Sourdough Discard Chai Spice Cookies

Soft, chewy chai-spiced sugar cookies rolled in cinnamon sugar, built on sourdough discard and a warm blend of ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and actual chai tea. Optionally finished with a vanilla bean glaze.

Ingredients

• 113 g unsalted butter, room temperature
• 100 g granulated sugar
• 50 g powdered sugar
• 100 g vegetable oil
• 50 g sourdough starter (discard), room temperature
• 1 egg, room temperature
• 5 g vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
• 240 g all-purpose flour
• 3 g baking soda
• 4 g ground ginger
• 3 g ground cinnamon
• 1 g ground allspice
• Pinch ground nutmeg
• Pinch ground cardamom
• Tiny pinch ground cloves

Tiny pinch black pepper

• 3 g salt
• 1 chai tea bag (contents added dry to the dough)
• Cinnamon sugar, for rolling
• Optional glaze: 100 g powdered sugar
• Optional glaze: 3 g vanilla bean paste
• Optional glaze: 5-10 g milk

Directions

Key ingredients

Baking Soda & Baking Powder · Black Pepper · Cinnamon · Vanilla Extract

1. Cream the butter and both sugars until light and fluffy. Add the oil, sourdough starter, egg and vanilla, mixing on low until just combined; the mixture will look lumpy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
2. In a separate bowl, combine all the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, cardamom, cloves, black pepper and salt). Cut open the chai tea bag and add the dry tea directly to the dry ingredients.
3. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix on low until a soft dough forms. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour (or freeze for about 20 minutes).
4. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
5. Scoop the dough into 1.5-tablespoon balls, roll each in cinnamon sugar, and space them 2 inches apart on the sheets.
6. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the edges are golden and the cookies are set. Let cool completely before glazing.
7. For the optional glaze, whisk together the powdered sugar, vanilla bean paste and milk until smooth, adjusting consistency with more milk or powdered sugar. Drizzle over cooled cookies and, if desired, sprinkle with a little extra nutmeg.

Notes

Chai spice blend: the warmth comes from ground ginger, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, cardamom, cloves and a tiny pinch of black pepper, boosted by cutting open a real chai tea bag and stirring the dry tea straight into the flour mixture. Sugar rolling: rolling each dough ball in cinnamon sugar before baking gives the crackly, snickerdoodle-style top and a spiced-sweet shell. Discard vs. active: 50 g of sourdough starter is used for flavor and tenderness; plain discard works well, and stirring down active starter before weighing keeps the measurement accurate. Chilling the dough 1 hour (or freezing ~20 min) keeps the cookies from spreading too thin. Storage: keep in an airtight container at room temperature for several days; unglazed cookies freeze well, or freeze the dough balls and roll in cinnamon sugar just before baking. Adapted from Sophie at Mostly Sourdough (her sourdough take on a chai sugar cookie, itself adapted from Joy the Baker).