Packed with warming spices, these chai sugar cookies are perfect for all your fall and winter celebrations. Get this cut out sugar cookie recipe now.

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These chai sugar cookies are so soft and flavorful – trust me, they really are the best cut-out sugar cookies!

Taking a break from healthy recipes to bring you what I truly believe to be the BEST sugar cookie recipe. Period. 

I know it’s a bold claim, but I promise that you’ll love them! They’re soft, lightly spiced, and hold their shape when baked – what more could you want? 

Plus, with the warm spices, these chai spiced sugar cookies are perfect for fall and winter celebrations! Let me show you how to make them!

>>Looking for a healthier recipe? Try these Sugar Cookie Protein Bars instead.

Why you’ll love this recipe

• Filled with warm chai spice. 
• Perfectly sweet without any icing. 
• Hold their shape beautifully when baked. 
• Goes perfectly with a cup of milk or a hot mug of coffee. 
• Kid-friendly and a true family-favorite! 

Ingredients used to make chai spiced cookies

• Chai spices: To make a chai seasoning blend, you’ll need cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, allspice, and a pinch of black pepper. 
• Unsalted butter: As mentioned earlier, these aren’t healthy cookies. I don’t recommend skimping on the butter. To make them vegan, you can use a vegan stick butter like Country Crock or Miyoko’s Creamery. 
• Sugar: Good old white sugar is perfect for this recipe. YOu can also use raw cane sugar, just note that the weight in grams will differ. 
• Flour: This recipe works well with either white whole wheat or all-purpose flour. 
• Egg: Just one large egg. For a vegan cookie, you can use a flax egg instead. 
• Milk: Any regular milk or milk alternative will work. I used unsweetened oat milk. 
• Baking powder: Just a little bit is needed to help these cookies rise without spreading too much. 
• Salt: Just a pinch
• Powdered sugar: For a little extra sweetness, I usually roll out my dough in powdered sugar, but you can use flour instead. 

How to make the best chai sugar cookies 

Making sugar cookies that you can roll out takes a bit more time, but the end result is so worth it! Here are the basic steps to make these soft chai sugar cookies: 

1. Soften your butter. I generally just set my butter out on the counter about an hour or so before I plan on baking (the warmer your kitchen, the faster this will go). 
2. Make you chai spice.
3. Mix together the dry ingredients. 
4. Using a stand or hand-held mixer, cream the butter and sugar. Then slowly add in the egg, milk, and vanilla extract. 
5. Mix in the dry ingredients until just combined. 
6. Form the dough into 2 thin circles (about 1 to 2-inches thick), wrap in plastic and set in the freezer.
7. Freeze dough for 45 minutes.
8. Roll out the dough. I like using powdered sugar, but you can also use flour. 
9. Bake in batches.
10. Allow to cool, then dig in! 

Can you soften butter in the microwave?

You can, but I don’t recommend it as your dough is more likely to spread. 

If you don’t have time to wait for the butter to soften at room temperature, you can try the bowl method:

• Fill a microwave-safe bowl with water and microwave on high for 2 minutes, or until the water is hot. 
• Meanwhile, place the sticks of butter on a plate. 
• Carefully remove the bowl from the microwave and pour out the water. Quickly turn the bowl upside down and place it over the butter. 
• Wait 10 minutes and then remove the bowl. If the butter still isn’t soft enough, repeat, but reduce the waiting time to 5 minutes. 

How thick should cut out sugar cookies be? 

Ideally you want to roll out your dough to ¼-inch (0.64cm) thickness 

Do you frost chai spiced cookies? 

You can, but honestly I don’t recommend it as you’ll lose the delicate spiced flavor. Plus, I find that these cookies are plenty sweet on their own. 

If you really want to ice them, I’d recommend either this Cream Cheese Frosting from Sally’s Baking Addiction or Coffee Glaze from Dietitian Debbie. 

Why do my cut out cookies lose their shape? 

In order to make cut out sugar cookies that hold their shape, it’s important not to let the butter in your cookie dough get too soft. 

This is why many cookie recipes call for chilling the dough for several hours before rolling out and baking. 

Now, I don’t know about you, but I’m not the best at planning my baking ahead of time. Which is why this recipe doesn’t require making the dough several hours or even a day ahead of time (although you definitely can!). 

How to keep your chai sugar cookies from spreading:

1. Don’t soften your butter in the microwave. 

Either let it come to room temperature on it’s own (my preference), or use the heated bowl method mentioned earlier in the post.

Form your dough into 2 thin spheres and freeze for 45 minutes. 

2. Only take out half of the dough at a time. 

Instead of taking both rounds of dough out of the freezer, leave one in while you roll out the other. 

3. Try not to handle the dough too much with your hands. 

If you notice that your dough has gotten quite soft from rolling and re-rolling, place the baking sheet with the cut-out shapes back in the freezer for 10 minutes before baking. 

