Description

These chewy dark chocolate espresso chai cookies are my current obsession! They’ve got a soft, chewy texture with deep notes of dark chocolate, warm chai spices, and a kick of espresso. It’s an easy cookie recipe that comes together in about an hour and a half, including chill time.

Ingredients

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Wet ingredients

1/4 cup (56 g) unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup (50 g) packed light brown sugar
1 tbsp (13 g) granulated sugar
1/2 tsp (2.5 ml) vanilla extract
1 large egg yolk
1/3 cup (50 g) semi-sweet chocolate chips (divided)
1.5 tsp (4 g) espresso powder (or instant coffee powder)
1/4 tsp (1.5 g) fine sea salt

Dry ingredients

3/4 cup (90 g) all-purpose flour
1.5 tsp (4 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 tsp (1 g) baking soda

Chai Spices (or 1 chai tea bag)

1 tsp (2 g) ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp (1 g) ground ginger
1/4 tsp (0.5 g) ground cardamom
1/8 tsp (0.25 g) ground cloves
pinch (0.1 g) freshly ground black pepper

Garnish

as needed (as needed) Flaky sea salt (for sprinkling)

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Instructions

In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to cream together the softened butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until light and fluffy, about 1-2 minutes.
Mix in the vanilla extract and egg yolk until well combined.
In a small microwave-safe bowl, portion out 3 tablespoons of the chocolate chips and melt them in the microwave in 30-second intervals to ensure you don’t burn the chocolate.
Add the melted chocolate to the butter mixture and mix until smooth.
In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, unsweetened cocoa powder, baking soda, fine sea salt, espresso powder, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground cardamom, ground cloves, and black pepper.
Add the dry ingredient mixture to the wet mixture and mix until just incorporated.
Fold in the remaining chocolate chips; you can reserve a few tablespoons to press onto the cookie dough balls for a bakery-style look.
Scoop 1.5-2 tablespoons (~28g) of cookie dough and shape it into a ball; optionally, press 3-4 chocolate chips onto each ball.
Place the dough balls onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet and chill them in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C) and arrange the chilled dough balls on the prepared baking sheet, spacing them 2 inches (5 cm) apart.
Bake for 11-13 minutes or until the cracks in the cookie look dry and the edges are set.
Sprinkle with flaky sea salt if desired.
Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Notes

For the best chai flavour use the homemade chai spice but you can still use chai tea bags. Open the tea bag and use only the loose leaves. You can adjust the amount of leaves to your preferred spice level.

If you’re in a pinch and don’t have espresso powder, you can use instant coffee powder, but you might find the coffee flavour is a touch milder.

For the best texture and flavour development, don’t skip the chilling step. You can chill the dough for up to 2 days; just let it sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes before baking if it’s super firm.

Store these cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. They also freeze well for longer storage!

Prep Time: 20 mins
Chill Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 12 mins
Category: Cookies
Method: Baking