Fall, fall, fall! People on social media keep telling me “it’s officially fall.” It surely doesn’t feel like it. How has Labor Day become the door into fall? We still have a whole month of heat left here, and it really isn’t “officially” fall until September 21st. Don’t get me wrong, I want it to be fall with cool, crisp weather more than the average person, and I may have even had a slice of pumpkin spice cake while burning my Leaves candle this week, but I’m not kidding myself to think it is fall yet. Every week that the mornings start out cooler I have hope, but then it heats up to 90+ degrees.
So, instead of breaking out the apples or the pumpkin spiced treats this week, which I couldn’t be more excited to do, we’re easing into the end of summer/beginning of fall with chai spices. We use some cinnamon, cardamom, ginger and cloves and soak up all of the coziness from this delicious combination. Maybe we can harken fall with all of our spices. :)
The smell of the spices in the mixing bowl is warm and cozy. The spicy dough is like a big hug in a bowl, reaching out to you with open arms. And don’t underestimate the spices in the topping mixture. They round out the whole cookie and give a little crunch to the outside of the otherwise soft cookie, while mimicking the same cozy spiced flavor that is in the dough.
I’m ready for the new season, the cooler weather, the changing leaves, and all of the pumpkin flavored items. We’re so close. Until then though, chai snickerdoodles all the way.
Chai Snickerdoodles
1 cup butter
1 ½ cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
2 ¾ cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon allspice
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
topping
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of cardamom
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar. Add the vanilla and eggs and mix again until all of the ingredients are well incorporated.
In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, salt, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, allspice and black pepper.
Pour the dry ingredients into the bowl of the electric mixer and mix to blend all of the ingredients together.
Mix the topping ingredients together in a small bowl. Roll the cookie dough into 1-2 inch balls (I like mine on the smaller side) and roll them in the topping until they are evenly coated with cinnamon cardamom sugar. Place the cookie dough balls on the prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10-12 minutes. The 1-inch cookie dough balls will bake faster than the 2-inch cookie dough balls. Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes on the pan before transferring them to a wire rack to finish cooling. Serve warm or at room temperature. I definitely recommend serving with coffee, milk or a chai tea latte. Go all out :)
Recipe adapted from Betty Crocker’s Cooky Book
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