Looking for a sweet treat this fall? Cookies are always a crowd pleaser. Whether you need a dessert for Thanksgiving or just want to make a fun fall treat, look no further than these cookie ideas!
Chai Tea Sugar cookies
Chai Tea Sugar Cookies are the perfect treat to get into a fall mood (and a crowd favorite among my friends). Even people who don’t like chai tea enjoy these cookies! They taste like a fall candle in your mouth.
My cookie recipe is a modified version of Taylor Swift’s infamous chai tea cookie recipe. I’d recommend her version as well, but I prefer to use a few substitutes and adjust how I prep the dough.
Ingredients needed:
- ½ cup of butter
- ½ cup of granulated sugar
- ½ cup of powdered sugar (sifted)
- ½ cup of coconut oil
- 1 egg
- 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
- 2 cups of flour (can also use gluten-free flour)
- ½ teaspoon of baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon of salt
- 1 chai tea bag (cup open the bag and pour out tea leaves/contents)
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
In a large bowl, beat butter and coconut oil until creamy. In a separate bowl, whisk flour, salt, baking soda, and contents of the chai tea bag. Add the sugars, egg, and vanilla extract into your wet mixture (the butter and oil). Mix together. Next, add the flour/dry mix into the large bowl. Mix until everything is well incorporated.
If your dough is relatively soft, I recommend chilling the bowl for about 20-30 minutes. This will keep the dough from spreading too much. If the dough seems to have a good texture, you’re ready to bake.
Scoop about a tablespoon’s worth of dough out of your bowl and roll it into a ball using your hands. Place the dough ball onto a lined cookie sheet. I recommend having the balls 2 inches from each other.
Bake for 9-12 minutes, or until the dough no longer appears wet on top and there is a slight golden brown rim around the bottom.
You can also add a glaze. I personally use a vanilla glaze. With about 1 ½ cups of sifted powdered sugar and a teaspoon of vanilla as my base, I mix the two together. The glaze will be too thick at this point, so I would recommend adding a tablespoon of water to help it reach that galaxy texture. Getting the consistency right takes trial and error, so don’t get scared! If it’s too runny, add more powdered sugar. If it’s too thick, add a little bit of water. Take a spoon, scoop some glaze, and make a figure eight, dripping the glaze back into the bowl. You should be able to see the “eight” before the glaze resets after a few seconds.
Now, take your completely cooled cookies, as the glaze will melt if the cookies are warm, and dip them into the glaze. You can also use a knife to spread to glaze on top, or drizzle it on the cookies. It’s your choice of how to top the cookies. Finally, I add a little sprinkle of powdered sugar over the cookies as a final touch.
Snickerdoodles
A classic cookie recipe! Who doesn’t love a little extra cinnamon in the fall!
- 1 cup of butter
- 1 ½ cups of granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 2 ¾ cups of flour
- ½ teaspoon of baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoon of cream of tartar
- 1 ½ teaspoon of ground cinnamon
- OPTIONAL TOPPING: cinnamon sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
In a medium bowl, mix butter and sugar. In a smaller bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, salt, and cinnamon. Add the vanilla and eggs to the wet butter mixture. Once that is mixed in, you can add the dry ingredients. Mix well.
I like to add a topping to roll my snickerdoodle dough with cinnamon sugar. I pour a little cinnamon sugar into a small bowl. Then I take about a tablespoon of cookie dough, roll the dough into a ball, and then roll the dough ball in the cinnamon sugar. You can also just dip to the “top” of the ball if you don’t want all of the dough to be covered in the sugar.
Place the dough ball onto a lined cookie sheet. I recommend having the balls 2 inches from each other. I like to give the dough one last little sprinkle of cinnamon.
Bake for 10-12 minutes.
Brown butter cookies
Brown butter has taken the internet by storm, and for good reason. Adding brown butter to anything can help bring out a warm flavor, which is perfect for fall.
Ingredient needed:
- 2 ¼ cups of flour
- 1 teaspoon of baking soda
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 2 sticks of butter
- ¾ cup of granulated sugar
- ¾ cups of brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
*This recipe will take longer than the normal cookie recipe, as browning your butter can take time! Cut out an extra 45-60 minutes for the butter prep alone.
Place your butter into a saucepan on the stove. Set to a low heat and watch as the butter slowly starts to melt. The butter will go through 4 general stages: melting, boiling, foaming, and browning. Once the butter is in a liquid state, it will start to bubble/boil. Turn the heat down slightly and stir. Eventually, the butter will start to form a foam-like bubble layer on top as it begins to brown. Continue to watch and stir as the butter’s color deepens. You want to wait until it is almost an amber color. Let it cool in the pot. Once the pot has cooled, I pour the brown butter into a glass liquid measuring cup and put it in the fridge for 15 minutes. (You can use a normal bowl as well.)
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Take your completely cooled brown butter out of the fridge. In a large bowl, pour in your two sugars, brown butter, and vanilla. Mix well. Once creamy, add the eggs, one at a time, allowing each to fully incorporate before the next. In a separate bowl, combine flour, salt, and baking soda. Slowly, pour the flour mix into the wet mixture. Chill the dough for about 15 minutes.
Scoop tablespoon-sized dough balls onto a lined cookie sheet. Make sure each is 2 inches apart.
Bake for 9-11 minutes.
I hope you enjoy these fall recipes!