There’s something magical about decorating sugar cookies during the holiday season, and these Chai Tree and Snowflake Cookies take that tradition and infuse it with the warming spices of chai tea for an aromatic twist that makes them uniquely special. The cookies themselves are tender, lightly spiced sugar cookies flavored with cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, and cloves that fill your kitchen with the most wonderful aroma as they bake. Cut into Christmas tree and snowflake shapes, then decorated with royal icing in whites, creams, and soft golds, these cookies are as beautiful as they are delicious. The chai spices give them a sophisticated flavor that appeals to adults while still being sweet enough for kids to love. These cookies are perfect for decorating parties where everyone can create their own designs, cookie exchanges where you want to bring something unique, gift giving when wrapped in cellophane bags with festive ribbon, or simply enjoying with a cup of hot tea or cocoa by the fireplace. The dough is easy to work with, rolls out beautifully without sticking, and holds its shape perfectly during baking so your trees and snowflakes come out crisp and defined.
Serving Quantity: Makes about 36-48 cookies depending on size
Cooking Time:
- Prep time: 30 minutes
- Chilling time: 2 hours
- Baking time: 10 minutes per batch (30 minutes total)
- Cooling time: 30 minutes
- Decorating time: 1 hour
- Drying time: 2 hours
- Total time: 6 hours 10 minutes
Nutrition Information (per decorated cookie):
- Calories: 145
- Total Fat: 6g
- Saturated Fat: 3.5g
- Cholesterol: 25mg
- Sodium: 75mg
- Total Carbohydrates: 22g
- Fiber: 0g
- Sugars: 14g
- Protein: 2g
- Iron: 4% of daily value
- Calcium: 2% of daily value
Ingredients for Cookies
- 3 cups of all purpose flour
- 1 cup of unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 cup of granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon of ground cardamom
- 1 teaspoon of ground ginger
- Half teaspoon of ground cloves
- Half teaspoon of baking powder
- Quarter teaspoon of salt
- 2 tablespoons of milk
Ingredients for Royal Icing
- 4 cups of powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons of meringue powder
- 6 tablespoons of warm water
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- White gel food coloring (optional for brighter white)
- Gold luster dust or edible gold paint
- Silver dragées or white pearl sprinkles
- White sanding sugar
- Clear edible glitter
Making the Chai Cookie Dough
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, cloves, baking powder, and salt. Set this aside. The combination of spices creates that signature chai flavor that makes these cookies special. In a large mixing bowl, beat the room temperature butter with an electric mixer on medium speed until it’s creamy and smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the sugar and continue beating for another 3 minutes until the mixture is light and fluffy. It should look paler in color and have a whipped texture. Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat until completely incorporated. The mixture might look slightly curdled but that’s normal. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture in three additions, mixing just until combined after each addition. Don’t overmix or your cookies will be tough. Add the milk and mix just until the dough comes together.
Chilling the Dough
Turn the dough out onto a clean work surface and knead it gently a few times to bring it together into a smooth ball. Divide the dough in half and shape each half into a flat disc about an inch thick. Wrap each disc tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or up to 3 days. This chilling time is essential for several reasons. It allows the flour to fully hydrate, which gives you a better texture. It firms up the butter so the dough is easier to roll out without sticking. It also lets the spice flavors develop and meld together. Cold dough also holds its shape better during baking, which is crucial for cut-out cookies. If you’re in a hurry, you can chill for just one hour in the freezer, but two hours in the fridge is better.
Rolling and Cutting
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Take one disc of chilled dough out of the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for about 5 minutes. You want it cold but not so hard that it cracks when you roll it. Lightly flour your work surface and rolling pin. Roll the dough out to about a quarter inch thickness, rolling from the center outward and turning the dough occasionally to keep it from sticking. Add more flour sparingly if needed, but too much flour will make the cookies tough. Use Christmas tree and snowflake cookie cutters to cut out shapes. Dip the cutters in flour between cuts to prevent sticking. Place the cut cookies on your prepared baking sheets about an inch apart. They don’t spread much, so they can be fairly close together. Gather the scraps, press them together gently, re-roll, and cut more cookies. Try not to re-roll more than twice or the dough gets tough from overworking.
