Chai!

I absolutely LOVE a challenge, so when my son challenged me to create a Chai tea cookie, I couldn't resist.

I'll admit....I'm more of a coffee fanatic than tea fan. In the South, we indeed love our iced sweet tea; but I've always preferred coffee over tea as my hot beverage of choice. However, I do enjoy a good Chai latte. The spices, particularly the peppery finish, are flavors that I adore. I keep a carton of Tazo? "Chai" black tea latte concentrate in my refrigerator for those occasions when a Chai latte craving hits. So, when faced with the challenge to develop a Chai cookie, I looked on the carton to see which spices were used, poured a cup, sipped, and started to experiment. When I reached the point where I could no longer distinguish the difference between the beverage and the cookie, I knew I'd found the right combination....peppery kick and all! When my son tasted the cookie, he shook his head in disbelief, stating, "It tastes like Chai...straight up!" (I love it when I get that reaction!)

There are lots of spices in this cookie, and you may be surprised that I actually blend in finely crushed tea. Some may find that off-putting; but I promise, once the tea is incorporated into the dough and baked, only the flavor of the tea is distinguishable. It all works together to create a spicy depth and dimension which can only be described as Chai...straight up!

Ingredients:

2 1/2 C flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 lb butter, at room temperature
3/4 C packed brown sugar
1/4 C granulated sugar
1 pkg. (3.4 oz) vanilla instant pudding
2 (large) eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 black tea bags (I use Tazo?)
1 Chai tea bag (I use Tazo?)
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp cardamom
2 tsp (freshly ground) black pepper
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp anise seed (I'm not crazy for the licorice flavor of anise...you may add more if you like.)
cinnamon (to sprinkle on top of cookies)


Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Sift together first 3 ingredients into a large bowl. Set aside. Cut open the 3 tea bags and pour the tea and 1/2 tsp anise seeds into a small bowl. Crush ingredients into a fine powder. (A mortar and pestle work well if you have one.) Add to flour mixture, along with the remaining dry spices.

In a large mixer bowl, beat together the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Add instant pudding, mixing well. Add eggs, then vanilla extract, mixing until well blended. Scrape down sides of bowl as necessary. Slowly add flour, mixing well.

Using a standard ice cream scoop (2 oz), or rounded tablespoons, drop dough onto an un-greased cookie sheet. Sprinkle cookies with cinnamon.

For 2 oz cookie, bake at 350 degrees for 16-18 minutes. For rounded tablespoon-size cookies, bake 12-14 minutes. After one minute, transfer from pan to wire rack to cool.


Yield: 15-18, 2 oz cookies. 30-32 rounded tablespoon-size cookies.