Brown Butter Chai Spiced Snickerdoodles (Cookie Swap 2013)

Brown Butter Chai Spiced Snickerdoodles (The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap 2013) | Will Cook For Friends

Dear brown butter… let’s run away together. We’ll make beautiful cookies, and live happily ever after.

These are not your average sugar cookie. They are nutty and fragrant, packed with spices like cardamom, ginger, and cinnamon. The smell alone will make you swoon. One bite through their crunchy exterior and soft, chewy interior and you’ll be hooked. The brown butter and brown sugar give these a depth of flavor most snickerdoodles lack, and make them dangerously addictive alongside a cup of tea or coffee.

As much as I love these cookies, I had to exercise some serious restraint to keep from eating them all. This batch wasn’t for me… they were getting ready to be packaged up and shipped off to be part of The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap 2013!

Brown Butter Chai Spiced Snickerdoodles (The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap 2013) | Will Cook For Friends

This is the third year of The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap, and each year I’ve wanted to participate, but somehow missed the deadline, or been too busy to fit it in. Not this time! This time I sprung into action and donned my oven mitts with pride.

In case you aren’t familiar with The Swap, it was all started by two of my favorite bloggers — Lindsey of Love & Olive Oil, and Julie of The Little Kitchen — as a way for food bloggers to connect and share with each other. After the first year’s success, they partnered with Cookie’s For Kid’s Cancer, a non-profit organization dedicated to raising funds for children’s cancer research. This year more than six hundred food bloggers participated in the cookie swap, and together they helped raise over 13,000 dollars! Not to mention spread some serious cookie love.

Each blogger who signs up receives the names and address of three other participants, chosen at random, and ships one dozen cookies to each. That means that this year alone, more than 22,000 cookies got shipped all over the world. That’s a lot of cookies!

Brown Butter Chai Spiced Snickerdoodles (The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap 2013) | Will Cook For Friends

Today, all of those bloggers are posting their cookie recipes on their blogs. They will all be compiled into one big round up, which I’ll post the link to once it goes live. You can also check out all the cookies from the previous years here, and here.

I mentioned earlier that I had to restrain myself from eating all of my cookies before shipping them off… but my willpower was rewarded by the incredible cookies I received! Thank you to Emily (The Answer Is Always Pork), Rebecca (Corks and Cake), and Laura (A Healthy Jalapeno), for all the delicious cookies!

Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap 2013
Russian Teacakes (top), Peanut Butter Cookies (left), and White Chocolate Peppermint Cookies (right)

And thank you to Lindsey and Julie for making this cookie swap happen, and introducing me to some incredible bloggers!

Now, who’s ready for some cookies?

Brown Butter Chai Spiced Snickerdoodles (The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap 2013) | Will Cook For Friends

Brown Butter Chai Spiced Snickerdoodles
Makes about 2-3 dozen cookies, depending on size

1 cup (2 sticks, or 8oz) unsalted butter
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. kosher salt (or 1/4 tsp. fine grain sea salt)
1 TBSP ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. ground cardamom
1/2 tsp. allspice
1/4 tsp. finely ground black pepper
1/8th-1/4 tsp. cloves
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/3rd cup granulated sugar + 1 TBSP cinnamon, for rolling

Method
1.   Preheat oven to 350 degrees F., and line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper or a silpat.
2.   In a small pot over medium heat, melt the butter. Once the butter starts bubbling, reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring constantly, until the butter smells nutty and has turned golden brown. Be careful not to cook the butter too long, or the small browned bits at the bottom of the pan will burn and turn bitter. Once browned, pour the butter into a large bowl (or the bowl of your stand mixer) and set aside to cool to room temperature.
3.   In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, salt, and spices. Set aside.
4.   Once the brown  butter has cooled, add the granulated sugar and brown sugar. Beat together thoroughly, then add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the vanilla and mix to combine.
5.   Stir the flour mixture into the butter, sugar, and eggs, mixing until there are no dry spots left. In a shallow dish (I like to use a pie plate) mix together the remaining sugar and cinnamon.
6.   Using a small cookie scoop (about 1 1/2-2 TBSP) shape the dough into balls and then roll in the sugar and cinnamon mixture. Place the dough balls on your prepared baking sheet, spacing them at least 2 inches apart. Flatten the top of each ball slightly with the palm of your hand.
7.   Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the center of the cookies are just barely set and the tops have begun to crack. They may look slightly under-done, but will finish cooking as they cool. For a crispier cookie, bake a little longer. Let cool on the baking sheet for 2-3 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling. Once completely cooled, cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week… but they probably won’t last that long.

