want to use either parchment paper or silicone mats on your cookie sheet to help keep the cookies from spreading.
Bake the cookies one sheet at a time, on the center rack. This will ensure all your cookies cook evenly and the bottoms don't burn. Then let the cookie sheet cool completely between batches. This ensures the cookies cook evenly and don't spread too much by being put on a hot pan.
Always under-bake the cookies! If you slightly under-bake the cookies (so the centers are still soft when you remove them from the oven), they'll stay soft and chewy for days!
Do the cookie scoot! In order to get perfectly round cookies, use a large cookie cutter to gently scoot them around as soon as they come out of the oven!
Recipe FAQ's
Store the baked chai spice cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days. You can also store the dough in the fridge for up to a week and bake a few cookies at a time, as desired.
Yes! Freeze the pre-rolled cookie dough balls on a baking sheet, once frozen transfer to an airtight container and freeze for up to 6 weeks. The frozen cookie dough can go straight from the freezer to the oven, just add 2-3 minutes to the cooking time. I recommend freezing the dough before rolling in chai sugar.
Nope! You can regular unsalted butter if you prefer! I just love the way the brown butter pairs with the chai spice!
The reason cookies spread too much either has to do with the dough not being chilled long enough, or improper oven temperature. Make sure the cookie dough is fully chilled before baking and use an oven thermometer to make sure the oven is exactly 350°F.
Tips for Success!
For best results I always recommend using weight measurements (especially when baking) because it's the most accurate. Kitchen scales are super affordable and also reduce the number of dishes you have to do! However, all my recipes also include US customary measurements for convince. Use this chart to convert measurements for common ingredients!
Substitutions: In all my recipes, I've included substitutions that I know will work, but I cannot guarantee results if you substitute ingredients that I have not recommended. [For example, granulated sugar and honey are indeed both sweeteners but they have very different properties so they can not always be swapped 1:1. Using honey in a cookie recipe that calls for granulated sugar will yield a giant mess.] In the recipe card you'll find links to the specific ingredients/brands that I use.
A note on salt: I almost exclusively use Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt because it's the best all-purpose salt for cooking and baking. If you're not using kosher salt, consult this handy guide for a conversion chart! When in doubt, if you're using table salt just reduce the amount by half for baked goods. When cooking, I prefer to under-salt because you can always add more! If you've over-salted, adding a little bit of acid (like lemon juice) can help.
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Recipe Card
Brown Butter Chai Spice Cookies
Ingredients
Chai Spice
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons ground cardamom
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon ground allspice
Cookies
- 1 cup unsalted brown butter, room temperature
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ¾ cup light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon chai spice
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
Topping
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon chai spice
Glaze
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- 1-3 tablespoons milk, as needed
Instructions
Chai Spice
- In a small bowl, sift together all the ingredients for the chai spice blend. Store in an airtight container for up to a year.
Cookies
- Browning the butter is technically optional but the extra time is SO worth it! The biggest problem I see people run into when using brown butter in cookies, is not letting the butter cool completely to room temperature before adding it to the dough. So I highly recommend browning the butter the night before you want to make these chai cookies.
- Using a stand or hand mixer, cream together the brown butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until smooth and creamy.
- Add in the eggs and vanilla bean paste and beat until light, fluffy, and pale in color. This should take 2-4 minutes which seems like a long time, but you'll see a huge difference in the texture afterwards.
- Stir in the flour, chai spice, baking soda, and salt and mix until thoroughly combined. The dough should be wet and sticky.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the granulated sugar and chai spice for the topping.
- Spoon a generous 3 tablespoons of dough and then roll cookie dough balls in chai sugar.
- Cover the dough balls and chill in the fridge overnight (minimum of 2 hours if you just can't wait).
- Preheat your oven to 350°F and line a light colored baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Place dough balls at least 2-3 inches apart on the baking sheet (they will spread, I usually only do 6 cookies on a half sheet pan). Place the rest of the cookie dough balls back in the fridge while the first batch cooks.
- Bake cookies for on the center rack of the oven for 9-11 minute or until the edges are set and the centers are still soft.
- Remove from the oven and let rest on the baking sheet for 2-3 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack.
Glaze
- In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and vanilla bean paste. Then slowly drizzle in the milk until the glaze is a thick, pipeable consistency.
- Transfer to a piping bag piping bag (or small plastic bag) and cut the tip off to make a small hole.
- Once the chai cookies are cool, drizzle with the vanilla bean glaze if desired! (Use as much or as little glaze as you want!)
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ash says
Caution - if you make these cookies you will never be able to rest because everyone around you will be asking you to make them again.
I have made this recipe probably ten times over the last year due to its overwhelming popularity with my friends and family. Everyone who tries one of these cookies asks for about five more. Yes it takes a long time to make but it is WORTH IT. They are just as delicious without the frosting IMO.
Amy Anderson says
These cookies are excellent! The browned butter gives them a great depth of flavor. I only had a 1 Tbsp scoop, so I ended up with 36 3” cookies.
Wanda says
Would you be able to give the weight for the ingredients or at least the flour. Thank you.
Kyleigh Sage says
At the top of the ingredients list there is a toggle button you can press for all the metric weights!
Michelle says
I tried putting the dough in the frodge before rolling for about 40 mins. Then i rolled, then dipped in sugar mix. The i put them in the freezer for 15 mins before baking. When baking i turned the tray half way through cooking. Theyre THE BEST cookies EVER!!!!
Michelle says
These are too stucky to roll. Can i put the batter in the fridge to firm up before rolling and dipping in the sugar? Then cool again before baking?
Kyleigh Sage says
Yes! You can put it in the fridge for about 30 minutes to an hour before rolling. Too long and the dough will get too stiff to roll easily
reese says
hi, just to clarify, if we cool the brown butter overnight in the fridge, do we need to get it to room temp first or it's okay to be incorporated cold? thanks ^^
Kyleigh Sage says
It’ll need to be room temp to combine properly. If you’re going to let it sit overnight, instead of the fridge you can cover it tightly and let it sit at room temp overnight and it will be perfect!
Molly says
I've actually been using this recipe since November and just never posted about it lol. They're a hit. So good, I could cry