Chai-spiced Tea Cookies

I keep two cookie recipes tacked inside my spice cabinet door at all times: good old Toll House, and this one. You just might need this recipe taped inside your cabinet, too, because for one thing, these are the fastest cookies ever. It will give you great courage in life to know that a plate of these fragrant little snow bombs is never more than half an hour away. They are pretty and delightfully good!

Pro tip: Measure all the dry ingredients (which is everything but the butter!) into a ziplock. Then when company pops in, it’s all ready to take a quick spin with the butter and then pop right into the oven. By the time the tea is steeped, the cookies are warm and the kitchen smells heavenly!

This makes a small batch, so I always double the recipe. Sometimes I use my Kitchenaid mixer and other times the food processor. Both work fine and super fast, but just a bowl and a spoon would do the trick, too. 


makes about 25 small cookies

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

¼ granulated sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

½ tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp ground ginger

½ tsp ground cloves

¾ tsp ground cardamom

¼ tsp salt

1 cup all-purpose flour

for rolling: ¾ cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350F. 

Beat butter with granulated sugar in a medium bowl. 

Stir in vanilla, spices, salt, and flour.

Scoop teaspoons of dough and roll with hands into small balls.

Place on baking sheet, spacing about 2 inches apart.

Bake until lightly golden; about 14-15 minutes.

Place powdered sugar in a pie plate. 

Roll warm cookies in powdered sugar and cool on a baking rack.

Where's That Link? Vol. 1

A few recipes online that I've known and loved and wouldn't want to lose...

Crockpot Mexican Beans/Bean Soup
Serious yum. I always add several cloves of garlic, at least one teaspoon of cumin, and, after the beans are tender, a little salt. My Mema was convinced that a half teaspoon of ginger made beans more sociable, and I've come to suspect she was right. So toss in some ginger. I've tried all sorts of jarred salsas and am rarely impressed, but Herdez Salsa Casera Medium will do just fine. As close to fresh salsa as you're going to get from a jar. A pantry staple.

Martha Stewart's Always Perfect Macaroni and Cheese
Okay, for real, that's not what Martha calls it. But it is. Always Perfect, I mean. This is the only mac & cheese recipe the universe needs. It's a bit of work, but oh baby, it's dinner all by itself. And breakfast the next day. The Beehive kids always want this on Christmas Eve. And does The Mamadah make it for them? Of course she does. Because she loves her children through food, like all good mamas do. NOTE: If you love yourself you will NOT omit the nutmeg or the cayenne. Do you hear me? I mean it. We always have it with Martinelli's Sparkling Apple Cider, which we horde get from Costco. Or baked apples. Oh wow. Oh. Oh. Wow. Okay, I'll stop.


Martha Stewart's Fruit & Nut Refrigerator Cookies
This is the cookie you're looking for. Having a log or two of this dough handy in the freezer when company drops in will completely take care of that ruse you're trying to pull off that your house is always homey and you're just the kind of gal who always has fresh baked cookies coming out of the oven right when people want them. Which is all the time. Terrific cookies. We don't bother to ice them. Beware of slicing them too thin-- they'll burn or get too crunchy. About ¼ inch but not less.