Welcome to Day #2 of Cookie Week on Amy’s Healthy Baking! This week, I’m posting a few new cookie recipes on my blog that would be perfect for the holidays, and I’m also sharing some of my old favorites on both Facebook and Instagram. Be sure to check those out—other readers have been raving about them!
My mom starts every single day with a chai latte. Her habit began nearly 10 years ago when a good friend of hers from work brought in a round of drinks from Starbucks to share with everyone. The lady knew my mom hated the taste of coffee, so while the rest of the group looked forward to their cappuccinos and macchiatos, Mom still had something warm and cozy to sip.
However, Mom always drank her tea plain, without any milk or sugar, so she brought the mug to her lips very hesitantly and took a teensy, tiny taste. Then another. And another.
Before everyone else finished their coffee, my mom’s cup was completely empty!
In the beginning of her new morning chai routine, Mom always stopped by a Starbucks on her way into work. She figured out exactly how to order it to please her cinnamon-loving taste buds (“grande nonfat chai latte, no water!” because the water dilutes the spice flavor!), but that daily habit quickly added up to quite a bit of money each month.
Then Mom discovered that certain grocery stores sold the chai concentrate that Starbucks used to make their lattes, so she switched to mixing up her own in the comfort of her kitchen instead. She even bought packets of powdered chai latte concentrate to slip into her suitcase for business trips if her hotel waisn’t near a Starbucks!
So in honor of Mom—and because I’m a huge spice lover too!—today’s recipe is for Chai Spice Snickerdoodles! These buttery cookies are full of the same spices found in chai and rolled in cinnamon sugar for a fun finishing touch.
When I presented the cookies to my parents, my dad’s eyes widened and he responded, “Oh boy, these are amazing!!” and my mom tried to sneak extras when I wasn’t looking. They’re pretty dangerous cookies, in the sweetest sort of way!
This easy recipe begins with whole wheat pastry flour. Whole wheat pastry flour is ground more finely than regular whole wheat flour, so its texture is closer to that of all-purpose flour, making it perfect for these chewy cookies. Its taste is also lighter than regular whole wheat flour, and with all of the spices, you practically can’t tell that these cookies are 100% whole wheat!
The blend of ground spices in chai is very important, so today you’ll use a mix of four: ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom. They harmoniously work together to create the cozy iconic flavor of the tea. I do not recommend substituting or omitting any of these! Without any one of them, especially the cardamom, the cookies wouldn’t have that same warm chai taste.
To keep these cookies clean eating friendly, they’re sweetened with coconut sugar instead of granulated. Coconut sugar does not actually taste like coconut! It has a caramel-like flavor, similar to that of brown sugar. You can find it near the other sugars on the baking aisle, as well as online.
And now for my secret ingredient that makes these cookies taste so buttery… Butter extract! It sounds crazy, doesn’t it? But it’s true—this recipe has just 4 tablespoons of butter for all 24 cookies, yet they still taste as indulgent as traditional recipes with a full cup of butter, all thanks to the butter extract! It’s relatively inexpensive, and you can find it on the baking aisle near the other extracts, as well as online. Walmart also sells a larger, less expensive bottle on their wedding aisle.
As the finishing touch, you’ll roll the cookies in a mixture of cinnamon and Truvia just before baking to give them their crunchy outer coating. Truvia is made from stevia, which is a plant-based, no-calorie sweetener that’s clean eating friendly. Just like the coconut sugar, you can find it on the baking aisle of just about any grocery store near the other sugar and sugar substitutes. Amazon sells it, too.
The cookies will spread a little bit while baking, but it’s still necessary to give them what I call a “spreading head start!” In other words, you must flatten the cookie dough to at least half of its original height before popping the trays in the oven. I also like to sprinkle a little more of the cinnamon-Truvia mixture onto their tops…
Because it makes them taste even more irresistible!
Time to go bake more!
