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Making our Tuesday extra sweet with these Chai Spiced Santa Cookies. Chai spiced cookies made with butter, cream cheese, and warming holiday spices. Frost these Santa shaped cookies with a deliciously sweet white chocolate frosting and you’ll have yourself the most perfect Christmas cookie. Fun to bake, delicious to eat, and a great homemade gift too!
Tis the season for all things cookies, and I’m fully embracing every minute. December only comes around once a year, so I figure, if there was ever a time for cookies, it’s now.
The last week has been filled with busyness and the hustle and bustle that is December. It’s an amazing month, but it’s also a busy one! All the craziness, and a doctor’s appointment (promise, I am totally fine, I just have a major thing about doctor appointments) has left me filled to the brim with anxiousness. The only thing that’s helped slightly has been all the holiday recipe testing and photographing.
You may or may not have noticed, but I have basically thrown myself into holiday recipes. I’m working so hard to create nothing but the best to share with you guys this month. This major focus has been such a help in relieving some of my anxious thoughts. I know that might sound crazy, but rolling out cookie dough is truly a very stress relieving activity. I really have so much fun creating these recipes!
Long story short, it’s December, and if you’re feeling stressed…bake cookies! Specifically these Santa cookies! They’re extra cute, festive, and very fun to make. Oh, and SO GOOD!
I’ve said this before, but I have a bit of a pet peeve with sugar cookies. They tend to be bland and I can never, ever, make them look as cute as that photograph on Pinterest. Previous sugar cookie baking days have ended in tears. But over the years I’ve picked up a few tricks and have let go of trying to decorate the “perfect” looking Christmas cookies. Perfect is boring, and what really matters, is how the cookie tastes. Cookies need to be GOOD.
These cookies? These cookies are delicious. They’re down right, one of the best cookies I’ve ever made. They got rave reviews from Asher, the brothers + friends (must admit, not that hard). But Mom loved them too, and all were eaten within minutes.
My secrets?
One, using cream cheese in the cookie dough. Yes, cream cheese. It creates perfectly soft and fluffy sugar cookies that just melts in your mouth.
Two, chai spice. Also known as, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, and all-spice. The best and most warming combination of spices, and so very holiday appropriate.
Trust me, this chai sugar cookie is so much better than those crunchy flavorless sugar cookies that we’re so often served this time of year. Hey, it’s true.
For the frosting, I knew I wanted to create something simple and sweet that would pair nicely with the chai spices, but not overpower them.
Enter the white chocolate frosting. It’s sweet, buttery, creamy, and has hints of vanilla. Perfection.
For decorating, I kept things simple, simple, simple (said in my best Eloise voice because that’s the mood I’m in).
I’m not a profession baker, and definitely not a cookie decorator. So I try to come up with easy ways to decorate cookies. I used red sanding sugar for Santa’s hat, mini chocolate chips for his eyes, and a red M&M for his nose. I had everything on hand at home. And while my first cookie was not perfect, my second was much cuter. And after that I had cookies decorated in no time.
So simple and easy, but still so cute!
Oh, and if you’d like the exact Santa cookie cutters I used, here’s the big one, and here’s the littler one. Both worked really well! And if you want to just do a one stop shop, here’s the red sanding sugar as well. Got to love Amazon!
If there was ever a cookie to make over the next couple of weeks leading up to Christmas, it’s this cookie. Hands down a favorite among everyone in my family (picky eaters included). And not only are these delicious, they’re cute too!
If you make these Santa 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 also tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Chai Spiced Santa Cookies with White Chocolate Frosting
Servings: 30 cookies
Calories Per Serving: 3817 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 3 sticks (1 1/2 cups) sticks (1 1/2 cups) salted butter, at room temperature
- 6 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 egg, at room temperature
- 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground all-spice
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
White Chocolate Frosting
- 2 sticks (1 cup) salted, butter
- 1 cup confectioners sugar
- 1 11 ounce bag high quality white chocolate chips, melted and cooled to touch
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- 1. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Add the egg and mix until evenly combined. Add the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cardamon, all-spice, and salt, beat until combined and the dough forms a ball.2. Generously flour your work surface. Divide the dough in half and flatten each half into a disk. Roll out the dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Make sure you're using enough flour or your dough will stick. Cut out the cookies using a Santa cookie cutter or your favorite holiday shape. Carefully transfer the cookies to a parchment lined baking sheet. Cover the baking sheet with plastic wrap and place the sheet into the freezer, freeze until firm, about 15-20 minutes. Roll out the leftover scraps, and repeat with the remaining disk of dough.3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake the cookies on the middle rack of the oven for 10-12 minutes (for soft cookies) or until just lightly golden brown. Do not over bake. Cool on the baking sheet five minutes and then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.4. To make the frosting: In the bowl of a stand mixer (or large bowl with a hand mixer) beat together the butter and powdered sugar until smooth and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the melted white chocolate, and vanilla, beat until combined. 5. To decorate. Transfer half the frosting to a piping bag fitted with a small tip or ziplock bag and snip a very small portion of the corner off the bag. Using a knife, frost Santa's hat (the top portion of the Santa cookie) and sprinkle with red sanding sugar. Using the piping bag, draw on the white rim of Santa's hat, and the white ball at the tip of the hat. Now draw on his white beard. Make 2 dots for his eyes, and one for his nose. Place 2 mini chocolate chips in for his eyes, and a red M&M for his nose (use above photos for visuals).6. Store cookies in a single layer in an airtight container for up to 3 days. And of course you can decorate these however you'd like. This is just how I decorated my cookies!
