continuing the spice theme … Dirty Chai Cookies

Not long ago I met a few friends for breakfast to catch up and it turned into an all day affair. We started with pancakes, spent a big part of the day in a coffeeshop and ended with wings and beers. It was a damn delight. At one point somewhere in the middle of it all, I was waning a bit – it happens – and needed a boost. It was fortuitous that I was sitting in a coffeeshop. I’m not generally a coffee drinker so I ordered a chai, made with oat milk because yes, I am on that bandwagon. Throwing caution to the wind I had the barista throw in a shot of espresso to perk me up. Yes, I ordered what is known as an oat milk Dirty Chai. Never before has a more trendy hipster drink been ordered. Never before have I ordered such a trendy hipster drink. But hear me out: it was absolutely delicious. Yeah, I had a few. It was a long day.

Shortly thereafter, the New York Times published their annual Christmas cookie recipes and sure enough, there was a Dirty Chai cookie. Hallelujah! All the spices I love – cinnamon, cardamom, clove, ginger, pepper – with some coffee notes. Sounded fantastic. While I liked them, I had the urge to tweak. The cookie in my hand did not match the cookie in my head. I wanted more of the spices to come through and a bit more chew as the texture seemed wrong. These were cakey and I wanted a more chewy/crispy texture much like the ginger cookies I’d recently made. So tweak I did and yes, I started with those ginger cookies. So here you go, my version of a crispy chewy Dirty Chai cookie. And yes, yes they do look suspiciously like my last post. I had to start somewhere and damn, I love that recipe. So put the kettle on, brew your choice of hot beverage, grab a few cookies and exhale. They’re awfully nice.

Note: I’d love to link to the original NYT recipe but it’s behind a paywall and I’ve apparently hit my monthly limit. So you’re going to have to google it yourself if interested.

STRESS THERAPY BAKING FACTOR: ON TREND. Seriously, a chai espresso cookie? All I needed to do was work in some oats (and don’t think I didn’t consider it) and this would have checked all the boxes on some food trends list. But put all that aside … these are quite delicious, a really nice spice cookie with a twist. I’ve been on a spice bender lately and these fit right in. Fantastic.

Eleven years ago: Khachapuri (cheesy Georgian bread)
Ten years ago: Simple Jam Tart, Double Chocolate Cookies, Marmalade Yogurt Cake
Nine years ago: Rosemary Shortbread, Spiced Pecans, Roasted Sweet Potato & Wheat Berry Salad, BBQ Chicken Bao, Mexican Hot Chocolate
Eight years ago: Potstickers for Chinese New Year, Apricot Almond Tarts, Passionfruit Curd, Passionfruit Pavlova, Double Chocolate Alfajores
Seven years ago: Pineapple Upside Down Cake, Spicy Peanut Brittle, Cassoulet Sunday, Nutella Torte
Six years ago: Cassoulet Sunday, Chinese Sticky Ribs, Mexican Chocolate Cookies, Buckwheat Blini
Five years ago: Rumaki (chicken livers and water chestnuts wrapped in bacon)
Four years ago: Homemade Chili Powder, Chocolate Hazelnut Cake
Three years ago: Chinese Almond Cookies, Char Sui Ding (stir fried bbq pork & vegetables), Cacio e Pepe Biscuits
Two years ago: Haitian Beef Patties, Senegalese Peanut & Chicken Stew, Ethiopian Collard Greens, Haitian Poulet Creole
Last year: Cinnamon Toast Blondies, Peco Brittle (peanut-coconut brittle), Texas Marmalade, Piggy Coconut Buns for Chinese New Year

DIRTY CHAI COOKIES – inspired by a New York Times recipe
Makes about 6 dozen 2” cookies

1 Tablespoon instant espresso
1 teaspoon warm water (tap is fine)
2 ¼ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
¾ teaspoon ground cardamom
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon finely ground black pepper
½ teaspoon kosher salt
12 Tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature (6 ounces/1 ½ sticks)
1 ¼ cups light brown sugar, packed
1 large egg, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
sugar, for coating

1. For the dough: Combine the espresso and water in a small bowl to dissolve. Set aside until needed.
2. Combine the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Whisk to combine thoroughly and set aside. (if your baking soda is chunky, sift it first.)
3. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter with the brown sugar on medium high until light and fluffy.
4. On medium add the egg and mix until incorporated. Scrape.
5. Add the vanilla and the espresso mixture; mix on low speed until combined.
6. Add the flour mixture in a few additions, mixing on low until combined.
7. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 2 hours and up to 3 days. You can freeze the dough at this point, tightly wrapped, up to 3 months.
8. To bake: Preheat oven to 350°
9. Put some sugar for coating in a small bowl. About ¼-½ cup should do.
10. Pinch off Tablespoon pieces of dough and roll into balls (these will bake to about 2” cookies. Use more dough for larger cookies if you like.)
11. Drop a few at a time into the bowl of sugar, rolling to coat.
12. Place on a parchment paper or silicone mat lined sheet pans, leaving at least 2” between cookies.
13. Bake until cookies are soft but slightly crusted on the top for a chewy cookie with crispy edges, about 9-10 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking. If you like a crunchier/crispier cookie, give them another minute or two.
14. Remove from the oven and give the pan a good bang to deflate and crinkle the cookies. (They may do this on their own while cooling but why deny yourself the satisfaction of whacking the pan?)
15. Slide the parchment or silicone mat from the hot sheet pan and let the cookies cool on a wire rack or on the table until cool. Cookies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for 1 week.
16. Do ahead: dough will keep (either as a chunk or rolled in balls) refrigerated up to 3 days or frozen up to 3 months, tightly wrapped. I prefer to roll the dough into balls, freeze until solid then transfer to a labeled freezer Ziploc marked with the baking time and temperature. Bake directly from the freezer, maybe adding an additional minute or two.