Chai Spice White Chocolate Chip Cookies

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Chai spices. These white chocolate chip cookies are kind of like a cup of chai tea in cookie form, with cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, cardamom, and allspice.

The best white chocolate chip cookies. Chai spices and hazelnuts take these cookies to a whole ‘nother level of the white chocolate cookie-sphere-- even if you’re not usually a white chocolate person (hi, that’s me), these just might change your mind.

One-bowl cookie recipe. No need to dirty every bowl just to make a batch of white chocolate chip cookies. These are easy to make and clean up is a snap.

Basic ingredients. There’s really nothing fancy in these cookies. All the ingredients are really simple, and you probably already have most of them in your pantry.

Big soft cookie. If you like thick, soft, chewy cookies, these white chocolate chip cookies might become your new favorite cookie recipe.

Make these your own. If you like to look at a recipe and think, hmmmm… now how can I change it? -- you'll love these. You can switch out the stir-ins, or even turn them into oatmeal cookies. Keep reading to find out how.

Butter. Use room temperature butter to ensure a soft, thick cookie that isn’t flat or greasy.

Brown sugar. Brown sugar adds deep, rich flavor to these cookies. Which is just what we’re after in these chai spice white chocolate chip cookies. The molasses in the brown sugar also helps keep the texture moist and chewy.

White sugar. If you’ve ever wondered why cookie recipes have both brown sugar and granulated sugar, it’s because they each have their own special gifts. And one of white sugar’s talents is helping cookies get brown and crispy.

Eggs. Use room temperature eggs in these white chocolate chip cookie recipes to ensure all the ingredients blend cohesively together. Otherwise, if cold eggs hit warm butter, it can cause the butter to curdle.

Cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, cardamom, and allspice. This combination of warm spices gives these delicious cookies rich, chai flavor.

Salt. Please don’t skip the salt. It’s where flavor comes from.

Cornstarch. Kind of weird to see cornstarch in a cookie recipe. But it has a purpose. It helps keep these white chocolate chip cookies soft and tender and keeps the batter from spreading so you get nice, thick cookies.

Hazelnuts. When I was dreaming up this white chocolate chip cookie recipe, my mind auto-piloted to macadamia nuts. Then I had the chai spice idea, and hazelnuts made all the sense in the world. They add rich, earthy flavor to the warm and cozy chai spices.

White chocolate chips. White chocolate goes exceptionally well with chai spices -- like the milky part of chai tea.

Brown sugar. I always use dark brown sugar, but light brown sugar also works. If you're out of brown sugar, you can make your own by mixing one cup of white sugar with one tablespoon of molasses or maple syrup.

Chai spices. Maybe you like pepper or coriander in your chai. Or you don't like cloves. Feel free to create your own unique blend of chai spices.

Hazelnuts. You can use whatever nuts you like. Or none at all — which I totally get.

White chocolate chips. You can replace the white chips with milk chocolate. Or dark chocolate. Or peanut butter chips. Or turn them into double chocolate chip cookies. Go with your heart on this one.

Room temperature butter and eggs. Use room temperature butter and eggs in this white chocolate chip cookie recipe.

If the butter is too warm, your cookies could come out greasy. Room temperature butter isn’t super soft — it should just slightly give when you press on it.

And you really only need to leave your butter out about 30 minutes or so to get it to perfect room temperature. Cut it into pieces to warm it up more quickly.

If you forget to take your butter out ahead of time (which I do each and every time), here’s a quick tip: Warm up a cup of water in the microwave for a couple of minutes.

Place a plate with cubed butter inside the nice, warm microwave for about ten minutes and you'll end up with perfectly softened butter.

If you remember right before you start baking that you need room temperature eggs, then you and I are exactly the same. Just place the eggs in a cup of warm water for about ten minutes.

Hot oven. One of the secrets to getting thick white chocolate chip cookies that are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside is to bake them in a hot oven. And I know 420 seems crazy high for cookies. But it works.

Chill the dough. Working with chilled dough is another way to ensure thick cookies — and prevent the dreaded spread. I like to chill cookie dough for at least an hour. But really, you can make the dough up to a couple of days ahead of time and keep it covered in the fridge until you’re ready to start baking.

Tall scoops. Scooping out the cookie dough into round balls will also help achieve thick cookies.

Mix everything until just incorporated. If cookie dough gets mixed too much, air gets incorporated into the dough and the cookies will puff up in the oven, then fall flat. The best way to prevent that is to not overmix the dough.

Measure the flour carefully. It’s so tempting to just scoop the flour out of the bag or canister. But I find that my cookie recipes come out more successfully if I spoon the flour into the measuring cup and level it off with a knife (just like my mom taught me). If your white chocolate chip cookies don’t have enough flour, they’ll spread out thin. If there’s too much flour, they’ll come out dry and crumbly.

Yes, you can freeze baked white chocolate chip cookies. Just wrap baked cookies individually in plastic wrap then place them in a zip-top bag. Store cookies in the freezer for 8-12 months.

You bet! You can keep your cookie dough in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to four days before baking.

Yes! These cookies are the perfect treat to store in the freezer.

No. Just preheat the oven as usual and add a few minutes to the baking time.

Store your white chocolate chip cookies in an airtight container or zip-top bag for a couple of weeks.

If you’re looking for a killer oatmeal cookie to have in your arsenal, you can easily turn this recipe into oatmeal chai spice white chocolate chip cookies.

Just use one less cup of flour, so 2 ½ cups, and add 2 cups of rolled oats during the same step as the hazelnuts and white chocolate chips.

Big, Fat Oatmeal Craisin Cookies are the best cookies! Filled with oatmeal, chewy craisins, and rich dark chocolate.

Cranberry Almond Macaroons, an easy almond macaroon cookie recipe with a pretty white chocolate drizzle.

Blueberry White Chocolate Magic Cookie Bars start with an easy cookie mix for a decadent twist on a 7-layer bar.

Step 1

With a hand mixer or stand mixer, cream the butter and sugars together in a large bowl. Mix in the eggs until fully incorporated, then the vanilla extract.

Step 2

Sift in the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, cardamom, allspice, salt, and cornstarch.

If you don’t have a large strainer or sifter, you can also whisk the dry ingredients together in another bowl before adding them to the wet ingredients. Mix until just combined. Don’t overmix.

Step 3

Mix in the hazelnuts and white chocolate chips until just combined.

Chill the dough for at least one hour.

Step 4

Heat oven to 420. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

Step 5

Use a cookie scoop to portion out the dough into rounded scoops. Do not flatten the dough. Bake cookies for 7-9 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.

Let the cookies rest for a few minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer them to a cooling rack. For gooey, oozy cookies, let them sit for about 15 minutes before digging in. For thick, dense cookies, let them cool all the way, about an hour.

Serve with a warm cup of chai, hot chocolate, or tall glass of milk.

This recipe makes about 18 chai spice white chocolate chip cookies.