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These sweet Chai Gingerbread Cookies are the Christmas cookie everyone is looking for. Made with double the vanilla and sweet brown sugar, these cookies are soft, buttery, and perfectly sweet with the warming flavors of chai in every bite. They’re generously glazed with a sweet, thick, and creamy espresso glaze that truly makes these cookies melt in your mouth. These cookies are fun to bake, delicious to eat, make a great homemade gift, and are a festive addition to your holiday cookie box!
This post is sponsored by Land O’Lakes.
Hard to believe that this is my first gingerbread cookie recipe I’ve shared with you guys. Sure, I’ve shared a handful of gingerbread recipes over the years, but never an actual gingerbread cookie. One that you cut into sweet little gingerbread boys and girls.
It’s safe to say that I’m excited for today’s recipe! I think everyone needs to have a good gingerbread cookie recipe to bake up every holiday season. These are that perfect gingerbread cookie!
Making these cookies is simple, here are the details.
Before you start the gingerbread cookie dough, make the chai spice mix. It’s a blend of cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves mixed with just a bit of sugar. You’ll be using the chai sugar for sprinkling over each cookie just before baking.
Now, make the cookie dough. It comes together in no time. This is a one-bowl kind of gingerbread cookie dough. Just mix your wet ingredients with the dry ingredients, then roll it out. I’m using Land O Lakes® Unsalted Butter, which is always my go-to butter for both baking and cooking. It’s sweet and creamy and always turns out beautiful cookies!
Just like I do with my sugar cookies, I always like to roll out the dough, cut the cookies, and then freeze the cut cookies on a baking sheet for a few minutes. This ensures that the cookies hold their shape. To cut my cookies, I used varying gingerbread and snowflake cookie cutters. But you can use any shapes you have on hand or that your family loves the most.
As the cookies bake, the smells coming from the oven will have you so excited. It’s like Christmas, with cozy scents of Chai, ginger, and sweet sugar wafting throughout your kitchen.
The Sweet and Creamy Frosting
While the cookies cool, make the frosting. I didn’t want to do your basic gingerbread cookie glaze because I think that can be a little boring. I wanted each cookie to really be delicious.
I thought about what flavors I love when paired with chai. Immediately a steaming cup of espresso came to mind. I love adding espresso powder to sweets, so I added it to the frosting. The verdict? Delicious.
Since I wanted this frosting to be sweet and creamy, I used rich Land O Lakes® Heavy Whipping Cream instead of water. This is KEY. The cream adds that creamy, soft texture everyone is looking for in a great frosting.
Decorating Is Easy
To decorate each cookie, simply use the frosting along with assorted sprinkles to make each cookie sparkle. I like to keep them simple and fun!
These are great cookies for kids to decorate. They always end up looking cute no matter what. I always find that the more imperfect they are…the cuter they end up being. Just have fun baking…and eating away!
We couldn’t love these easy gingerbread cookies more. I love the added chai flavor and that frosting really makes them special. Hope you guys love these just as much as I do!
Lastly, if you make these Chai Gingerbread Cookies, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Watch the How To Video:
Chai Gingerbread Cookies
Servings: 22 gingerbread cookies
Calories Per Serving: 294 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
Chai Spice
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon all-spice
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
Gingerbread Cookies
- 1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) Land O Lakes® Unsalted Butter, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/3 cup molasses
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 egg at room temperature
- 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus an additional 2-4 tablespoons, if needed
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Espresso Frosting
- 1 stick (1/2 cup) Land O Lakes® Unsalted Butter, melted
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1-2 teaspoons instant espresso powder (optional)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup Land O Lakes® Heavy Whipping Cream
- assorted sprinkles, for decorating
Instructions
- 1. To make the chai spice. In a shallow bowl, combine the cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, nutmeg, all-spice, cloves, and sugar in a glass jar or bowl. Set aside for sprinkling over the cookies. 2. To make the cookies. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar. Add the molasses and vanilla, beat until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Add the egg and mix until combined. Add the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and salt, beat until combined and the dough forms a ball. If the dough feels too wet to roll out, add 2-4 tablespoons of additional flour.3. Divide the dough in half. Roll out the dough on a floured piece of parchment to 1/4 inch thickness. Make sure you're using enough flour or your dough will stick. Cut out the cookies using gingerbread cookie cutters. Carefully transfer the cookies to a parchment-lined baking sheet. I recommend using a floured spatula to lift the cookies. Sprinkle each cookie with the chai sugar. Cover the baking sheet and place in the freezer. Freeze until firm, about 20-30 minutes. Roll out the leftover scraps, and repeat with the remaining dough.4. Preheat oven to 350° F. Bake the cookies on the middle rack of the oven for 8-10 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.5. Meanwhile, make the frosting. In a medium bowl, whisk together the butter, powdered sugar, espresso (if using), vanilla, and cream until smooth and drizzly. If needed, thin the glaze by adding additional cream, 1 tablespoon at a time, until drizzly. 6. Decorate each cookie as desired with frosting and sprinkles. Enjoy!
