Chai Spiced Shortbread Cookies

A simple shortbread dough is scented with cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, cloves, and black pepper, then rolled, cut, and baked until set with lightly browned edges. The cookies keep their delicate, sandy texture and work well for gifting or serving with hot tea.

By Julienne

Cook time: 14 minutes

Servings: 24

Ingredients

• 226 g unsalted butter softened
• 100 g granulated sugar
• 5 ml vanilla extract
• 260 g all-purpose flour spooned and leveled
• 2 g fine salt
• 3 g ground cinnamon
• 2 g ground cardamom
• 1.5 g ground ginger
• 0.5 g ground cloves
• 0.25 g ground black pepper
• 10 g cinnamon sugar for finishing

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 175°C. Line one baking sheet with parchment paper. The oven is fully preheated and the baking sheet is lined.
2. In a mixing bowl, beat the softened butter and granulated sugar on medium speed until smooth and slightly fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the vanilla. The mixture looks pale, smooth, and fully combined.
3. Add the flour, salt, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, cloves, and black pepper. Mix on low speed just until a crumbly dough forms, then press it together with a spatula or your hands. No dry flour remains and the dough holds together when pressed.
4. Turn the dough onto a clean surface and shape it into a flat disk. Roll it to about 6 mm thickness, then cut into 24 cookies and transfer them to the prepared baking sheet, spacing them slightly apart. The cookies are cut cleanly and arranged in a single layer on the sheet.
5. If using, sprinkle the tops lightly with the cinnamon sugar. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, until the edges are just starting to turn golden and the centers look set but still pale. The cookies are set with light golden edges and no wet spots on top.
6. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then move them to a wire rack to cool completely. The cookies are firm enough to lift and cool without breaking.