Enjoy!

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27 Responses to Brown Butter Chai Spiced Snickerdoodles (Cookie Swap 2013)

  1. Lily @ Life, Love, and Cupcakes December 11, 2013 at 8:57 pm #

    These look and sound AMAZING!! I love snickerdoodles but never think to make them..I think this will be perfect for my cookie exchange next week!

    • Willow Arlen December 15, 2013 at 4:17 pm #

      Thanks, Lily! I hope you like them. :)

  2. Cheryl Hurley December 11, 2013 at 10:32 pm #

    Whoa, these look amazing! I love deep spices and pairing them with brown butter is genius. Obsessed. The blogger cookie swap sounds like so much fun! I’ve got to get in on that next year :)

  3. DessertForTwo December 11, 2013 at 11:18 pm #

    Oooh yum! I love chai flavored everything. :)

  4. Preeti Moberg December 12, 2013 at 4:58 am #

    Your cookies were AMAZING. Thank you so much for sending them to me!

    • Willow Arlen December 15, 2013 at 4:19 pm #

      You’re welcome Preeti, I’m so glad you liked them!

  5. shannon weber December 12, 2013 at 12:46 pm #

    okay, so putting all those things together as one cookie? Obviously illegal, and i can’t believe the postal service even agreed to send them. You’ll need to send me some too just so i can clear them. Or maybe as a control? i would tell you if they REALLY got to their destinations unharmed…*please* :)

    • Willow Arlen December 15, 2013 at 4:21 pm #

      I’m amazed all the cookie swap cookies got to where they were going… if the people at the postal service knew there were so many tasty things in the mail, they probably would have started ripping open boxes to get to them.
      And you are so right — I should’ve sent you a batch first, just so I would know how well they travel. How could I not have thought of that?! You’ll have to send me your address so I will be prepared next time. ;)

  6. JulieD December 14, 2013 at 9:40 pm #

    Wow, gorgeous beyond gorgeous!! Thanks for participating in the cookie swap!! :)

    • Willow Arlen December 15, 2013 at 4:22 pm #

      Thanks, Julie! It was so much fun. I hope to be a part of it next year, too. :)

  7. Sarah | The Sugar Hit December 16, 2013 at 12:15 pm #

    I love chai spices! And browned butter cookies, with chai spices? It’s got morning tea written all over it.

  8. Sanjeeta kk December 16, 2013 at 2:29 pm #

    ha..ha….still laughing out my heart away reading that first line! And what beautiful cookies, love the texture and the crispy crust.

  9. Ace @ the toasted sprinkle December 16, 2013 at 5:44 pm #

    These look delicious! I too adore brown butter! Your photography is absolutely stunning, such an inspiration. I hope I get paired up with you next year if you participate!

  10. Sunday Morning Banana Pancakes December 16, 2013 at 5:57 pm #

    WOW what an incredible event! Whoever receives those beautiful cookies of yours if pretty darn lucky!!

  11. Amy @ Elephant Eats December 18, 2013 at 3:41 pm #

    I love chai so so much…and these are such a great twist on regular old snickerdoodles! I wish I wasn’t done with my cookie baking, because I would have totally added these to the list :) Next year I am SO participating in the cookie swap!

  12. Kelsey September 11, 2015 at 11:07 pm #

    So, I just made these AGAIN because they have become my go to fall cookie recipe. I love how it is packed with flavor and comes out so beautifully. The crispy outside and soft, chewy middle is perfect and goes great with a lovely cup of tea. And, I mean when brown butter is involved in a recipe what isn’t to love?! It is such a great recipe to make on a fall Saturday afternoon.

    • Willow Arlen September 12, 2015 at 10:38 am #

      Thanks for this sweet comment, Kelsey! I’m so glad you like them. I feel the same way, when brown butter is involved, it’s got to be good!

  13. Amy December 20, 2015 at 3:21 pm #

    Made these for our annual cookie day! They were awesome!! Thanks!

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

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