My newly released Healthier Chocolate Treats cookbook is full of sweet and healthy recipes like these snickerdoodles! Reserve your copy here before it sells out!
| Chai Spice Snickerdoodles | | Print |
- for the cookies
- 2 cups (240g) whole wheat pastry flour or gluten-free* flour (measured correctly)
- 1 ½ tsp cornstarch
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- ¼ tsp ground cardamom
- ½ tsp salt
- 4 tbsp (56g) unsalted butter or coconut oil*, melted and cooled slightly
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp butter extract
- 1 cup (192g) coconut sugar
- for the coating
- 6 tbsp (80g) Truvia
- ¾ - 1 tsp cinnamon, or to taste
- To prepare the cookies, whisk together the flour and next 7 ingredients (through salt) in a medium bowl. Whisk together the butter, eggs, vanilla, and butter extract in a separate bowl. Stir in the coconut sugar. Add in the flour mixture, stirring just until incorporated. Chill the cookie dough for 30 minutes or up to 2 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F, and line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper. To prepare the coating, stir together the Truvia and cinnamon in a small bowl.
- Roll the dough into 24 spheres, and place onto the prepared baking sheets. If the dough is still sticky, use a spoon and spatula to drop it into rounded scoops onto the baking sheets instead. Working with one sphere at a time, drop it into the cinnamon mixture, and roll it around until it’s completely coated. Place the sphere back onto the baking sheet, and repeat with the remaining dough. Once all of the spheres have been coated, roll them around in the cinnamon mixture again for a second coat.
- Flatten each sphere to about half of its original height, and sprinkle the tops with a little more of the cinnamon mixture. Bake at 350°F for 9-11 minutes. Cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.
The cornstarch helps keep the cookies soft and chewy.
I highly recommend using butter instead of coconut oil for the best taste!
Butter extract is what makes these healthier snickerdoodles taste as rich and buttery as traditional recipes. You can find it on the baking aisle near the other extracts, and it’s fairly inexpensive. I highly recommend against substituting for it, but in a pinch, vanilla extract will work.
Brown sugar may be substituted for the coconut sugar, and granulated sugar may be substituted for the Truvia. If either of these substitutions are used, the cookies will no longer be clean eating friendly.
When rolling the cookie dough in the cinnamon-Truvia mixture, it sometimes doesn’t stick very well. As long as you sprinkle extra on the tops of the cookies just before baking, it’ll be fine.
{gluten-free, clean eating, low fat, low calorie}
Нужно выгодно снять комнату в Петербурге, а не знаете где искать? Вам повезло, я посоветую замечательный сайтец, где опубликована агентская база данных в СПб. Короче, открываем сайт АрендаНева точка РУ и… вот, собственно и все! 😉 Теперь у вас есть доступ к базе, где есть все квартиры и комнаты в СПб. Это именно та база, в которой агенты и работают. Заходите и сами подбирайте себе жилье без посредников.
Brilliant idea to combine the warm, cozy flavors of chai into a (healthier!!) cookie! In the photo with the one cookie broken in half, you can really see how wonderfully moist and chewy the inside is – a perfect combination with the crunchy, crisp exterior! Oh yeah – you know I’m pinning this (and maybe daydreaming about these just a little bit, too)!!! 😀
Thank you so much Shelley!! You’re so sweet! 🙂 This is one of the (many) times I wish we were neighbors so I could share some of these cookies with you!
That butter extract is made of propylene glycol and articulate favors…
As the Notes section beneath the recipe states, you’re welcome to substitute additional vanilla extract if you prefer that ingredient. 🙂 I hope you enjoy the cookies if you try them Tara!
I actually just made my first homemade chai latte last weekend and it was wonderful! Thats a huge compliment for an avid coffee drinker! Now Im obsessed with chai and want to make and bake with it! These cookies are the perfect place to start!