I made these cookies last night- you had me at chai spice!! (I also made the chai snickerdoodle snowmen ?). It was only my second time making sugar cookies and I think it went well, but by the end my dough was a little dry from all the flouring and rolling; I did end up with some broken cookies…clearly I need more practice!
Is the white chocolate frosting something I could make a couple hours prior to using, or does it need to be used right away?
Thank you for the recipe and the decorating and cookie cutter advice… hoping to snag that large Santa cutter for next year! Merry Christmas!
HI! You can make the frosting a head of time. That works really great! Please let me know if you have any other questions. So glad you love this recipe. Thanks so much and happy Holidays!! xTieghan ?
Hello- my daughter and I will be making your cut out Santa cookies tomorrow. The 3 sticks of salted butter all go into the cookie dough?
Thanks so much!
HI! Yes, it is 3 sticks salted butter. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe. Thanks so much and happy Holidays!! xTieghan ?
Have you tried freezing the frosted cookies?
Hi, so I made these today and forgot to add the egg (uggh) and didn’t realize it until the dough came together. I read that you can add it to the dough so I mixed it all together by hand. I am not sure if it worked or not, so can you please tell me the texture of your finished cookie? I baked for 8 mins for a softer cookie. Trying to decide if I should start over! Thank you!!
HI! The cookie dough should be moist and hold together with squeeze with your hands! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe. Thanks so much!! xTieghan ?
Hi Tieghan!
I have a quick question. Do you think the baking time/temperature will need to be modified for a lower altitude? These cookies seem delish and I want to make them! But I live in Louisiana at about a 50 foot elevation, much different than Colorado hahah. What are your thoughts??
Thanks! Kelli
Hi! You do not need to adjust the baking temp or time. They will work great for you even in Louisiana! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe. Thanks so much!! xTieghan ?
Sorry!! 2 more questions!! 1….when do you add the black pepper? With the other spices?? And 2….is the frosting “pipeable”?
Yes! Add the pepper with the other spices and yes, this frosting can be piped, but it’s not an icing so it will not be glossy. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe. Thanks so much!! xTieghan ?
Hi there!!! Are the “tree cookies” in these photos the same recipe?
Yes, the trees are the same recipe! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe. Thanks so much!! xTieghan ?
Made these today. Much better than traditional sugar cookies. The chai flavor is subtle but delicious. And so cute!
Thank you Janelle!
These cookies are SO delicious. They are still baking. I think I’ve eaten at least four already. Small ones, of course. QUESTION: Do they freeze well? Either before baking or after?
Hi! These cookies freeze great before or after baking. Either is totally fine and works very well! Please let me know if you have any other questions. So glad you love this recipe. Thanks so much!! xTieghan ?
These are amazing! I even made them gluten free and I have to say the dough was the most amazing texture for a rolled gluten free cookie! Not sure if it was the addition of the cream cheese but rolling them out was a breeze. Thanks for an amazing recipe!
I am so glad you loved these cookies! Thank you Andrea!
Made these cookies for an event at the local Homestead Museum Christmas Open House but ran out of time and couldn’t decorate them. The plain cookie turned out to be a big hit with the men who don’t like too much sweet. They loved them.
My husband loves them too as a shortbread with tea. Sorry about not getting to the decorations that you did such a nice job of creating. Next time.
I am so glad you made these cookies for the event and they still tasted great without the frosting! Thank you Nancy!
Hi Tieghan! I made these last night and the cookies turned out wonderful but I had trouble with the frosting. When I added the melted it white chocolate it hardened and it made the buttercream very chunky. How would you suggest fixing it?
I love cream cheese in cookie dough, these cookies are perfect!!
Thank you so much Laura!
Can’t wait to make these cookies. Can you confirm how many sticks of butter goes into the recipe?
HI! You need 3 sticks of butter for the cookies and 2 sticks of butter for the frosting. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe. Thanks so much!! xTieghan ?
This was easy to make and delicious! The frosting was the best I have ever had!!! I think I will even use it to decorate cupcakes/cakes in the future.
I only made a couple minor modifications. I didn’t have a Santa cookie cutter, so I used stars, a gingerbread person and a tree. Instead of using sanding sugar I used food colouring in the icing and I only outlined the edges of each shape. I also tried one batch where I froze the cookies and one where I didn’t freeze them, and there didn’t seem to be a difference between the two batches Overall, I think these cookies are fantastic! I will continue to make them for many more Christmas’ to come! Thank you for this scrumptious recipe.
Hi Michelle! I am so glad you loved this recipe and it turned out so well for you! Thank you!