Starbucks and Spring Series: Tazo Chai-Doodles

   

Have you ever baked with tea? It’s one of my favorite things to do come spring. The spices and florals infused in tea can really make for some creative baking in the kitchen. Chamomile can add a floral note to fruit tarts, earl grey can make a rich crinkle cookie filling, and chai tea can add some complex floral-spice to cookies and cakes. Spring means light and floral–tea can do that in the kitchen for you.

Speaking of tea, we are brewing more of it these days at our house. Don’t get me wrong, we are a coffee family. But hubby was told by his doc to watch his sugar levels and suggested to ease up on coffee and switch to tea, as coffee is a diuretic. I am still skeptical as to why that affects sugar levels (as I sip some coffee). But I am always a supportive wifey, so I brew him some tea in the mornings on his coffee-off-days. One of his favorite teas is chai. The layers of spice and pepper balanced with black tea leaves are intoxicating. It’s a nice replacement if you want to lay off the coffee one day. And when it comes to baking spiced cookies, chai has all the spices right in there. Just open a tea bag, run it through a grinder and you have a creative twist to gingerbread, coffee cake, or a snickerdoodle.

That’s what I made with my extra TAZO® chai tea bags, a big batch of “chai-doodles.” (See what I did there?)

The spice is balanced and not overpowering in the cookie. If you want more of a zing, add another tea bag or some chopped crystallized ginger! But for our house, 3 tea bags were enough.

Get creative in the kitchen with tea this spring! TAZO® has some fun blends that would make some really fun and unique treats.

1 cup butter, softened.

1 cup light brown sugar

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3 TAZO® chai tea bags, bags discarded and contents poured in a ramekin.

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 egg

Preheat oven to 350˚. Line 2-3 baking sheets with parchment paper, set aside.

In a medium bowl, sift the flour, baking soda, salt and baking powder. Set aside.

In a food processor, grind the tea with both sugars until fine and well blended. Reserve 1/4 cup of the spiced sugar in a separate bowl for rolling the dough balls.

In a large mixing bowl whip the butter until light and creamy. Add the rest of the sugar-spice mixture and mix on high until fluffy and light. Whip in the vanilla extract and the egg until well blended.

With the mixer on low, blend in the dry ingredients. The dough will be stiff. Mix until the dry ingredients are just incorporated, don’t overdo it.

Roll the dough into 1″ balls, then roll lightly in the reserved sugar mixture. Place the dough balls on the lined baking sheet 1″ apart.

Bake for about 10 minutes, or just until golden on the bottom and edges. Let cookies set on the baking sheets for 2 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Store in an airtight container for 3-5 days.