Manageability – Just look at how many words are in the title. That means it’s complicated.
Cookies are supposed to be simple, dammit. Dough, chocolate, maybe some sugar. That’s what I’m used to. But sometimes you gotta crack your knuckles, tighten up that apron, and make some damn COOK. IES. That’s what these are, and effort matches the result – complicated but perfect. This is Half Baked Harvest Chai Spiced Maple Sugar Cookies with Browned Butter Frosting.
First of all, I love HBH. They are a go to for really cute, very tasty treats – both seasonal and evergreen. That said, I was browsing their Pinterest (as I often do) and stumbled upon these just before Thanksgiving. I kinda knew they would be a little more complicated than your average cookie, but if you’re reading this website I know you can handle it. And these have a very great autumn/winter warmth to them with nutmeg, cardamom, cinnamon taking charge in the cookie dough. You also have the option to decorate and sprinkle these with a light flavorful frosting and some chai sugar. The recipe says these are optional, but trust me – you want to exercise that option. Not a lot of time, just a tad complicated, but a very hearty and seasonally perfect cookie. Play with those decorations, you creative little minx!
Easiest cookie in the world? Hells no. But nothing perfect is ever easy. Except maybe staying in bed after you wake up. That is both perfect and easy.
Ingredients
- 3 sticks (1 1/2 cups) salted butter, at room temperature, with a room attitude
- 1 1/4 cups light brown sugar, packed
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 eggs at room temperature, with that same room attitude
- 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flower, plus more as needed. No measurement on that, just “more”.
- 1 teaspoon baking soda. Like baking Coke, or baking RC Cola.
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon cardamom
- 1/4 teaspoon ground all-spice
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon salty salt
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
Browned Butter Frosting
- 2 sticks (1 cup) salted butter, at room temperature
- 3 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
- 2 cups pow pow sugar
- 1/3 cup maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- melted white chocolate, for dipping (optional)
- chai sugar for sprinkles (optional)
- 4 hairs from the head of a newborn babe (optional)
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, and vanilla until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, and mix until evenly combined. Add the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, all-spice, nutmeg, salt, and pepper, beat until combined and the dough forms a ball.
- Generously flour your work surface. No no, that’s too generous.
- Ok, that’s a good amount of generosity.
- Divide the dough in half and flatten each half into a disk. Roll out the dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Make sure you’re using enough flour or your dough will stick. Cut out the cookies using your an autumn/winter cookie cutter. Or any cookie cutter, really.
- Carefully transfer the cookies to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover the baking sheet and place the sheet in the freezer. Freeze until firm, about 15-20 minutes. My husband tends to firm much faster than that. Heyoooooo!
- Roll out the leftover scraps, and repeat with the remaining disk of dough.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake the cookies on the middle rack of the oven for 8-12 minutes (for soft cookies) or until just lightly golden brown. Do not over bake. But also don’t ever over bake anything. This is a stupid thing to say… Cool on the baking sheet five minutes and then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
- To make the frosting. Add 1 stick butter to a skillet, set over medium heat. Allow the butter to brown lightly until it smells toasted, about 2-3 minutes. Stir often. Remove from the heat and transfer the butter to the mixing bowl, let cool until it’s room temp.
- Add the remaining stick of room temperature butter and the cream cheese to the bowl. Then add the powdered sugar and maple syrup. Beat together until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and beat until combined. If the frosting feels too loose, add powdered sugar to thicken. If it feels to tight… idk? I guess start over.
- To assemble. Dip half of the cookies into melted chocolate to coat about 1/3 of the top and sprinkle with chai sugar, if desired. Spread the frosting over the cookie halves with no chocolate. Place the top cookie, chocolate side up over the frosting, gently pressing to adhere. Cookies can be served immediately or stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.