What spices and how much would you use?

17 years ago

I purchased some boxed cookies called Chai (petite tea cookies)at a big box store, which were similar to Russian Tea Cakes/Mexican Wedding Cookies, but with the chai flavor. They were quite good and I'd like to make some. Recipes I've seen use chai tea mix, but heck, I'd have to buy that and I have spices in my cupboard. The box lists cardamom, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, ginger, mace and red pepper as the spices. I also know there are many different combinations of spices used in chai. Do you have a favorite combination?

To a recipe using 1 cup of butter and 2 or 1/4 cups of flour, how much of what would you use? I know it would have to be a small amount. Can it be done without having to make a huge amount of batter just to not be overwhelmed by the spices?

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Comments (8)

lindac
17 years ago
-Well, if I were doing it Iw ould add a bit of this and a bit of that andt aste...
Startw ith 1/4 tsp cardamon and 1/2 tsp cinnamon a pinch of cloves...a generous pinch and 1/4 tsp nutmeg....
Mix and let it sit for about 30 minutes andt aste.
To me a little cardamon goes a long way.....I sus[ect youw ill want some ginger in there...buts ee what that tastes like to see what to add...
And I could sure skip the red pepper in that.
Linda c
trsinc
17 years ago
Ditto what Linda said. I'm out of chai or I'd tell you what kind of tea it has in it. I would think you'd need a bit of tea to add to the recipe as well.

If you've never had chai tea you should try it with a little honey and warm milk or half and half. It's great at this time of year.
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CA Kate z9
17 years ago
I actually saw a recipe for Chai cookies somewhere recently; perhaps on a box of ready-made Chai mix. ??? I remember that you used a ready-made mix in the cookies. Have you tried googling for a recipe?
ilene_in_neok
17 years ago
I found this, maybe it will be helpful. I've never had Chai tea. I'm going to try it today, sounds really good. --Ilene

Here is a link that might be useful: Chai Tea
seagrass_gw Cape Cod
17 years ago
An old friend came to have Thanksgiving with us and left me some of her Celestial Seasonings Original India Spice chai tea. I really like it - with warm milk and honey.

The ingredients listed on the box: Black tea, cinnamon, ginger, roasted chicory, cloves, cardamom, natural flavor, nutmeg, black pepper, chinese star anise, and vanilla bean.

I wonder what the "natural flavor" is?

seagrass
ilene_in_neok
17 years ago
LOL, maybe it's lemon or something.

I just made the "Favorite Chai Tea" on the link that I attached before. Yum, I'm having some now, looking out my window at a cold gray sky that may bring a few snow flurries our way.

It's similar to spiced tea, but with some different spices, and I have honey and milk in mine per directions. A nice change from spiced tea. It probably would be more pungent if all my spices were really fresh. Some of the spices called for (cardamom, for instance) I'd had around a little while. As an added bonus it makes the house smell nice.

Ingredients in the recipe are peppercorns, bay leaf, cardamom, cinnamon stick, anise, ginger, cloves. This recipe didn't call for vanilla bean or nutmeg but that would be nice, too. Might add those next time.

As I sip, I'm feeling like this would be really comforting to drink if I had a cold (but let's don't tempt fate!)
maxmom96
Original Author
17 years ago
Thanks for your input. I guess the chai spices are almost like the varying ingredients in Chinese 5 Spices; each manufacturer has his take on those spices, in order to make it their own.

Ilene: Thanks for the link. It was most helpful and interesting to read. I do see that several of the recipes use black peppercorns, but didn't see any red pepper, LOL.

Linda: I'll use your equivalents to try to gauge just how much of what I use. I always think I tend to have a "lead foot" in the kitchen and didn't want to end up using way too much spice to overwhelm the cookie. Good idea to mix some up, let it sit and then do some tasting, maybe it in with something bland so that I'm not tasting the raw spice without a buffer. Wonder what it would be like sprinkled on some cooked rice? Hmmmm. . .
pat_t
17 years ago
Will this help?

CUP OF CHAI

1 cup green cardamom pods
1 cup chopped cinnamon
1 cup chopped dried ginger
1/4 cup dried orange peel
1/4 cup whole cloves
1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
Combine ingredients. Store in an airtight container.
To use: Measure 1 heaping tablespoon per cup of water and simmer 20 minutes. Turn off heat, add 1 teaspoon of your favorite black tea; steep 5 to 10 minutes. Strain and sweeten to taste with honey and milk. Makes about 3 cups chai tea blend.

Recipe from The Kansas City Star newspaper Â 12/12/01.

What spices and how much would you use?

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lindac

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What spices and how much would you use?

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