Chai Spiced Vanilla Bean Snickerdoodles

I have been wanting to try out this recipe idea for a while. I am not a big tea drinker, but I love love love chai tea. My aunt turned me on to Numi’s Roobios Chai this past summer. It’s delightfully mild and not overly spicy. Plus, it has a hint of vanilla. Doesn’t that sound like it would make a great cookie?

I figured that a traditional Snickerdoodle cookie would be easily adapted to the chai spices.
I essentially read the ingredients off of the Numi label. Some chai teas and other chai spiced things use black pepper…and that was not the taste I was going for here. These cookies, like the Numi tea, is very subtle and smooth.

Ingredients

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 egg
1 vanilla bean, split open and seeds removed (or use 2 tsp vanilla extract)
1 3/4 cups flour
1/2 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cardamom
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp all spice
2 tbsp sugar

Directions

1. Cream butter and 1 cup of sugar together with a mixer. Add egg and vanilla then combine.
2. In a small bowl, mix together the cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, and all spice.
3. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and half of the spice mixture.
4. Slowly add the flour mixture to the to the butter mixture and mix to combine.
5. In a small bowl, mix together the 2 tbsp sugar and the other half of the spice mixture.
6. Spoon about 1 tablespoon of dough and roll into a ball using your hands. Roll the dough ball in the sugar mixture and place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Press down with the back of a fork creating a X pattern.
7. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 10-15 minutes, or until just starting to brown.