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Taylor Swift Chai Cookies are delicate and soft and perfectly chai spiced with a cinnamon frosting. Whether or not you’re a Taylor Swift fan you MUST try making Chai Sugar Cookies because they’re SO delicious.
I am a ginormous Taylor Swift fan and I’ve been loving making recipes that tie into her songs (like a Lavender Haze cocktail or Friendship Bracelet Cupcakes). I’m chronically online so when I came across the Taylor Swift Chai Cookie Recipe I knew I had to try it.
Taylor posted a photo of her handwritten recipe on Tumblr back in the day. Her recipe was adapted from an original recipe (Joy The Baker’s Vanilla Sugar Cookies), with chai spices added. Taylor’s famous recipe has been viral ever since because it’s so darn good. They’re insanely good sugar cookies with chai flavor and cinnamon icing. You MUST try these cookies – they are the perfect recipe: soft center, crisp outer edge, tons of flavor. They’re even good frozen (don’t ask how I know).
How to make Taylor Swift Chai Cookies
- The most interesting thing about this cookie recipe are the ingredients: it uses both butter and vegetable oil as well as both granulated sugar and powdered sugar. I’ve used butter and oil in my World’s Best Cookies so I know it creates a great chewy soft texture, but I’d never thought to add both types of sugar. The dual sugars makes them have the perfect delicate texture! I will be testing out more cookie recipes with that base for sure.
- When it comes to the chai seasoning, Taylor used a bag of chai (basically, a chai tea bag). You just need to cut open the packet of chai tea and pour the spices into the dough.
- Want to use chai spice blends or your own spices? I added those instructions in the notes.
- In her Tumblr post, Taylor used an eggnog glaze on top the cookies. I have a favorite eggnog icing on my Eggnog Snickerdoodles, but you can’t find it all year long. I made a simple cooking frosting and added cinnamon, although you could add more tea for a chai element. Feel free to swap eggnog if you can find it!
Click to see the recipe card below for full ingredients & instructions and below the recipe card for process shots.
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Dorothy’s Expert Tips
- Don’t add too much milk to the frosting all at once. You can use any kind of milk (whole milk, nonfat, cream, nondairy) but the level of fat in the milk will change how much you need. Whisk in a little at a time until your icing glaze reaches the perfect consistency.
- These do spread so I recommend making them with a 1-tablespoon cookie scoop.
- The dough is pretty loose, so you’ll want to chill it. You can chill the cookies after scooping or, if the dough is too wet to scoop, chill it before scooping.
Taylor Swift Chai Cookies Recipe
Taylor Swift’s Chai Cookies recipe – this easy chai sugar cookie has a cinnamon frosting and they’re SO good – soft and chewy with crisp edges and the frosting is perfect – make her cookie recipe for fall and holiday baking or to celebrate her music!
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 8 minutes
Chill Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 38 minutes
Ingredients
For the cookies:
- 2 cups (248g) all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 chai tea bag (see note)
- ½ cup (113g) unsalted butter, softened
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the coating:
- ⅓ cup (67g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
For the Icing:
- 1 ½ cups (170g) powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- 2-5 tablespoons milk (half and half, or heavy cream – see note)
Instructions
- Whisk flour, baking soda, salt, and dry tea from the tea bag in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Beat butter, vegetable oil, and granulated sugar until smooth, then mix in powdered sugar.
- Mix in egg and vanilla, then add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until smooth. Dough will be wet.
- Use a 1-tablespoon cookie scoop to scoop balls of dough on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. If your dough is too loose to scoop you can chill it 30 minutes, but mine was okay to scoop.
- Chill cookie dough balls for 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- Stir cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl. Roll each cookie dough ball in cinnamon sugar and place 2-inches apart on cookie sheets. Press a bit flat with the palm of your hand.
- Bake 7-9 minutes or until flattened and light golden around the edges and on the bottom.
- Cool completely before frosting.
- Make the frosting by whisking powdered sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a medium bowl.
- Add 2 tablespoons milk and whisk, adding more milk or cream until desired consistency (see note).
- Frosting will dry a bit but will still transfer, only stack between sheets of parchment or wax paper. Store in an airtight container for several days or freeze for up to 2 months.
Recipe Notes
- Don’t make the tea; just cut open the tea bag and use the dried spices. Use 2 tea bags for a stronger flavor. Or, use spices: 1 teaspoon cinnamon, ½ teaspoon allspice, ¼ teaspoon nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon cardamom, 1/8 teaspoon cloves, and a pinch of black pepper.
- Re: milk for the frosting – You can use any kind of milk, cream, half and half, or non dairy milk. The less fat in the milk the less you’ll need (i.e. regular milk will need less than heavy cream). The more fat in the milk you’ll need more of it. The more fat in the milk makes a thicker frosting (less fat makes more of a drizzle). This is why I say to start with 2 tablespoons and add more slowly so you don’t add too much.
Recipe Nutrition
Serving: 1cookie | Calories: 146kcal | Carbohydrates: 20g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 14mg | Sodium: 65mg | Potassium: 14mg | Fiber: 0.3g | Sugar: 13g | Vitamin A: 104IU | Vitamin C: 0.004mg | Calcium: 5mg | Iron: 0.4mg
Nutritional information not guaranteed to be accurate
Step by Step Info and Photos
- Whisk flour, baking soda, salt, and chai tea packet and mix.
- Beat butter, vegetable oil, powdered, and granulated sugar until smooth.
- Mix in egg and vanilla, then add the dry ingredients.
- Scoop to scoop balls of dough on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Chill cookie dough balls for 1 hour.
- Roll cookie dough balls in cinnamon sugar, slightly flatten, and bake 7-9 minutes.
- Whisk powdered sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg then add a bit of milk and whisk, adding more milk, until desired frosting consistency is reached.