Baking to Perfection
Bake the cookies for 8 to 10 minutes. The exact time depends on the size of your cookies. Small cookies need only 8 minutes while larger ones might need the full 10. The cookies are done when the edges are just barely starting to turn golden and the centers look set but still pale. Do not overbake. Slightly underdone is better than overbaked for tender cookies. They’ll firm up as they cool. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and let the cookies cool on the sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer them carefully to a wire cooling rack. Let them cool completely before decorating, which takes about 30 minutes. Any warmth will melt your icing. While the first batch bakes, roll and cut the second disc of dough.
Making Royal Icing
In a large mixing bowl, combine the powdered sugar and meringue powder. Add the warm water and vanilla extract. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed for about 30 seconds to combine, then increase to high speed and beat for 5 to 7 minutes. The icing will transform from a liquid to a thick, glossy white icing that holds stiff peaks when you lift the beaters. This is your base consistency, which is too thick for decorating. You’ll thin it out for different purposes. Royal icing dries hard and smooth, which makes it perfect for decorated cookies. It also acts as glue for attaching decorations.
Preparing Different Icing Consistencies
You need two consistencies for decorating. Outlining consistency is slightly thinner than the base and flows slowly off a spoon, taking about 10 seconds to settle back into itself. Flooding consistency is even thinner and flows easily, settling smooth in about 5 seconds. Keep your base icing in one bowl covered with a damp towel. Transfer about a cup of icing to another bowl and thin it with water, one teaspoon at a time, stirring gently after each addition, until you reach outlining consistency. Transfer another cup to a third bowl and thin it more for flooding consistency. Always add water in tiny amounts because you can’t thicken it back up easily. Test the consistency by spooning some onto a plate. If it takes too long to settle smooth, add a tiny bit more water.
Coloring the Icing
For these cookies, you’ll mostly use white icing in different consistencies, but you might want some ivory or cream for variation. Divide your icing into bowls and add gel food coloring if desired. For pure white, add a tiny amount of white gel coloring to counteract the natural ivory color of the icing. For cream or ivory, leave it as is or add a tiny touch of yellow or brown. For gold accents, you’ll paint those on after the icing dries using luster dust mixed with clear extract. Transfer your icing to piping bags or squeeze bottles. Piping bags fitted with small round tips work best for outlining. Squeeze bottles are perfect for flooding. Cover any icing you’re not actively using with plastic wrap pressed directly on the surface to prevent it from drying out.
Outlining the Cookies
Start with your outlining consistency icing in a piping bag fitted with a small round tip, like a number 2 or 3. Hold the bag at a 45 degree angle just above the cookie surface. Apply steady pressure and trace around the edge of the cookie about an eighth of an inch from the edge. This creates a dam that will hold the flooding icing. For snowflakes, outline the entire perimeter and each individual arm if you want defined sections. For Christmas trees, outline the whole tree shape and add a small rectangle at the bottom for the trunk if desired. Work on several cookies at once, outlining them all before moving to the flooding step. Let the outlines set for about 15 minutes before flooding.
Flooding the Cookies
Once your outlines are set, use your flooding consistency icing to fill in the centers. Use a squeeze bottle or piping bag to apply the icing, starting in the center and working outward toward the outline. The icing should flow and settle smooth on its own. If you see gaps or air bubbles, use a toothpick or scribe tool to pop bubbles and guide the icing into corners. Don’t overfill or the icing will spill over your outline. Fill it just to the edge of the outline. The icing will settle and flatten as it sits. For Christmas trees, flood the tree portion in green if you’re using color, or white for a snowy tree. For snowflakes, flood each section or the entire cookie depending on your design.
Adding Details and Decorations
While the flooding icing is still wet, you can add decorations that will sink in slightly and become part of the design. Sprinkle white sanding sugar over tree cookies for a snowy texture. Add silver dragées or white pearl sprinkles to snowflakes while they’re wet so they stick. Dust clear edible glitter over everything for sparkle. For more defined decorations, let the flooding icing dry completely for at least 2 hours or overnight. Once dry, you can pipe additional details on top using outlining consistency icing. Pipe zigzag garland on Christmas trees, add a star on top, create ornament dots. For snowflakes, pipe intricate details that follow the snowflake pattern. Paint gold accents using luster dust mixed with a few drops of clear extract like vodka or lemon extract. Paint edges, centers, or specific details.
