Taylor Swift’s Soft Chai Sugar Cookies with Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting
User Reviews
5
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Prep Time
30 mins
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Cook Time
10 mins
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Total Time
40 mins
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Servings
24 cookies
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Course
Dessert, Baked Goods
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Cuisine
American
Taylor Swift’s Soft Chai Sugar Cookies with Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting
Description
Taylor Swift’s Soft Chai Sugar Cookies start with a spiced dry ingredient mix incorporating cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, cloves, allspice, and leavening agents. The wet ingredients combine softened butter, granulated sugar, powdered sugar, an egg, Greek yogurt, and vanilla extract to create a moist dough. After blending the dry with wet ingredients, the dough is formed into cookies and baked at 350 degrees F.
The spices provide a warm chai spice profile without overwhelming heat or bitterness, and the combination of sugars helps keep the cookies soft. The vanilla bean cream cheese frosting is made by mixing butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla bean seeds or extract with a bit of milk or eggnog for smoothness, producing a velvety, sweet topping.
These cookies are a flavorful treat suited for teatime or dessert, offering a cozy chai spice background elevated by the rich vanilla cream cheese frosting. They invite pairing with milk or chai tea to reinforce the spice theme.
Substituting the spices with chai tea in the dough is an option for a slightly different aroma and texture. Using room temperature ingredients ensures even mixing and proper texture.
Ingredients
- Dry Ingredients:
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour 210g
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon cardamom
- ¼ teaspoon cloves ground
- ¼ teaspoon allspice
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- Wet Ingredients:
- ½ cup butter salted, 1 stick (113g), at room temperature
- ½ cup granulated sugar 100g
- ½ cup powdered sugar 60g
- 1 egg large, at room temperature
- 1 tablespoon whole-milk greek yogurt plain or vanilla, or sub sour cream
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- For the vanilla bean cream cheese frosting:
- 4 tablespoons butter salted, 57g, at room temperature
- 4 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
- 1 ½ powdered sugar 180g
- 1 vanilla bean split and seeds removed, or sub ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 to 3 teaspoons milk or eggnog, to make the frosting creamy
- Sparkling Sugar gold, pearl or gold pearl, or Christmas
- Sprinkles gold, pearl or gold pearl, or Christmas
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Mix the dry ingredients: In a large bowl, add the flour, cornstarch, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, cloves and allspice, baking powder, baking soda and salt; whisk the dry ingredients together until well combined then set aside.
- Mix the wet ingredients: In the bowl of an electric mixer, add the butter, granulated sugar and powdered sugar. Using the paddle attachment, beat the mixture together until well combined and butter and sugar are well incorporated, about 1 minute. Add in the egg (make sure it is at room temperature!), the Greek yogurt and then vanilla extract. Mix again on medium speed until the ingredients are well combined, about 1 minute. You may need to scrape the bowl down a few times with a rubber spatula and mix again.
- Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix on medium low speed until the dry ingredients are well incorporated into the wet ingredients and a dough forms.
- Use a small cookie scoop to grab tablespoonful sized dough balls and roll into balls. Place dough balls on the cookie sheet, 2 inches apart, and bake for 10 to 12 minutes. They may look slightly underbaked but that is the trick to keeping them soft so try not to overbake! Allow cookies to cool on the cookie sheet for 5 to 10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to finish cooling completely.
- Once cookies have cooled, prepare the frosting: In the bowl of an electric mixer, add the softened butter and cream cheese and whip on high until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Add in powdered sugar, seeds from the vanilla beans, and milk, and beat slowly at first, then increase speed to high and beat for 1 to 2 minutes. Spread the frosting over the cooled cookies then sprinkle them with sprinkles of choice. Enjoy! Makes 24 cookies.
Notes
- The recipe is inspired by Taylor Swift’s own chai sugar cookie version.
- You may substitute ground spices by brewing chai tea and adding it directly to the dough for flavor variation.
- Use room temperature ingredients like butter and egg for best dough consistency.
User Reviews
Overall Rating
5
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