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Tea bag shaped chai sugar cookies on a wire rack

Tea Bag Chai Sugar Cookies With Brown Sugar Frosting

Shri Repp
These tea bag shaped chai sugar cookies have chai spices and tea granules baked in for a delicious and adorable tea time dessert.
5 from 1 vote
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Course Dessert
Servings 24 cookies

Equipment

Ingredients
 

Cookie Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons CTC black tea
  • 2.5 cups (380 g) all purpose flour
  • 2 tablespoons store bought or homemade chai masala
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ⅛ teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 cup unsalted butter softened and room temperature
  • ¾ cup (165 g) granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Icing Ingredients

  • ¼ cup brown sugar
  • ½ teaspoon store-bought or homemade chai masala finely ground
  • 2 tablespoons water
  • ¼ cup powdered sugar plus more to thicken icing

Instructions
 

Prep Ingredients

  1. Take 1 cup unsalted butter and leave it on the counter until it reaches room temperature.
  2. 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)

Make dough

  1. In a medium bowl, whisk together 2 tablespoons CTC black tea, 2.5 cups all purpose flour, 2 tablespoons store bought or homemade chai masala, ½ teaspoon baking powder, and ⅛ teaspoon sea salt. Set aside the dry ingredients.
  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream together 1 cup unsalted butterre) and ¾ cup granulated sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy.
  3. Add 1 large egg and 1 teaspoon vanilla extractto the bowl and mix until egg is combined into the mixture. Scape down the bowl periodically to ensure the ingredients are mixed properly.
  4. 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.

Roll and bake cookies

  1. Heat oven to 350F.
  2. Roll out the dough in between ¼ inch to ½ inch thickness. Roll the cookie thicker for a softer cookie and thinner for a crispier cookie. Avoid using flour on your working surface as that will yield a tougher/dryer cookie. If the rolling pin sticks to the cookie, sprinkle a bit of powdered sugar to avoid sticking.
  3. 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. 
  4. 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.

Assemble

  1. Prepare glaze: In a small saucepan heat ¼ cup brown sugar, ½ teaspoon store-bought or homemade chai masala, and 2 tablespoons water together until the brown sugar melts into a syrup. In a small bowl add ¼ cup 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 teaspoon increments. If the icing is too thick, add water in 1 teaspoon increments.
  2. 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.
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Notes and Tips

  • 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.
Did you make this recipe?Tag @moonriceshri so I can see your amazing creation!