Creating Different Designs
Simple all-white cookies with different textures are elegant and sophisticated. Flood some trees completely smooth, others with sanding sugar, others with dragées. Make some snowflakes plain white with gold centers, others covered in glitter, others with intricate piped details. Ombré trees look beautiful. Flood the bottom in darker icing, middle in medium, and top in light, using a toothpick to blend where they meet. Plaid or striped patterns on trees create a modern look. Pipe stripes of different colored icing and use a toothpick to drag through them perpendicular to create plaid. Lace snowflakes are stunning. Flood the cookie in white, let it dry, then pipe very fine lace-like details on top in the same white or a contrasting color.
Drying the Decorated Cookies
Once decorated, let the cookies dry completely at room temperature. This takes at least 2 hours for the icing to set enough to handle, but overnight is better for the icing to fully harden. Don’t stack them until completely dry or they’ll stick together and ruin your beautiful designs. You can speed up drying by placing them in front of a fan, but don’t put them in the oven or they’ll melt. Fully dried royal icing should be hard and matte, not tacky or shiny. When dry, the cookies can be stacked carefully with parchment paper between layers.
Storing Decorated Cookies
Store completely dried cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks. The royal icing acts as a preservative, so decorated cookies actually keep longer than plain ones. Layer them carefully with parchment or wax paper between layers to protect the decorations. Don’t refrigerate decorated cookies because humidity can make the icing weep and become sticky. Keep them in a cool, dry place. For gift giving, place each cookie in a clear cellophane bag, seal with a twist tie, and add a festive ribbon. Stack them upright in gift boxes lined with tissue paper.
Cookie Decorating Party
These cookies are perfect for a decorating party. Bake all the cookies ahead of time and let them cool completely. Make the royal icing and prepare it in different consistencies and colors. Set up a decorating station with piping bags, squeeze bottles, toothpicks, and all your decorations in small bowls. Give each person several plain cookies and let them create their own designs. Provide inspiration pictures but encourage creativity. Kids especially love this activity. Set up a drying area where finished cookies can sit undisturbed. Everyone takes home their creations once dry.
Tips for Success
Room temperature butter is crucial for proper creaming. Cold butter won’t incorporate properly and melted butter changes the texture. Measure flour correctly by spooning it into the measuring cup and leveling it off. Scooping directly from the bag packs it down and you’ll use too much. The chai spices can be adjusted to your taste. If you love cardamom, add more. If cloves are too strong, reduce them. Chill the dough the full two hours. Shortcutting this step results in cookies that spread and lose their shape. Roll dough to an even quarter inch thickness. Thicker cookies are cakey, thinner ones are too crispy. Bake until just barely golden at the edges. Overbaked cookies are hard and dry. Cool cookies completely before decorating. Even slightly warm cookies will melt icing. Make sure your royal icing reaches stiff peaks before thinning. Too-soft base icing won’t thin properly. Add water to thin icing in tiny increments. It’s easy to make it too thin and impossible to thicken it back. Cover icing bowls with damp towels to prevent crusting. The icing skins over quickly when exposed to air. Let outlines set before flooding to prevent the flooding icing from bleeding over the edges. Don’t overfill flooded areas. The icing spreads slightly as it settles. Pop air bubbles immediately with a toothpick or they’ll dry that way. Add sanding sugar and sprinkles while icing is wet so they stick. Paint on luster dust only after icing is completely dry. Allow full drying time before stacking or packaging. Rushing this ruins your hard work. These cookies freeze beautifully before decorating. Bake them, cool them, freeze in layers with parchment for up to 3 months. Thaw and decorate whenever you’re ready. Decorated cookies don’t freeze as well because the icing can crack or weep when thawed. Meringue powder is different from powdered egg whites. Make sure you’re buying the right product for royal icing. If you can’t find meringue powder, you can make royal icing with egg whites, but it won’t be as stable or white. The chai spice blend makes these cookies smell incredible. Your whole house will smell like Christmas. Make extra dough because you’ll want to bake more once you taste them. These cookies are sturdy enough to hang as ornaments. Add a hole at the top with a straw before baking, thread with ribbon after decorating and drying.
