Taylor Swift's Chai Eggnog Cookies
....yes, I am a Swiftie...sharing her holiday cookie recipe!
How can you be online and not stumble across Taylor Swift’s recipe for Chai Sugar Cookies? It’s everywhere, especially at this time of year. So I thought I would try making them.
Taylor chose to flavor sugar cookies with chai, which is an intriguing and addictive blend of black tea (chai translated means tea), boiled with milk and spices like cardamom pods, ginger, cloves, cinnamon, most times with black pepper, and star anise, typically enjoyed several times a day in South Asia and India.
“Chai is a way of life in South Asian culture. It’s a constant presence in our lives, a daily ritual of sorts—sometimes it’s consumed multiple times a day. Chai is also very communal. It brings people together, whether it’s the whole family catching up over chai and snacks in the evening or at gatherings and dinner parties or even weddings or Friday prayers.” - explained Farah Jesani, the founder of One Stripe Chai, a small batch chai company that produces blends and concentrates using high-quality, ethically sourced ingredients.
I love chai. And I love making cookies. So here is her recipe and I follow with my version of it. Taylor credited Joy the Baker with the original sugar cookie recipe that she then tinkered with and added in chai inspired spices and frosting.
Chai Sugar Cookies
by Taylor Swift
1/2 cup unsalted butter (softened)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup sugar (plus more for topping)
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 chai tea bag
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a cookie sheet.
Beat the butter, add vegetable oil. Add sugar, powdered sugar, egg and vanilla and beat.
Stir in flour, baking soda, salt and tea. (take the tea out of the tea bag, TAZO brand works well here)
Chill the soft dough for about 1 hour.
Line cookie sheet with 12 tablespoons dough drops.
Press evenly and cover with sugar.
9ish minutes in the oven.
After making these, I decided they were delicious but was anxious to try my hand at making them my own. I tore open the tea bag and beat it into the dough, but then added more spices. Some online recipes mention an eggnog icing, so I made one and dusted even more cinnamon on top.
My version:
1/2 cup unsalted butter (softened)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 chai tea bag
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
icing: (cool cookies 15 minutes before icing)
1 cup confectioner’s sugar
2 or more tablespoons store-bought eggnog
lots of dashes of cinnamon over the tops of the frosted cookies!
Beat together the ingredients for the cookies, frost them, and dust with ground cinnamon.
News!!!
W.W.Norton has updated and is re-issuing the cookbook I co-wrote with Stacy Dermont, The Hamptons Kitchen!!! We are so happy that it is now available in time for gift giving, so if you are interested head on over to the following, or if you live in the Hamptons you will be able to purchase it at your local bookstore.
See you next week!!! Hillary
