Melting Snowman Cookies (Chai Cookie Version)
Brown butter chai cookies topped with a cream cheese frosting, decorated to look like little melted snowmen!
Ingredients
Brown Butter Chai Cookies
- 113 g unsalted butter (8 tbsp.)
- 1 bag chai tea
- 100 g dark brown sugar* (½ c.)
- 50 g granulated sugar (¼ c.)
- 1 egg room temperature
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 160 g all purpose flour (1 ⅓ c.)
- ½ tsp. baking powder
- ½ tsp. baking soda
- ½ tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. chai spice**
Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting
- 150 g cream cheese room temperature (⅔ c.)
- 75 g unsalted butter room temperature (⅓ c.)
- ⅛ tsp. salt
- 220 g powdered sugar (1 ¾ c. + 1 tbsp.)
- 2 tsp. vanilla
- 8 mini reeses sliced in half, horizontally
- mini chocolate chips for the snowman eyes & nose
- gold pearl sprinkles for the buttons
Instructions
Brown Butter Chai Cookies
- In a small saucepan set over medium heat, brown the butter. Stir the butter occasionally until it turns amber in color and develops little brown specks.
- Empty a chai tea bag into a small bowl. Pour the butter over the chai, then set it aside to steep and cool off for 5 minutes.
- Add both sugars to a medium sized mixing bowl. Once the butter has slightly cooled off, place a fine mesh sieve over the mixing bowl. Pour the butter through the sieve and over the sugar to filter out the chai tea bag contents.
- Whisk in the egg and vanilla until well combined.
- Add in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and chai spices. Use a rubber spatula to fold the mixture together just until no flour streaks remain. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and place it in the fridge for 30 minutes to firm up.***
- Preheat the oven to 350°F / 175°C.
- Scoop out heaping 3 tbsp. scoops of the cookie dough and evenly space the cookie dough balls out on a parchment lined cookie sheet.
- Bake for 12-14 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies start to turn golden brown.
- Once the cookies come out of the oven, I recommend "scooting" them. This just means take a bowl, cup, or biscuit cutter that is slightly larger than the cookie, place it on top of the cookie, and swirl the bowl around to make the cookie a little more round.
- Let the cookies sit on the hot baking tray for at least 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool.
Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting
- In a small mixing bowl, beat together the cream cheese, butter and salt until the mixture is light and fluffy.
- Slowly beat in the powdered sugar until well combined. Add in the vanilla, then beat for an additional minute.
- Transfer the frosting to a piping bag fitted with a round tip. Place the longer top half of the reeses on top of the cookies. Pipe the frosting in a puddle shape around the cookies, filling in the centers and using a spoon to spread the frosting around.
- Place two mini chocolate chips, pointy side down, into the frosting to form the eyes. Place one mini chip sideways underneath the eyes to make the nose. Then, place the other half of the reeses above the eyes to make a hat and three gold pearl sprinkles below the nose to make the buttons. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
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*I recommend dark brown sugar for the best flavor but light brown sugar will work in a pinch!
**I used a pre-made chai spice blend from King Arthur Baking, but you could use a blend of your own favorite spices or a different pre-made blend here as well.
***You can leave the dough covered tightly in the fridge for up to 2 days before baking. If you’re leaving the dough in the fridge for more than a couple of hours, you’ll want to make sure you take the dough out to sit at room temperature for at least 10-20 minutes before baking, until it’s soft enough to scoop.
Store any extra frosted cookies in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Nutrition
Serving: 1cookieCalories: 537kcalCarbohydrates: 67gProtein: 5gFat: 28gSaturated Fat: 17gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 90mgSodium: 365mgPotassium: 108mgFiber: 1gSugar: 50gVitamin A: 875IUVitamin C: 0.2mgCalcium: 69mgIron: 1mg