Monday, October 26, 2009

Hello Cookie: Chai Spice Cookies




The Hello Cookie project is up and running again.  After a couple of weeks of eating out (hello birthday, hello Sydney Food Festival and hello Melbourne), it's time to get the mixer out and start baking again.

The HelCoo project was helped by the delightful delivery of 2 tins of 'indulge your senses' Pure Chai*, a form of drinking powder (like drinking chocolate) that you mix with skim milk and heat in the microwave.  It is a very light version of traditional chai (or chai latte, at least) and is a convenient way to enjoy an afternoon coffee without the coffee.

Of course, it can also be used in cooking, which is where these Chai Spice Cookies come in.  I modified a basic cookie recipe with the addition of the Pure Chai and some ginger and cinnamon to bump up the flavour - replace the chai powder with 1/4 cup sugar and more ginger and cinnamon if you like.  You end up with a very moreish, delicious biscuit.  Hope you enjoy it.

Wait - before we dive into the recipe, check out this carton of eggs from the supermarket. A number of things make it stand out, namely the black carton (tres fancie!), the fact that they are labelled as 'Australia's premium gourmet eggs', and that there are 9 eggs in the carton.  What do you call that - a 'three-quarter dozen' or '3-4-12'?



Oh, alright, here is the recipe.

Chai Spice Cookies
makes 60

Ingredients
2 3/4 cups plain flour
1/2 cup indulge your senses Pure Chai (honey and vanilla flavour)
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp cinnamon
225g (1 cup) butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence

Method
1.  Sift the flour, chai powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt, ginger and cinnamon into a large bowl.
2.  In another bowl, beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until it becomes pale in colour and fluffy in texture.  Beat in the eggs and vanilla until combined.
3.  Gradually add the flour mixture and beat on low speed until it is all combined.
4.  Cover and refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes to one hour.  This will make it firm up a bit.
5.  Preheat the oven to 200 deg C (400 deg F). 
6.  Roll the dough into walnut-sized balls (about 2cm across).  Sprinkle with additional sugar and flatten slightly.  Place on a lined baking sheet about 4cm apart.
7.  Bake for 6 to 8 minutes, until lightly browned (be careful, they may brown quickly after this).
8.  Cool on the tray for a minute before placing on wire racks to cool completely.

And yes, I did end up with exactly 60 cookies.  They keep for up to 1 week in an airtight container.



Product placement - a handy way to get some flavour into the cookies. Or you could just drink it!



Mixing the dough; coating the dough with more sugar





'[Hot] pink is the navy blue of India'

* An appreciative Thank You to Rachel from Polarity Consultants for the Pure Chai!

14 comments:

  1. They look absolutely gorgeous. Your photos are amazing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hehe oooh look at those fancy pants eggs! I would SO buy them too (I'm a total sucker for cute packaging :P ). Love the chai theme here!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh they are so pretty! Love the fancy eggs too, but the carton wouldn't fit so nicely in the dedicated egg spot in my fridge.

    I could have done with some of this Pure Chai the other day when I wanted to chai-ise some macarons. Next time!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love the look of the egg package - sometimes it's all about packaging eh? I am pretty sure they will taste the same as any other egg. But your cookies - now that's something special. They look like they would go well with a cup of coffee - or chai tea! hehe

    ReplyDelete
  5. Cool egg box! I also love the look of those cookies! yum!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love chai and have been looking for recipes to try and include my favorite tea into cuisine! Thanks for sharing! These look delicious!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Awesome egg box! The black really does make it look fancy! I love how you managed to get your cookies a uniform round shape!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Chai cookies! Nice!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Cookies sounds like a great way to use your chai! I'll have to try it with my tea masala, which is strongly flavoured but very nice. I like your egg box, but it would never fit in the door of the fridge!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Ooh those eggs do look fancy! I like :) The cookies look so cute, I love anything chai!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I love the egg box. So cool. They don't have it here in Melb.... booo
    Chai cookie will work since I love chai. But I fear of finishing all the cookies!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I love sugar coated cookies! I also received a batch of this good stuff.

    Gone are the days of waiting for chai to infuse. It's really nice chilled with plenty of ice. I might make me some cookies now!

    Hope you got to check out babka bakery when you were down in Melb.

    ReplyDelete
  13. yummy im totally making these i have so much powder at home to use :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. hi A cupcake or two - thank you, sugar-sprinkled cookies always look good!

    hi Lorraine - me too, if the package is fancy, I've bought it.

    hi Conor - do you have one of those egg holders? I just shove the carton on the shelf, haha!

    hi Trissa - the eggs actually had a very thin shell. Not sure what that means, maybe the chickens are thin-skinned...?

    hi Anita - the cookies are indeed yummy!

    hi Jessica - you're welcome. I'm surprised at how many chai-flavoured recipes there are out there.

    hi Rilsta - the round shape was easy because the dough was quite firm, like shortbread. And yes, they are cute!

    hi Ellie - thank you!

    hi Arwen - proper tea (rather than chai powder) will give a stronger flavour, I think. The flavour of these cookies is quite mild, but nice.

    hi Betty - I felt quite classy using the fancy eggs, hehehe!

    hi Penny - LOL! I gave some of the cookies away, but still had heaps left. I wish I had better willpower!

    hi Adrian - I saw your use of the chai powder and it looked wonderful with the ice cubes. I will have to try it when it gets warmer. And I didn't visit Babka this time, maybe next time.

    hi Betty - everyone has made good use of the powder, so I'm going to copy some of the recipes as well. It will last for a while so we have plenty of time!

    ReplyDelete

LinkWithin