Spicy Chai Molasses Cookies are soft and chewy on the inside with deliciously crispy edges. Seasoned with fragrant chai spices, these take old-fashioned Molasses Cookies to another level! Serve with Authentic Masala Chai!
One of my favorite things in India, were the roadside Chai stands, called Chai Wallahs. (In Hindi, a wallah is someone who makes or sells a certain good.) Truth be told I had never really been into drinking chai before this trip, not out of dislike, more out of disinterest. I couldn’t relate to it. Which as a side note, reminds me how experiencing something, rather than hearing about it or reading about it, changes everything. The beauty of life!
These soft and chewy Chai Cookies are very much like old-fashioned molasses cookies, but with the addition of flavorful chai spices – cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, pepper and ginger.
Perhaps these will do nothing for many of you. But to some, it will take you somewhere. Perhaps back to India. Perhaps to the place in dreams, that feels so much like home, but slips out of memory once we awake. Going to India, felt like that to me. Like I had been there before, like I knew it, so very familiar. Yet, every time I asked myself “why”, the gates of perception in my mind, shut down tight.
It was while drinking a cup of chai, a whisper floated through me, like air – so light, and fleeting…
The recipe is easy and straight forward.
Just follow the directions and you’ll be happy with the results. Know that the dough must be refrigerated until its hard enough to roll into balls- 2 hours, or overnight. Also, the dough keeps for up to 5 days in the fridge, if wanting to make ahead, or bake in smaller batches.
Roll the dough into small walnut sized balls and roll in coarse sugar. Place on a parchment-lined sheet pan ( or use a silicone baking mat). Bake for 8-10 minutes, until edges are crisp and cookies begin to crack. As they cool and deflate, they will crackle more.
Soft and chewy with deliciously crispy edges!
And- the cookies stay soft and chewy for several days after being baked, although they may not last that long!
The only strong recommendation I have, is to let the butter soften to room temp naturally. Don’t melt it.
And weigh the flour if you have a scale. Otherwise fluff the flour with a fork before measuring,
These Spicy Chai Molasses Cookies are super easy, flavorful and oh soooooo delicious!
You might enjoy these with Authentic Masala Chai!
Enjoy!
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Spicy Chai Molasses Cookies
- Prep Time: 20
- Cook Time: 15
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 36
- Category: desserts, cookies, sweets, baked goods
- Method: baked
- Cuisine: Indian
Description
Spicy Chai Molasses Cookies are soft and chewy on the inside, crispy on the outside! Seasoned with chai spices, these take old-fashioned Molasses Cookies to another level. These require 2 hours refrigeration time.
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature ( don’t melt, let it come to room temp naturally)
- 2/3 cups granulated (white) sugar
- 2/3 cups packed brown sugar
- 1 extra large egg
- 1/3 cup molasses
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 3 cups (380 grams) all-purpose flour
- 3 teaspoons baking soda
- 3 teaspoons ground ginger, plus 1 for more spicy
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon cardamon
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
Coarse sugar for rolling
Instructions
350 F Oven
Cream butter and sugars together in a stand mixer or large bowl. Whip until light and fluffy. Add egg, molasses and vanilla, and whip until combined.
Whisk flour, baking soda, and ginger, cinnamon, cardamon, cloves, nutmeg, pepper and salt together in medium bowl, whisk until well combined. If you can weigh the flour, do so, otherwise fluff up the flour with a fork, before measuring.
Gradually add flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix well. Refrigerate 2 hours or overnight, so you can easily roll them into balls.
Roll into small, 1 inch wide, walnut-sized balls and coat all sides with coarse sugar or turbanado sugar.
Place on a parchment-lined sheet pan, 3 inches apart. ( Or use a silpat!)
Bake 8-10 minutes, until edges crisp and tops begin cracking. They will puff up a bit, then flatten out, and this is what creates the beautiful crackling. Cool on a wire rack. The will crack more as they cool.
Soft and chewy with crispy edges, to me, the perfect cookie!
Notes
Use naturally softened butter- don’t melt. Weigh the flour if you can. Dough will freeze for future baking.