Notes
To Pipe Frosting Onto The Cookies: add the frosting to a small sandwich size Ziploc bag (or a piping bag), then snip a small portion of the corner off.
The chai spice blend is so delicious. I have been putting a generous pinch in my cold brew grounds.
Hey Amy,
I am so glad you have been enjoying the chai spice! Happy Holidays! xTieghan
The best gingerbread cookie and the frosting is addicting! I’m so glad that I made these for my husband and me. We don’t have to share! Definitely will be making more of this recipe!
Hey Mary Ashley,
Thanks so much for giving the recipe a try, I am so glad the cookies were a hit! Happy Holidays! xTieghan
these are the best gingerbread cookies ever. the cookies are perfect and the espresso frosting is fantastic (and addicting)! favorite holiday cookie so far this year!!
Hey Sophia,
I am so glad you enjoyed the recipe, thanks so much for giving it a try! Happy Holidays! xTieghan
So good!! Made these with the kids the other day and couldn’t stop eating them! Thank you!!
Hey Kristen,
I am so glad you enjoyed the recipe, thanks so much for giving it a try! Happy Holidays! xTieghan
These are easy and so cute! I’m worried that packaging them may smear the icing? Any tips for that?
Wish I could figure out how to include a photo!
Thanks for the delicious recipes!!
Hey Susan,
Try laying these cookies in between parchment paper. I hope love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! Happy Holidays! xTieghan
Big fan of these. I used a chai tea bag to mix with the granulated sugar for the topping because I was missing some of the spices needed- turned out amazing!
Hey Brittany,
I am so glad you enjoyed the recipe, thanks so much for giving it a try! Happy Holidays! xTieghan
Excited to try these. Can you use instant coffee instead of espresso. I just have some on hand from when whipped coffee was the trend 🙂 TIA!
Hey Cassie,
Yes that would work well. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! Happy Holidays! xTieghan
This was such a great recipe and pretty simple to make! My first time making gingerbread actually! I would have liked to have more spice in the actual cookie. They just didn’t scream gingerbread. Next time I’ll increase the spice level in the actual cookie as opposed to the sugar topping.
Hey there,
Thanks so much for giving the recipe a try! Happy Holidays! xTieghan
I made these with a few substitutions based on what I had on hand, so I’m sharing in case anyone wants to try the subs!
-I only had 1/2 cup butter so I added that + 1/4 cup coconut oil, solid at room temp.
-I replaced 3/4 cup of the AP flour with 3/4 cup of buckwheat flour, then reduced the remaining 2 cups of AP flour to 1 3/4 cup as buckwheat is more drying.
-For the chai spice, I used demerara sugar instead of granulated.
-I didn’t measure out the salt, just eyeballed it, and I think I added more than called for, but I actually loved it a little salty! Great contrast to all the molasses and spice.
All in all, I loved the flavor of these cookies, they were just a tad dry (not enough to keep us from eating them all!) but that could have been my fault for subbing some ingredients! The flavor alone was fantastic enough to make again. 🙂
Hey Emily,
I am so glad you enjoyed the recipe, thanks so much for giving it a try! Happy Holidays! xTieghan
These came out so delicious!! I can’t wait to have them with a cup of chai tomorrow morning. Thank you!!
Hey Sajel,
I am so glad you enjoyed the recipe, thank you so much for giving it a try! Happy Holidays! xTieghan
These were the best Christmas cookies we’ve made this year. The Espresso icing is delicious!! Love the idea of freezing the cut outs. It worked like magic!! Thank you!! Your sugar cookie recipe is next!!
Hey Lisa,
Thanks so much for giving the cookies a try, I am glad you enjoyed the recipe! Happy Holidays! xTieghan
So delicious! Just finished making and decorating them for dessert this evening! Instead of making the chai spice, I eyeballed the spices (adding cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom and ginger — the only warm spices I had on hand) and combined it with the dry ingredients to complete the dough. It was quite sticky with only 2 3/4 cups of flour so I ended up using about 3 cups of flour instead. I chilled my cut cookies in the fridge while waiting for my oven to preheat (20 min. max). The end product was absolutely delicious and it came out perfectly flat — no raised or scraggly edges! I experimented by rolling both thin and thick cookies (for more bite) and both were equally loved. Thanks Tieghan!
Hey Noelle,
Thanks so much for giving the recipe a try, I am thrilled that it worked out for you! Happy Holidays! xTieghan
Hello! These turned out so good and so delicious! Just wondering the best way to store them? Are they ok stored in an airtight container on the counter or do they need to be in the fridge because of the buttercream? And how many days are they good for? Hoping to give as gifts though out this week. Thanks!
Hey Kyri,
Thanks so much for giving the recipe a try, I am thrilled that it worked out for you! You can store these in an airtight container on the counter. Happy Holidays! xTieghan
Can you freeze some of the dough for cutting out later?
Hey Elizabeth,
Yes you sure can! I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! Happy Holidays! xTieghan
chia gingerbread cookies are amazing. Super easy recipe and rolled out perfectly. Yum!!!
Hey Donna,
Thanks so much for giving the recipe a try, I am thrilled that it worked out for you! Happy Holidays! xTieghan