You need these chewy, sweet, delicious vegan brown sugar chai cookies in your life ASAP! The warming spices in these cookies will be a hit for anyone who tries them. This recipe can be done in under 30 minutes with just one bowl!
Even if you aren't a chai tea fan, these cookies are some of the best ever. This recipe uses a basic sugar cookie formula, but with more brown sugar and added chai spices. The brown sugar keeps the center of the cookies nice and soft even after they've cooled.
Not only are these cookies fast and so darn delicious, you also probably already have all of the ingredients in your pantry! These cookies would be perfect at a fall or winter party, served with my Pumpkin Spice Margaritas!
Why you'll love this recipe
- Easy and Quick! You only need ONE mixing bowl for this recipe and the whole thing is done in less than 30 minutes. What could be easier than that??
- Simple Ingredients - You might already have all of these ingredients at home! If not, they're easy to find! PLUS, no eggs means you can steal as many bites of cookie dough as you want!
- Perfect for Fall & Winter! These are good all year, but especially when the weather is cooler. Have this for dessert after eating some Pumpkin Mac and Cheese!
What you need for this recipe
Ingredients and Substitutions:
- Vegan Stick Butter - If you can, I highly recommend using vegan stick butter instead of tub butter. Earth Balance is the best I have found so far. If you can't find stick butter, tub butter will still work.
- Light Brown Sugar - Brown sugar makes these cookie so moist and chewy! I don't recommend replacing this ingredient.
- White Sugar - For flavor, a little bit of regular granulated sugar is needed.
- Vanilla Extract - For a more robust flavor, try using vanilla bean paste instead!
- Non-dairy Milk - I used almond milk, but any non-dairy milk is fine as long as it is plain and unsweetened.
- All-Purpose Flour - Just regular all purpose flour is great. For gluten-free, try to find a 1:1 flour blend!
- Chai Tea Bag - You can always make a chai spice blend, but I found the easiest method was to just tear open a chai tea bag and mix it into the dough!
How to make this recipe
Step 1: Prep the Oven and Ingredients
Preheat your oven to 350º Fahrenheit.
Pull out the butter to allow it to get to room temperature.
Step 2: Make the Batter
In a mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to cream together the softened vegan butter along with the brown and white sugar until well combined.
To this mixture, add the vanilla and the non-dairy milk, then mix again.
In the same bowl as the wet ingredients, add the flour, baking powder, and chai spices. Use a mixing spoon or spatula to combine until you get a doughy texture.
Step 3: Bake the Cookies
Using a cookie scoop (or your hands), scoop out eight even-sized balls.
Place each cookie dough ball onto a parchment lined baking sheet with at least 1 inch between each cookie.
Sprinkle the tops of the dough with a bit more white sugar before baking.
Bake the cookies at 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for 10-11 minutes. For a fully soft cookie, 10 minutes. For a soft center and crunchy edges, 11 minutes is ideal.
Allow the cookies to cool, then enjoy!
Expert Tips & Tricks
- To get evenly cooked and sized cookies, I highly recommend using a cookie scoop! For this recipe, I used a 1 ½ tablespoon scoop!
- If you want to make your own chai spice blend instead of using the tea bag, mix together 1 tsp. cardamom, 1 tsp. nutmeg, 1 tsp. allspice, 2 tsp. cinnamon, 1 tsp. ground cloves, and 3 tsps. ground ginger.
- For a version that uses less refined sugar, try using coconut sugar in place of brown sugar and a low-calorie sweetener like stevia in place of white sugar.
- Fun Tip: Try making a vegan ice cream sandwich by putting my Vegan Mint Julep Ice Cream between 2 cookies!
Recipe FAQs
Store these brown sugar chai cookies in a sealed container at room temperature for about 1 week, or in the refrigerator for up to a month.
Definitely! Turn these cookies into a dirty chai version by sprinkling a bit of ground coffee into the batter and mixing thoroughly!
I highly recommend it, but if you must use tub butter, just add 1 extra tablespoon of flour to the dough so that the consistency remains.
Related Recipes
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Vegan Brown Sugar Chai Cookies
Equipment
- Cookie Scoop (optional)
- Electric Mixer
- Glass Bowl
- Baking Sheet
- Parchment Paper
Ingredients
- ¼ cup Vegan Butter Stick butter, softened
- ⅓ cup + 1 tbsp Brown Sugar
- 2 tablespoon White Sugar
- ½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 2 ½ tablespoon Non-dairy Milk
- ¾ cup + 1 tbsp All-Purpose Flour
- ½ teaspoon Baking Powder
- ½ tablespoon Chai Tea Bag
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350º Fahrenheit.
- Pull out the butter to allow it to get to room temperature.
- In a mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to cream together the softened vegan butter along with the brown and white sugar until well combined.
- To this mixture, add the vanilla and the non-dairy milk, then mix again.
- In the same bowl as the wet ingredients, add the flour, baking powder, and chai spices.
- Use a mixing spoon or spatula to combine until you get a doughy texture.
- Using a cookie scoop (or your hands), scoop out eight even-sized balls.
- Place each cookie dough ball onto a parchment lined baking sheet with at least 1 inch between each cookie.
- Sprinkle the tops of the dough with a bit more white sugar before baking.
- Bake the cookies at 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for 10-11 minutes. For a fully soft cookie, 10 minutes. For a soft center and crunchy edges, 11 minutes is ideal.
- Allow the cookies to cool, then enjoy!
Notes
- This recipe makes 8 cookies.
- To get evenly cooked and sized cookies, I highly recommend using a cookie scoop! For this recipe, I used a 1 ½ tablespoon scoop!
- If you want to make your own chai spice blend instead of using the tea bag, mix together 1 tsp. cardamom, 1 tsp. nutmeg, 1 tsp. allspice, 2 tsp. cinnamon, 1 tsp. ground cloves, and 3 tsps. ground ginger.
- For a version that uses less refined sugar, try using coconut sugar in place of brown sugar and a low-calorie sweetener like stevia in place of white sugar.
- Vegan Stick Butter - If you can, I highly recommend using vegan stick butter instead of tub butter. Earth Balance is the best I have found so far. If you can't find stick butter, tub butter will still work, just add an extra tablespoon of flour.
Laura
These cookies practically melt in your mouth. I just made them for a holiday party and they were perfect and so easy to make!
Amy
I followed the instructions besides switching up the chai tea bag to a home made chai spice mix without cardamom as well as using Earth balance vegan butter and adding the recommended extra tablespoon of flour and they came out perfect! The consistency of the dough helped form a good round shape. These were a hit in holiday cookie boxes. I’m trying the dirty chai version next! Thanks
Emily
Thanks so much for the comment, Amy! I'm so glad you loved them!