Keywords: Chai cookies, molasses cookies, soft molasses cookies, old fashioned molasses cookies, chewy molasses cookies, ginger molasses cookies, chai molasses cookies, christmas cookies, holiday baking
Hey, these look great, would they be okay to freeze?
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Yes, I think so? I haven’t tried, but don’t see why not?
Hi I wanted to make these for Thanksgiving. I want to get a head start and premix the cookie Dow and back them in Thursday. How many days will they keep if I store the raw dow in a air tight container?
Im so sorry for the late reply! I think they will keep for 3-4 days!
Sylvia; No need to post this if you don’t want to. Edit as you see fit if you do:
I have made these cookies and the taste is Smashing!! I am unable to get the lovely look with crackling on top. First batch, exactly as written…weighed flour and all. Flat, featureless cookie. Second batch, again precisely following your recipe, except I substituted half the butter with butter flavored Crisco in attempt to reduce spreading: after initial chilling (4 hours) rolled and straight to oven; then rolled, chilled 15 minutes on sheet and to oven.. Tried a drier table sugar instead of turbinado. Then tried a larger portion. In all instances they came out a slightly rounded cookie with no cracks. BUT, delicious. Any ideas what I am doing wrong?
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David I appreciate your comment and I am perplexed! I will have to do some digging and get back. My first guess is baking soda or powder may be old? or oven is not hot enough? Do you have a thermometer you can use to check?
Thanks Sylvia; been making cookies for years so I am very flummoxed. Baking soda is less than 6 months old and stored in airtight container. Just before baking, validated oven temp. Making again today to try to figure this out. Going back to all butter. Will vary chilling ploys.
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Ok I will remake over the weekend… and get back. 🙂 I know they need to puff up to crackle. Do yours puff?
Ok I think a friend of mine figured out the issue. The flour grams were off! low. If measuring by the cup, they crackle- but by weight, they don’t. I adjusted the grams ( from 350 to 380) and it should work now. I’m so sorry about that.
Splendid! And I appreciate your hard work & your friend’s input. I am making them again today, exactly as written with the increased flour. In the interim I had made a work around by using shortening and I added 2 T of egg white powder. Looked great but dried out too quickly and were brittle.
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Let me know they turn out- thanks!
Made these last night, they are delicious! Serious yum. I used fresh ginger instead of ground. This will be one of the cookies in my Christmas baskets this year! Thank you fir the recipe!
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They are really good! Next time I would add just a bit more ginger and black pepper.
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Thanks Susan!
I mixed these up a couple of days ago, wrapped the dough tightly and popped in the fridge. Baked them last night for a party this coming weekend. Good thing they are in the freezer right now, because I ate 2 and was craving more! Love those warm, spicy, flavors. These will be my go-to cookies this holiday season. I love the mix ahead and bake later process!
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Haha! Glad you liked!
These cookies are very good! They are more ginger-snappy in flavor than milky chai, but very much the quintessential “fall” cookie. Very well received by all! Mine flattened out a great deal during cooking. Do you have any additional recommendations to keep them a bit taller/fluffier? Thanks for sharing this recipe!
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Huge hit here in Seattle! I veganized the recipe by using Earth Balance for the butter and replacing the egg with 4 oz. of applesauce. Left dough in fridge overnight. We really like the “chai” spices so next time will use more of each.
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Love that you made these vegan- I will give this version a go! Thanks for the info!!!
Hi Sylvia, these cookies are absolutely perfectly spiced. The black pepper really gives them a zing which I love. Thank you for another amazing recipe. I’ll have to try the naan bread next !
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Oh goodie! Im so glad you like them. I’m about to make a batch too. 🙂
OMG they’re delicious! Wanted something warm and spicy for this fall season and this cookie hit the spot. Actually this is a great cookie any time of the year. Now going to make the chai tea and have myself a “me moment”. Thanks Sylvia for the great recipe.
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So happy you liked and enjoy your “Me” moment Cynthia!
Simply the best tasting cookie I’ve had in a long time. Cardamom is my new favorite spice. Followed the recipe exactly and we actually got 60 cookies. Hooray for us. Will be making these cookies again and handing them out during the holidays.
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So happy you enjoyed!!!
