Chewy Chai Bars

It’s September, so I can start with fall baking, right? I have seen more fall recipes on a couple of different blogging sites, so I hope I am ok. We have been traveling so again, I didn’t want to make a very large batch of cookies. It seems like this time of year I do find a lot of recipes that are for an 8” square pan, and this is one of those recipes. Looking at the photos from the original blogger, the bars looked like they would sink in the middle, so that makes for even fewer cookies.

These bars start with a mix of spices, that you blend together. I think this is good because you can omit ingredients that you don’t like or use whatever fits that you happen to have on hand. In my case, the original recipe called for cardamom, which I do not like. I substituted Chinese Five-Spice as that has some similar ingredients. I didn’t notice a difference in the end, so make these bars your own!

As expected, the bars sunk in the middle. Perhaps not as bad as the original photos, but noticeable. I didn’t know when they were done, as I started testing and after several instances the bars still weren’t done. They get cracked along the edges, and finally they tested as I expected. The glaze was a little dry, so if you need to add a half teaspoon of water to the glaze, that will make it easier. The bars are certainly soft in the center, but they are so good. The tops are crackly-crunchy and the center is soft and gooey. The spice mixture is just perfect for fall.

Chewy Chai Bars

1/2 teaspoon ginger

3/4 teaspoon Chinese Five-Spice

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon cloves

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

2/3 cup butter, melted

2 cups packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1 teaspoon spice mixture (from above)

1/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8” square pan with foil and spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray.

In a small bowl, whisk together the ginger, Chinese Five-Spice, black pepper, cloves, and cinnamon; set aside. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and all but 1 teaspoon of the spice mixture. In a separate bowl, whisk together the melted butter, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture and stir with a spatula to combine.

Spoon the cookie dough into the prepared pan and smooth the top with the spatula.

Bake for about 40 minutes. Begin testing the bars at 30 minutes, as the baking time varies. The cookies will be soft when you remove them from the oven, a cake tester will come out with a few crumbs when the bars are done.

As soon as you take the bars from the oven, make the glaze. In a small bowl combine the sugar, melted butter, and reserved 1 teaspoon spice mixture. Brush the mixture over the warm bars and then allow the bars to cool completely before cutting into bars.

Recipe from Dessert for Two

Cinnamon Chip Chai Snickerdoodles

I’m trying to get some fall baking in before the Christmas cookie season begins, and cinnamon is the perfect fall flavor. I was looking for recipes and came across an article with fall cookies and this was one of the recipes in that article. I knew I was coming home late from work, so I wanted something straight-forward. It’s also my birthday and I love snickerdoodles. So a chai cinnamon snickerdoodle sounded just perfect.

I read through the recipe and I was sure that I had all the needed ingredients, but I didn’t have enough cream of tartar, which is really odd. I make snickerdoodles frequently and cream of tartar is a key component. I had some, and you can also substitute vinegar for cream of tartar, as they are both acids. I wasn’t sure how these cookies would turn out, but I was hopeful. I don’t usually mess with the leavening agent in cookies, but I didn’t have time to go to the store. The original recipe called for cardamom in the spice mix, but I don’t care for that, so I added more ginger.

This dough is softer than traditional snickerdoodle dough, which is why it requires refrigeration. I refrigerated the dough for 90 minutes and it was still soft and a little bit sticky. The cookies shaped up just fine and despite not having the correct leavening, they baked up perfectly well. This makes a larger batch, 4 dozen, which was good in this instance as I needed to take these cookies to two different places. They have a great spiced flavor, more complex than just cinnamon would add, and my kitchen smelled divine while they were baking!

Cinnamon Chip Chai Snickerdoodles

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon ginger

1/2 teaspoon cloves

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

1/2 cup shortening

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2-3/4 cups flour

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1 teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

10 ounces cinnamon baking chips

In a medium bowl, whisk together the ½ cup sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg; set aside.

In a large mixer bowl, combine the butter, shortening, sugar, and 2 tablespoons sugar/spice mixture. Mix on medium until light. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix again on medium until combined. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour mixture. Add the cinnamon chips and mix on low until the chips are evenly distributed in the dough. 

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats. 

Shape the dough into 1-inch balls and roll the balls in the sugar/spice mixture. 

Bake for 10-12 minutes, until set. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe from Taste of Home

Chai Almond Cookies

It’s a challenge to pick cookies after the new year. Many folks have had so many sweets during the holidays that they don’t want so many sweets. This was not the week to choose a super decadent treat. I always like a good spiced cookie, and this recipe was featured in a recent King Arthur Flour baking catalog. I usually look through the catalog once and then recycle it, but I tore out this recipe since I knew I would be making it.

This recipe calls for chai spice, which King Arthur Flour sells, but I didn’t use that. I looked at the ingredients in the chai mix and I had most of them on hand. I ended up using Chinese five spice, which contains cinnamon, anise seed, star anise, ginger and cloves. I added some pepper and additional ginger. I could have added cardamom, but I don’t really care for it so I left it out. Any combination of these types of spices would work for this recipe.

These cookies are easy to make, and bake up perfectly! They bake for a longer time that you would expect, I imagine that is due to the almond flour which makes for a more robust dough. For the glaze, the original recipe says that it should be the consistency of molasses, so quite thick. These cookies have a nice crispness, and the almond flour adds a good texture. I like the mix of spices I used, it’s just a little different than the typical cinnamon/ginger combo. Don’t be afraid of using pepper, a tiny bit adds so much!

Chai Almond Cookies

1 cup butter, room temperature

¾ cup sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon chai spice*

1 cup almond flour

1-1/2 cups flour

1 cup powdered sugar

½ teaspoon chai spice

1 tablespoon butter, melted

1 teaspoon vanilla

1-2 tablespoons milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

In a large mixer bowl, combine the butter, sugar, vanilla, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and chai spice. Mix on medium until light. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the almond flour and then the regular flour.

Scoop the dough onto the prepared baking sheets, using about 1 tablespoon dough per cookie. Leave about 2 inches between each cookie.

Bake for 13-15 minutes, until set and golden. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack. Cool completely before glazing.

Make the glaze: in a medium bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, chai spice, butter, vanilla and 1 tablespoon milk. Add additional milk if needed to reach the right consistency. Drizzle the glaze over the cooled cookies.

Recipe from King Arthur Flour

*You can purchase this from King Arthur Flour, or make your own by combining 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon ginger, ¼ teaspoon cardamom, ¼ teaspoon allspice, ¼ teaspoon anise and a pinch of black pepper.