4. Pop the dough back in the freezer between batches. 

Unless you have a double oven, while your first batch of cookies is baking, I recommend putting the dough back in the freezer. I usually take it back out and start rolling out the next batch as the previous batch is cooling. 

If you have multiple baking sheets, you can also roll out and cut the next batch and then store the whole baking sheet in the freezer until it’s time to bake. 

5. Allow your baking sheet to cool for at least 10 minutes between batches. 

I know it sounds like a long time, but otherwise you run the risk of the pan being too hot when you go to put the next round of chai sugar cookies on it. 

6. Have at least 1 inch of space between cookies on the cookie sheet.

7. Don’t grease your baking sheet. 

Any type of cooking spray or butter will only encourage your cookies to spread. However, you don’t want them to stick either. 

I highly recommend covering your baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat. The extra friction will further help prevent spreading. 

8. Bake at a higher temperature for a shorter period of time. 

While many recipes call for baking at 325 for 12 minutes or so, I’ve had much better success baking at 375 F for about 8 minutes. 

How long to cut out chai sugar cookies last? 

These chai sugar cookies taste best when stored in an airtight container and enjoyed within 1 week. While they’ll technically stay good for up to 2 weeks, they won’t be quite as soft after a week. 

You can also freeze leftover sugar cookies in a freezer-safe bag for up to 6 months. 

Note: storing the cookies in a glass, airtight container is best for maintaining their texture. 

Can you freeze sugar cookie dough? 

Absolutely! I just recommend forming the dough into a 1 or 2-inch thin circle to help it thaw faster and more evenly. 

To freeze cookie dough, wrap each circle of dough in plastic wrap and then place the wrapped dough in a freezer bag. It should stay good for up to 4 months. 

To thaw, I recommend placing the dough in the fridge overnight. The next day, transfer the dough to your counter and allow it to finish softening at room temperature. 

More spiced recipes you might like

Looking for healthy recipes to celebrate fall and winter holidays? Try one of these Healthy Toast favorites:

• Pumpkin Vegan French Toast Casserole
• Norwegian Pancakes with Cardamom Whipped Yogurt
• Chai Spiced Overnight Oats

If you tried this chai spice sugar cookie recipe or any other recipe on the blog let me know how you liked it by leaving a comment/rating below! 

Be sure to follow along on Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook for even more deliciousness!

Print Recipe

The Best Chai Sugar Cookie

Packed with warming spices, these chai sugar cookies are perfect for all your fall and winter celebrations. You’ll love this cut out sugar cookie recipe!

Course: Dessert

Keyword: Chai Spice Cookies, Chai Sugar Cookies, Cut Out Sugar Cookies

Servings: 3 dozen

Calories: 109kcal

Ingredients

For the chai spice:

• 1 ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• ¼ teaspoon allspice
• Pinch or up to ⅛ teaspoon of black pepper depending on how much of a kick you want the cookies to have.

For the rest of the dough:

• 3 cups (360 gramall-purpose flour or white whole wheat flour*
• ¾ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter softened
• 1 cup (198 gramgranulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon unsweetened oat milk or milk of choice
• Powdered sugar or extra flour for rolling out cookie dough

Instructions

• In a large mixing bowl, combine the chai spices. Next, add in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir to combine, then set aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until fluffy. Reduce speed to low and mix in the egg, milk, and vanilla extract.
• With the mixer still on low speed, slowly add in the flour mixture until just combined. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the sides and give the bottom of the bowl a good scrape too to make sure everything is well-combined.
• Divide the dough in half and form each half into a 1- or 2-inch thick circle. Wrap each dough circle with plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 45 minutes. Alternatively, you can place the dough in the fridge for at least 3 hours or overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 375 F and cover a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Remove one circle of dough from the freezer. Unwrap the dough and place it on a surface lightly dusted with powdered sugar or flour. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough into a ¼-inch thickness. Using cookie cutters or a drinking glass, cut out desired shapes. Place cut-out cookie dough on the prepared baking sheet, leaving at least 1 inch between cookies.
• If your dough has gotten too soft from handling, place the baking sheet in the freezer for 5 to 10 minutes before baking. Otherwise, place the baking sheet in the oven and bake for 8 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies look done but aren’t browning.
• Remove the cookies from the oven and allow to cool for 2 minutes on the baking sheet. Carefully transfer the cookies to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely before storing in an airtight container.
• Repeat with remaining cookie dough, allowing the baking sheet to cool slightly between batches.

Notes

*3 cups of white whole wheat flour equals 339 grams

Nutrition for 1 cookie (1/36 of recipe): 109 calories, 6 grams fat (3 grams saturated), 13 grams carb, 0 grams fiber, 6 grams sugar, 1 gram protein

Note: nutrition facts do not include powdered sugar or flour used for rolling out dough.

Making these for a fall treat? Get these adorable Fall & Thanksgiving Cookie Cutters!

Don’t forget to pin for later!