Description
These tea bag shaped chai sugar cookies have chai spices and tea granules baked in for a delicious and adorable tea time dessert.
Ingredients
Scale
Cookie Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons CTC black tea
- 2.5 cups (380g) all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons store bought or homemade chai masala
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened and room temperature
- 3/4 cup (165g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Icing Ingredients
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1/2 teaspoon store-bought or homemade chai masala, finely ground
- 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
Instructions
- If using a non CTC black tea or tea from a tea bag, make sure to grind your black tea into small granules using a mortar and pestle. (Look for notes for more details on tea)
- In a medium bowl, whisk together black tea, flour, chai masala, baking powder, and salt. Set aside the dry ingredients.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream together room temperature butter and granulated sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy.
- Add egg and vanilla extract to the bowl and mix until egg is combined into the mixture. Scape down the bowl periodically to ensure the ingredients are mixed properly.
- Add the dry ingredients to the stand mixer and mix on low speed until the flour is incorporated and there are no more dry flour patches left. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour.
- Heat oven to 350F. Roll out the dough in between 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch thickness. Roll the cookie thicker for a softer cookie and thinner for a crispier cookie.
- Use the tea bag cookie cutter or cookie cutter of choice to cut out cookies. Transfer cookies to a parchment lined baking sheet. The cookies don't need that much space between them as they shouldn't spread much. Re-roll and cut scraps of cookie dough. Place cut cookies in the freezer for 10 minutes to firm.
- Bake cookies on the middle rack of the oven for 10-12 minutes until the bottom of the cookie is browned. We aren't looking for the tops of the cookie to get much color. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely before glazing.
- Prepare glaze: In a small saucepan heat brown sugar, chai masala, and water together until the brown sugar melts into a syrup. In a small bowl add powdered sugar and pour the brown sugar glaze into the bowl and mix making sure to get rid of any clumps. The icing consistency should look like a loose caramel. It shouldn't be super watery but rather slowly run from your spoon and easily spread onto the cookie. If the icing is too thin, add powdered sugar in 1 tsp increments. If the icing is too thick, add water in 1 tsp increments.
- Glaze the tea bag cookies by drawing a line where the tea would be filled to and covering that area with glaze. Allow the glaze to dry matte before stacking and storing away in an airtight container. These cookies will last for up to 10-12 days.
Notes
- You can buy tea bag cookie cutter at the link provided.
- It is important to have the butter at room temperature to ensure that you can whip air into it
- Don't add too much flour to the working surface when rolling out these cookies as they will taste floury.
- Use black CTC (crush, tear, or curl) tea like Red Label which has a stronger flavor. Alternatively, you can use black tea that is sold in tea bags which is often CTC variety. If using orthodox black tea which is sold in long strands the taste of the tea will be very subtle. Make sure to grind tea to ensure that it is in small granules before adding it to your batter. You can learn more about CTC tea, its substitutes, and brands I reccomend using this blog post.
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 20
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Indian
Keywords: Tea Bag Chai Sugar Cookies With Brown Sugar Frosting