These Vanilla Chai Shortbread Cookies are simple to make with just butter, flour, sugar, and tea, they have a little spice and a whole lot of cozy!
Vanilla Chai Shortbread Cookies
These Vanilla Chai Shortbread Cookies are one of my most popular recipes here on the blog and once you try them, you’ll know why! You’ll find their buttery, spicy, deliciousness hard to resist and they’re perfect for a cookie swap!
Can you believe another year has pretty much come and gone? Each year in early December, I participate in The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap.
Basically, a bunch of food bloggers make cookies (no surprise there) and we each get the names of three others to send our cookies to.
And then we get cookies from three other bloggers! Don’t forget to scroll down to the bottom to enter to win $400 in cash and check out 25 of the best Christmas cookies recipes around!
But you know what the best part is, though? Yes, even better than giving and receiving awesome cookies. Is that we all do this for a greater cause.
We team up with Cookies for Kids’ Cancer every year and donate to this amazing charity while spreading tons and tons of cookie joy!
Then we have companies like Land O’Lakes, Dixie Crystals, and OXO who support us along the way! That’s pretty incredible, right? I think so!
It’s pretty much the coolest thing ever and I always get really anxious waiting for my cookies to come and waiting for the reactions from those who received them from me.
This year I actually had two friends who received my cookies: Julie from Bread Booze Bacon and April from Mama Loves Food.
It was funny because when I posted a teaser picture of these cookies on Instagram, they both commented unknowing that some were already on their way to each of their doorsteps!
But anyways, you’re probably here for the good stuff, not all the mumbo-jumbo of how this recipe came to be, right?
The good stuff is these cookies. These crisp and buttery shortbread cookies are laced with vanilla chai tea leaves and then dipped in a vanilla spice icing for the full effect.
Did you know that Chai just means tea, what we often think of as Chai here in the states is actually Masala Chai which originated in India and is made with black tea, Indian spices, milk, and sugar?
We just shortened it up as we often do and now associate Chai with creamy lattes rather than the straight-up tea the word actually means.
Tools You’ll Need For This Recipe:
- Chai tea – I recommend just using the tea from tea bags, just cut the bags open and dump the tea into the butter for mixing. I like these teas because the leaves tend to be smaller and work great for this recipe.
- Rolling pin – You’ll need to roll out your dough before cutting.
- Cookie Cutters – You can make fun shapes or keep it simple with round cookie cutters.
- Parchment paper – It’s important to line your cookie sheet with parchment paper for best results.
- Cookie sheet – For baking the cookies on!
More Delicious Cookie Recipes:
- Earl Grey Shortbread Cookies
- Brown Butter Toffee Bourbon Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Sticks
- Peanut Butter No Bake Cookies
- Butterbeer Pudding Cookies
- Salted Chocolate Chunk Shortbread
Let’s Connect!
If you’ve tried this recipe, please let me know how you liked it in the comments below and leave a review. I love hearing from you!
Don’t forget to tag me – @sugarandsoulco – on Instagram and Pinterest with your photos or join our Sugar & Soul Show-offs Community and share them there, where you can join our recipe challenges!
Vanilla Chai Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients
Cookies:
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 2 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 bags of Vanilla Chai Tea loose
Icing:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tbsp water
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- Cream butter and confectioners sugar in a large bowl or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.
- Add in flour, salt, and loose tea leaves. continue to mix until a soft dough forms, the mix will be dry and crumbly at first but will come together.
- Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface until it’s ¼ inch thick.
- Cut out cookies using a 2 in round cookie cutter.
- Bake on a parchment-lined baking sheet for 18-20 minutes or until edges are a golden brown and transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Once cooled, whisk together icing ingredients until smooth. Dip half of each cookie in the icing, let excess drip off and run a spoon along the edge to remove any extra, then place on wax paper to set.
Video
Notes
- For a stronger initial flavor, mix the butter and tea leaves together about 6 hours ahead of time to infuse.
- For more, smaller cookies, use a 1 1/2 in round cookie cutter and bake for 12-15 minutes. Will yield around 36 cookies.
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?
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Comments & Reviews
Rosiee S says
Is step 1 supposed to include the butter??
Rebecca Hubbell says
The butter is part of step 2 in the recipe card.
Felix says
These were great and super easy to make, even the icing which can sometimes be a chore in other recipes. I halved the icing amount and still had some left over, but that’s an easy enough adjustment to make and remember 🙂 I also made mine gluten free by just swapping in 1-to-1 GF flour with no issues at all. Thank you!
