Vegan Brown Sugar Chai Cookies (2024)

4.76 from 45 votes

Course: Vegan Cookies + Brownies

Cuisine: Vegan

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 12 minutes minutes

Additional Time: 1 hour hour

Total Time: 1 hour hour 27 minutes minutes

Author: Megan Horowitch

• ▢ ½ cup vegan butter I used Earth Balance sticks, see notes on Miyokos butter
• ▢ ½ cup+ 2 Tablespoons dark brown sugar *can also use light brown sugar
• ▢ ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon dried
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom dried
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon ground ginger dried
• ▢ ⅛ teaspoon star anise optional, ground
• ▢ ⅛ teaspoon black pepper optional, for a little spice
• ▢ 1 flax egg 1 Tablespoon (8 grams) ground flaxseed mixed with 3 Tablespoons water and left to sit 5-10 minutes
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
• ▢ 1 cup+ 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon salt
• ▢ ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar optional- for rolling cookies in before baking

• First add the vegan butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, and optional anise & black pepper to a mixing bowl. Cream together with an electric mixer until soft and fluffy.

• Next, add in the flax egg and vanilla and whip together another 30 seconds.

• Then, add in the all-purpose flour, baking soda, and salt. Make sure to add the flour first and then add the other ingredients on top. Then, use a fork to gently sift the baking soda and salt into the flour. Once sifted, mix everything together until a thick cookie dough forms. The dough will be slightly sticky, but should not be wet.

• Cover the bowl of cookie dough with plastic wrap and add the bowl of dough to the fridge to chill for 1 hour.

• About 10 minutes before removing the dough from the fridge preheat the oven to 350F, line a baking tray withparchment paper, and fill a small bowl with the 2 tablespoon of granulated sugar.

• Remove the dough from the fridge and use a cookie scoop to scoop out 10-12 evenly sized cookies (about 45-50 grams per cookie). Roll into balls between your palms and then roll in the bowl of granulated sugar until the cookies are coated.

• Place each cookie at least 2 inch apart on the tray and do not flatten them as they will spread while baking. All of the cookies will not fit on one baking sheet, so I recommend baking 6 cookies at a time on one tray vs. putting two trays in the oven at the same time.

• Bake for 11-13 minutes until bottoms are lightly browned and the cookies are cooked through but have slightly soft centers (If making smaller cookies adjust baking time to 9-11 minutes). The cookies will continue baking after they are removed from the oven so the centers should still be soft, but not glossy or raw, when they are removed from the oven.

• Remove the cookie tray from the oven and immediately tap the tray on the counter to produce a more “wrinkly” cookie. For round cookies, use a round cookie cutter that is slightly larger than the cookie and swirl the cookies around inside to form them into a round cookie. This step will only work if you do it while the cookies are still warm.

• Then, let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes. The cookies will be soft and puffy out of the oven and will naturally deflate a little while cooling.

• After cooling, serve & enjoy!

• If using Miyokos butter or Earth Balance spread from a tub vs baking sticks, add 1 tablespoon (8 grams) more flour. These butters have more oil and tend to spread more.
• If you like more spice, feel free to double all the spices in the cookie recipe. It will not affect the texture but will lead to a slightly more intense flavor.
• If making cookies smaller than 50 grams (about 2 Tbsp) adjust the cooking time to 9-11 minutes for chewy cookies.
• Dark brown sugar leads to softer cookies that spread more whereas light brown sugar leads to crispier cookies. For even chewier cookies, add 1 tablespoon more brown sugar to the recipe.

• If you would like to make the dough and freeze it scoop the dough into balls and freeze on a parchment-lined sheet pan in the freezer. Once frozen, transfer the cookies to a ziploc bag or freezer-safe container. The baking time will need to be increased slightly for frozen cookies (usually 2-3 more minutes) so do keep that in mind!
• Leftover cookies can be stored in the freezer in a closed container up to 1 month, in the fridge for 7 days, or at room temperature for 2-3 days.
• Recipe updated November 2021 from ¼ teaspoon baking powder+ ¼ teaspoon baking soda to ½ teaspoon baking soda. This should help the cookies get flatter and chewier for those having problems!