Taylor Swift's Old Chai Cookie Recipe Is Going Viral On TikTok, So I Tried It, And I Am In Love
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5 min read
The wait is almost over, folks: Taylor Swift's latest album, Midnights, is set to be released this Friday, Oct. 21!
I was looking for a way to pass the time while waiting this week. So, when I came across Taylor's old famous chai cookie recipe making its rounds on TikTok, I knew I immediately needed to finally try baking them.
If you don't remember, Taylor blessed us with her chai cookie recipe back in the day on Tumblr. I feel extremely old realizing this was six years ago.
"There are two ways you can go about this," Taylor wrote. "The quick and easy way is to make sugar cookies from a sugar cookie mix and just cut open a packet of chai tea and pour it into the batter as you make it. Cause you’re busy and you want making cookies to be a chill part of your day. Pow. Done. OR If you want to make the cookies from scratch (that’s what I did for the1989 Secret Sessions), you can use this recipe I found on a baking blog I like, joythebaker.com and I believe it was originally from a book called The Pastry Queen. If you want another great baking blog, I get a lot of great ideas from smittenkitchen.com too. This is a recipe for basic insanely good sugar cookies. I added the chai element to the recipe because I thought it would infuse cozy holiday vibez into the cookie and it really did."
There's also an optional icing you can add to the recipe!
I decided to make the cookies from scratch — while listening to my Taylor playlist, of course. Here's how it went!
This is my assistant, Lola. She's a big fan of Meredith, Olivia, and Benjamin.
To bake from scratch, you'll need: butter, vegetable oil, granulated sugar, powdered sugar, an egg, vanilla extract, chai tea leaves (or you can make your own chai mix with a few spices!), flour, baking soda, and salt. Here's the recipe I used where you can find the exact measurements and directions — there are slight variations depending on who you ask, and I personally took a couple of shortcuts, but the recipe is pretty much the same across the internet.
If you decide you want to make the icing too (it's worth it!), then you'll also need: powdered sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, and milk or eggnog. I couldn't find eggnog at my store, so I just used almond milk, which worked fine!
ALRIGHT. First step, preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. While the oven is heating up, beat the butter in a bowl for about a minute (the recipe calls for a mixer, but I don't have one, so I just used a wooden spoon). Then, stir in the vegetable oil, both the granulated and powdered sugar, egg, and vanilla extract. Mix it all up!
I promise this will look WAY more appetizing in a minute.
Time for the best part — the chai!!! Pour the packet of crushed leaves into the mix and give it a stir.
Kelly Martinez / BuzzFeed
Now add the flour, baking soda, and salt. Slowly mix it all together. And that's it — you've got your dough!
Kelly Martinez / BuzzFeed
Next, take the mixture and either chill it in the fridge for one hour or simply stick it in the freezer for 15 minutes. I'm impatient, so I chose the latter option.
As a Filipino, I'm legally required to keep lumpia in my freezer at all times.
I decided to go ahead and make the icing while I waited for the dough to chill. This part is pretty simple: In a separate bowl, just whisk the powdered sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, and eggnog/milk together. "The more milk/eggnog you add, the more your icing will become a glaze. But glazes are legit too so basically just LIVE YOUR LIFE," Taylor wrote in her post. “If you’re really feeling like living on the edge, you can go ahead and add a few drops of food coloring to the icing to make it festive. No one is going to stop you."
I regrettably didn't have any food coloring on hand, but I'll have to try that next time!
Okay, now let's get back to the main event! Take the dough and roll it into small balls, and then flatten them on a baking sheet. They should be slightly thick!
I messed up here and made mine too big — they still turned out delicious, but I had to add some extra baking time to the oven. It also probably would have been smart to use a bigger sheet and spread them out more. Learn from my flops, please!
Place the sheet in the oven. When the timer is up, carefully remove and sprinkle a little bit of granulated sugar over the cookies.
Kelly Martinez / BuzzFeed
Once the cookies have cooled enough, grab a spoon and slather on the icing! Top with sprinkles of cinnamon, as a ?treat?.
Please excuse my incredibly sloppy photography skills here.
Final step: ENJOY!!! ??????
Kelly Martinez / BuzzFeed
My verdict: TRY IT. Honestly, they tasted a lot like snickerdoodles to me — I didn't find the chai element too overwhelming. Overall, I was pretty happy with how these turned out. Lola thought they smelled good too!
Kelly Martinez / BuzzFeed
Would I make these again? Absolutely! I'd definitely make the cookies a little smaller next time, though. I'd also like to try making with eggnog and adding in some food coloring. I'm sure the recipe would also be a lot easier with a mixer. All in all though, I'd call the cookies a success!
Nickelodeon
That's all for now! If you try the recipe, be sure to tell us in the comments how it goes!!! If you need me, I'll be listening to my Taylor Swift fall playlist on repeat until Midnights drops.
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