Rebecca Hubbell says
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
Cathy Balch says
These cookies are delicious. I had a problem though rolling them out. I floured my surface and my rolling pin but the dough kept sticking to my rolling pin. I ended up putting wax paper between the dough and rolling pin. Would refrigerating the dough help?
Rebecca Hubbell says
It’s possible the butter got too warm while mixing and that’s why it is sticky. Chilling will definitely help and the wax paper is a great idea. You can also shape the dough into logs and wrap in wax or parchment paper and chill for a few hours before slicing into round – making them slice and bake cookies.
Star B. says
These cookies were fantastic! Easy to make and even easier to eat!
Rebecca Hubbell says
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
Holly Heckendorf says
Love these, so easy. Added some orange extract the second time I made them, very good.
Baking Granny says
Given the reviews , the cookies were disappointing. Too buttery; maybe less butter or more confectioner’s sugar???
Rebecca Hubbell says
I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy the cookies.
Amy S says
These cookies are fairly easy to make with good flavor. The cooking time was way too long for me – I pulled them out at around the 10 minute mark. My glaze was also very very thin. It worked well for me by upping the powdered sugar to about 1.5 cups.
Marie says
Love this recipe! I made 4 batches for my annual cookie swap (won 2nd! In a very competitive group), and it made 143 cookies.I found when making the icing I had to use much less water and more 10X in order to get it to “stick” and actually show up on the cookie,vs. looking like a shiny glaze.
Vanessa says
Thanks for sharing! How far ahead of time can I make them?
Suzanne says
This looks so good! What a fun blend of flavors for a cookie!
Sue says
I added a little too much cinnamon to the glaze but very yummy and the glaze was too thick so I just watered it down little at a time until it was spreadable (I put little dollops on top of the cookies and spread it around the cookie) The shortbread was very tasty and crumbly but not dry.
Dawn says
I have made these at least 5 times and they come out perfect every time. The flavor and texture are perfect and they are so easy to make! Thanks for a wornderful recipe….this will be my go to shortbread recipe from now on no matter what flavor I add.
Rebecca Hubbell says
I’m so glad you love the recipe, Dawn!
Megan says
The flavour was good but way too much butter- made it very hard to cut even after putting in freezer/
Rebecca Hubbell says
I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy the cookies.
Audrey says
I made these delicious cookies last night. Tried and tested and all true . Easy to make and so yummy. I used plant based butter and so so good. They are flaky but have a nice after taste. The aroma of the tea infused my house . Thank you for sharing this recipe, I’m not going to try your matcha one once I find it. I have pictures if you want to see end result .
Rebecca Hubbell says
I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe! I actually don’t have a matcha version, sorry!
Sheryne says
Can you make the dough ahead of time and freeze it?
Rebecca Hubbell says
You should be able too. I would roll the dough into two logs then roll in parchment paper then wrap in plastic wrap then place in a gallon ziploc container. Freeze for up to 3 months. Let thaw in the fridge then slice and bake.
Dani says
Just made these today, and they are amazing! I’ve been looking for a recipe for this cookie for a while (a co-worker made me some a few years ago, but I’m too shy to ask for the recipe). These are just like I remember! The only change I made was to add a dash of vanilla to the dough, as my chai blend didn’t have any vanilla in it. I also had to pull them out of the oven between 12-15 minutes, but my oven tends to bake everything a little fast.
Caitlin says
The flavour on these was great, but I found that rolling them out to 1/4-inch thickness resulted in them being far too brittle and fragile, even when baked for slightly less time. I will try again, but next time only roll to 1/2-inch thickness at most.
Kilee says
I have a liquid chai tea mix. Do you think I could use that instead of the tea leaves?
I can’t wait to make these they look absolutely amazing.
Rebecca Hubbell says
Liquid cannot be used in this recipe but a powdered chai mix could be used.
Amazila says
Excellent recipe and it tastes amazing!!!
Jenn says
I LOVE these cookies!! Is the serving size (the 92 calories) one cookie?
Rebecca Hubbell says
Yes, it is an estimate based on the recipe making 36 cookies so it can vary based on how many you make.
Aneesah says
Hello,
I really want to try this. Please can you tell me what the butter measurement would be in grams?
Thanks 🙂
Rebecca Hubbell says
I’m not sure but you should be able to look it up, I don’t normally bake with grams.
Rosie says
227 grams equals 1 cup of butter