Yum! I made these on Sunday. Delicious! I think I need to invest in a stand mixer though. My little Kitchenaid electric hand mixer got a hell of a workout on this big recipe. Would recommend this recipe if you enjoy the flavors used. I do and these were perfect in my opinion 🙂
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I’m so glad you liked them!!!
Yum! I used the silicon baking mat for my first batch and the bottoms burned at 10 minutes. The next batch went in for 8 minutes and turned out perfect. Yum!
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Thanks for sharing Libby- sorry first batch burnt- but good info to know.
Came out tasting great! …. but they took almost double the suggested cooking time, puffed up, and never flattened out or develop those beautiful little cracks… any thoughts on what might have happened?
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Did you use baking soda or baking powder?
Oooooo, I am all over these this holiday season, Sylvia! I love chai spices and molasses so these are perfect. What a great combo idea. Absolutely brilliant!
In my top 3 cookies of all time. & I’ve eaten a lot of cookies!
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Great to hear! I’m curious about your other two!!! 🙂
I made these cookies over the weekend and they are perfection! The first bite hits as a normal ginger-molasses cookie. Then, the after taste is flooded with all of the familiar flavors of chai! The sugar coating makes them crunchy and the middle is tender and chewy…. I am so happy to have found this recipe, thank you!
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Sylvia- these are incredible! I love ginger cookies (we make several varieties at the bakery, lol) but I was so curious to try these on a lazy day off… SCRUMPTIOUS! I can’t stop eating them… had two this morning with my coffee! xoxo, Kat
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I made a batch and they were delicious! But for some reason every single one of them came out super thin and flat, did not have that cracked top. Do you know what would have caused this? I followed the recipe exactly as written except that the dough sat in the refrigerator for a few days.
Did you use butter? Here is an interesting post on ‘flat cookies”… hopefully this helps? https://www.tasteofhome.com/article/why-are-my-cookies-flat/
Mia- I’m guessing you measured in grams rather than cups. The grams were off. I fixed the recipe and they should crackle now. 🙂
I love these!! So good with a cup of tea.
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I had to comment because I’ve made these cookies 3-4 times now (always substituting GF Cup 4 Cup flour) and they come out perfectly every time. They are SO delicious; not too sweet and a little spicy. Couldn’t love these cookies any more. Thank you!!
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Perfect balance of spicy, sweet yumminess…black pepper and cardamon…everything blends into perfection. I used Nucoa margarine and they came out great though I may try earth balance cubes next time for more density.
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Perfect balance of spicy, sweet yumminess…black pepper and cardamon…everything blends into perfection.
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WOW these were good! Molasses sugar cookies are one of my very favorites, so I was excited to try this twist. It was fantastic. I can’t have gluten, egg, or dairy, so I used Cup for Cup gf flour, Smart Balance, and Egg Replacer, and it all still turned out great. I took three dozen to a school event, hoping i’d be able to bring home some leftovers. Not a chance! These were all gone in 20 minutes. Delish!
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Laura! Thanks for sharing how you made these vegan and gluten free! Great to hear!
Perfection. These will be part of our Christmas cookie rotation from now on. Thanks!
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Awesome Megan, so glad you liked them!
Hello Sylvia,
I made this recipe and absolutely love it. The cookies are divine.
Mine did not come out as flat as the ones pictured, but nonetheless,
they are perfect cookies. Sweet enough and spicy too!
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These sound great….Possible substitute for the cardamom? I don’t happen to have any right now, or do you think it will make a huge difference if I leave out?
Just leave it out.;)
Hi Sylvia! These look amazing! I want to make them for a holiday craft party but a friend of mine doesn’t eat dairy- do you think a 1-1 sub of earth balance would work in place of butter? Thanks!
I think so???? I haven’t tried. You want to use a vegan butter that firms up hard in the fridge, so you can roll these. Use the butter at room temp, just make sure it starts out hard. Please leave notes if you do use vegan butter!
These look so tasty…excited to try them…in the instructions it instructs to add the vanilla but I’m missing how much to add…looking forward to making a batch
Oh, these look divine! How many grams is one cup of butter?
226 grams or 8 ounces.