Saturday 4 August 2012

Olympic Challenge – Asia – Chai Spice Cookies




These have to be the easiest cookies I've ever made. So easy that I don't have many photos to share. Thanks to everyone for their suggestions for the Asian part of the Olympic Challenge. Alexandra Cartharis suggested Japanese Mochi which look lovely, but the ingredients were too tricky to come by for me sadly! I also had suggestions of Agar Agar and Ice Kachang. I feel as if I have had an education in Asian desserts.

Linzi over at Lancashire Food however suggested a Chai cookie. Now as an avid Starbucks patron, I have had a fair few Chai Latte’s in my time and good old regular chai tea too. So I thought this would be a good nod and a wink to the flavours of Asia. The cookies can be made well in advance and kept in the fridge, wrapped in clingfilm, until ready to bake.

Easy Chai Spice Refrigerator Cookies

Yield: approx 16 cookies

Ingredients:
110 grams unsalted butter, softened
60 grams granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
125 grams plain flour
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
Some milk on stand-by

Cream together the butter and sugar until pale yellow in colour, add in the vanilla. In a separate bowl sift together the flour and spices. Add the flour mix to the butter mix and combine into a dough. If it seems too dry, add a wee spot of milk, but just a half teaspoon or so. Now place the dough onto a piece of Clingfilm and wrap it up. You can now press the dough into a log shape. Refrigerate for at least half an hour.



Have your oven pre-heated to 180oC and line a cookie sheet with baking paper. Remove the dough from the fridge and take off the Clingfilm. With a sharp knife, slice the log into quarter inch slices. Place the slices, hence forth your cookies, onto the cookie sheet and bake in the oven for around 10 to 12 minutes, or until the edges turn golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.

The cookies are like a spiced shortbread. They have lovely flavour, but I would be wary of too much cardamom as it can taste soapy, so don’t mis-measure! However, these are great with a cuppa and I devoured about 6 in one sitting!!! So go ahead, tuck in…


2 comments:

  1. I don't like drinking chai tea but love its flavours in baking. These biscuits look lovely - and very easy to eat lots of whilst watching the Olympics!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Too easy CC - funny how some flavours we prefer to eat and not drink. Wonder why that is?

      Delete

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