It was meant to be Bethany! 😉 I was the same way when I first tried chai — I thought nothing would ever replace coffee, but I adored it! I hope you enjoy the cookies if you try them!
I’m all out of corn starch. Can I replace it with cream of tartar? Can’t wait to make these cookies, looks delicious.
I wouldn’t substitute cream of tartar. If you have another type of starch (i.e. potato or tapioca), that would work. Otherwise, just omit it for this batch and they should still turn out fine. I hope you enjoy the cookies Marcia! 🙂
My mom loves snickerdoodles…. I can’t decide if I should make her these chai spiced ones or the eggnog ones! Oh decisions, decisions! I guess there is nothing wrong with making her both 🙂
Your mom is so lucky to have you to bake for her Melissa! I’d love to hear what both of you think of the cookies if you try either recipe! 🙂
i was wondering if it would still work if instead of coconut sugar i could use either truvia or normal sugar?? i’d have to go across town to a health shop to get coconut sugar and shops shut soon! these look great though, i’m planning on making both these and eggnog ones for my table in my politics class, we’re having a mini christmas feast in lesson…
Yes, most definitely Jenny! Brown sugar would be the best substitute in place of coconut sugar, if you have that, because its extra moisture and caramel undertones work really well in these cookies. Otherwise, granulated would be just fine as well. I’m so touched that you want to bake two of my recipes for your politics class! I hope you and your classmates enjoy the cookies! 🙂
I made these with gingerbread spice instead of chai and they turned out really good. I halved the amounts and got 14 snickerdoodles instead of 12 (always a good thing!). Thank you Amy !
I really enjoy this blog and If I may suggest something, it could be a great way to organize the recipes by ingredient.
Each ingredient would lead to all the recipes that contain it. I saw this on several recipe blogs and found it clever and quick to find something.
So, just an idea 🙂
I’m so glad you loved these cookies Eda! Such a fun idea to use gingerbread spice — I need to remember that! 🙂 Thanks for your feedback too. I really appreciate it!
I’m so excited to find your website and these cookies! I love cookies, and I’ve been sad since trying to eat healthier that cookies are generally out. Have you ever tried Monk Fruit as a sweetener? Could I substitute that instead of the coconut sugar?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Carla! I haven’t worked with monk fruit before, so I can’t personally vouch for that substitution. However, if you’ve been able to substitute it for coconut sugar in other similar recipes, I’m guessing it’ll work here too! 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of these cookies!
Okay, I tried them! I halved the recipe (because it’s just me and 24 cookies would NOT be a good idea:) ). Then I halved it again and did half with coconut sugar and half with monk fruit. The verdict is that monk fruit is not moist enough to work well, and it also has a cool taste to it. So they still tasted good, just a little odd with a cool almost minty flavor. They were also crumbly and didn’t spread out as they baked. The others were AMAZING though, and I will definitely be making them again!
I’m so glad you enjoyed these cookies Carla! I can totally relate… I lived alone for a few years during college, and baking big batches of cookies was always dangerous! 😉 Thank you so much for sharing your monk fruit experience — that’s really helpful to know!
I’m planning on trying either this recipe or your sugar cookie (or both) this weekend.
I’m not sure if I will be able to find wholewheat PASTRY flour. Will I be able to use normal wholewheat flour or normal white cake flour… or a blend of both? And if I can’t find butter extract, do I then use 3tsp of vanilla extract or just keep it to the 2tsp?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Kirsten! Yes, you can use either flour or a blend of both. Whatever you feel most comfortable with! Use 3 teaspoons of vanilla if omitting the butter extract. 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of these snickerdoodles!
Just made these now and they are really good! Used normal cake wheat flour and 3 tsp of vanilla extract. Tastes just like chai tea but it’s not overly sweet. I didn’t squash the first batch enough and they didn’t really spread when baking so it’s quite thick so the second batch I put in the over I squashed a lot more.
I’m so glad you enjoyed these cookies Kirsten! 🙂