Cookies are certainly my favourite thing to bake, and I couldn’t help myself from combining my love of Masala Chai with the humble chocolate chip cookies.
Chai lattes have become the craze now in Western countries, but Masala Chai (or spiced tea) is a homely beverage served right through South Asia. Made with black tea, ginger, cardamom and sometimes clove and pepper, this is a afternoon tea standard. Chai itself means tea! So next time you say ‘Can I please have a Chai Tea?’, you are really saying Can I please have a tea tea.
I remember my time in India from December 2016 to February 2017. In those three months I consumed LITRES of Masala Chai, because it was literally served 4 times in the day. I came back to Sydney and went back to 1 cup of tea a day while starting a new job and I suffered from Masala Chai withdrawals. It’s actually a thing!
This recipe is inspired by chai lattes, Masala Chai and my favourite chocolate chip cookies. It features ginger, cardamom and cloves, along with the secret and subtle star of the show – black tea. I spent hours researching how to best achieve a deep tea flavour within the cookies, and learnt about infusing tea in melted butter. At first it sounded crazy, but I decided to try it out in the test kitchen and the results were amazing! In this recipe I have steeped a tea bag in melted butter for 10 minutes, and what you end up with is a really smooth flavour of black tea in the cookies without any pungent tea leaves in your mouth.
To make these similar to a classic cookie I added chopped dark chocolate, but I definitely would try the same recipe substituted with white chocolate for an intense caramelised flavour throughout. I opted for a 60% dark blend, but if you prefer the bitter chocolates, then go ahead with a 75% blend. This is completely up to you! My recipe also doesn’t have any cinnamon since most of the masala chais I’ve had never used it, but if you enjoy the Chai Latte flavours, then add in 1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon to the mix.
These cookies are an absolute hit with my family – even my mum who doesn’t enjoy sweet food loves these cookies. It’s everything we love in a homemade masala chai, in biscuit form and pairs beautifully with a hot mug of coffee or tea (of course!). Here’s another serving suggestion for you, make an ice cream sandwich! I used some amazing cookies and cream ice cream from Halo Top (**Not sponsored) for mine, but any vanilla based ice cream would work wonderfully with these.
Watch me make these amazing cookies using the link below!
Masala Chai Cookies
Equipment
- Oven
- baking tray
- Stand Mixer
- Mixing bowl
Ingredients
- 350 g plain flour
- 200 g butter at room temperature
- 200 g packed brown sugar
- 80 g caster sugar
- 1 tbsp. vanilla extract
- 1½ tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 2 tsp ground cardamom
- ½ tsp ground clove
- ½ tsp all spice
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp flakey sea salt
- 200 g dark chocolate
- 1 or 2 black tea bags
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 170°C/340°F and line a baking tray with baking paper
- Place butter in a microwave safe bowl, and place in microwave. Melt the butter by microwaving it in 15 second intervals, until 75% of the butter is melted
- Add the tea bag into the butter and set aside to steep for 10 minutes
- In a bowl, mix together the flour, spices, baking soda and ¼ tsp of salt. If you are not using sea salt to top the cookies, then add an extra ¼ tsp of salt to this step
- Remove the tea bag from the butter
- Pour tea infused butter into a mixing bowl for a stand mixer and add the sugars. Mix together for 1 minute. If using a hand mixer double the amount of time
- To the butter and sugar add egg, and vanilla and beat together until light and creamy. This should take 2 minutes to achieve a smooth cappuccino like color
- Add the flour a few spoons at a time to the wet ingredients. Mix until just combined before adding more flour
- Once all the flour is just combined, add the chopped chocolate (saving about 2 tbsp. worth) and fold into the dough
- Roll the dough into 1-2 tbsp. sized balls. This recipe should make roughly 20 cookies
- Place the balls onto the lined baking tray, and flatten lightly using your fingers. Press some of the remaining chocolate into the chocolate and a couple of flakes of sea salt into each cookie
- Place the tray into the oven for roughly 10-12 minutes for a chewy cookie. Bake for 15 if you prefer a crunchy and hard cookie. Once baked, remove the cookies from the oven and place on a cooling rack to crisp up
- Serve warm alongside tea or coffee, or for dessert with some vanilla ice cream
