Photo Credit: Grace Davis

The month of September is upon us! For many people, this typically indicates the start of Autumn. With fall comes crisp leaves, chilly weather, and warm sweaters. Here in America, this also indicates hot beverages from our local coffee shops. As someone who does not like coffee *gasp* my go-to drink is a warm vanilla chai! I love the deep holiday-like flavors that the spices bring in the tea. That got me wondering, can chai go in other things? Maybe, cookies?

If you like these sweet desserts then boy, do I have the recipe for you!

Chai Vanilla Shortbread Cookies

These cookies are the definition of fall. They’re buttery, flavorful, and straight-up comforting. They are very simple and can easily be whipped up for any party, hayride, or apple picking day!

Ingredients

Cookies:

2 sticks of butter at room temperature (if butter is cold, microwave at 7 sec. intervals until soft)

1/2 cup of powdered sugar

2 cups of All-Purpose flour

1/2 tsp of salt

2 bags of Vanilla Chai Tea (I use tea bags, cut the tops off, and pour the leaves into the bowl)

Icing:

1 cup of powdered sugar

1/4 tsp of ground cinnamon

2 Tbsp of water

1 tsp of vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2.  Cream your butter and powdered sugar together in a bowl. You can use a hand mixer or an automatic mixer and cream together for 2 1/2 minutes. This is meant to make your butter airy and to incorporate the sugar into the butter.
   

   Photo Credit: Grace Davis

3.  Once creamed, add remaining ingredients and stir until dough is soft and compact.
   

   Photo Credit: Grace Davis

4.   Roll out the dough on a clean, lightly floured surface. The dough should be about 1/4 inch thick. Then cut cookies with a cutter. Any shape will work.
   

   Photo Credit: Grace Davis

5.  Lay cookies on a baking sheet (you can also use parchment paper) and cook for 18 minutes.
   

   Photo Credit: Grace Davis

6.  Once cookies are cooked, immediately place them on a cooling rack and let cool for 45 min.- 1 hour. This step is very important. If the cookies are warm when you add the icing, the icing won’t be able to cool and harden.
   

   Photo Credit: Grace Davis

7.  Now it’s time for icing! If don’t have happened to have powdered sugar, you can use this trick with regular sugar. Place your sugar into a food processor and process until it resembles powdered sugar (I prefer this way, but you can use store-bought powdered sugar if a food processor is unavailable.)
   

   Photo Credit: Grace Davis

8.  Then mix all the icing ingredients and stir until there is an icing-like consistency.
   

   Photo Credit: Grace Davis

9.  Dip the cooled cookies into the icing and leave on a rack to dry.
10. Serve immediately or store these Chai Vanilla Shortbread cookies for up to 3 days. Enjoy!

Makes: 32 cookies