Description
These Brown Butter Dirty Chai Cookies combine nutty brown butter, aromatic masala chai spices, espresso, and white chocolate for bakery-quality cookies with crispy edges and soft, chewy centers. Ready in under 2 hours with make-ahead options!
Ingredients
For the Chocolate:
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- 1 cup white chocolate chips (high-quality is worth it!)
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- 2 tablespoons dark roast instant coffee or espresso powder
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- 1/2 cup Dulcey white chocolate, chopped (reserve some for topping)
For the Cookie Dough:
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- 1 cup unsalted butter, cold and cubed
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- 1/2 cup browned butter (made from 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon butter)
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- 2 masala chai tea bags (leaves ground into powder)
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- 3/4 cup demerara or brown sugar
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- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
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- 1 whole egg, room temperature
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- 1 egg yolk, room temperature
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- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
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- 1 tablespoon white miso paste (optional but SO good!)
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- 2 cups all-purpose flour (or gluten-free blend)
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- 1 teaspoon baking soda
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- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
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- 1 teaspoon mixed spice or cinnamon
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- Flaky sea salt for topping
Instructions
In a small saucepan over low heat, melt the white chocolate with the espresso powder, stirring until smooth. Once melted, stir in the chopped Dulcey chocolate. Pour this gorgeous mixture into a container and pop it in the refrigerator to solidify – this takes about 30-45 minutes.
Open your masala chai tea bags and empty the leaves into a spice grinder or mortar and pestle. Grind them into a fine powder
Here’s where the magic happens! In a saucepan over medium heat, melt 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon of butter. Keep stirring and watching as it foams up, then turns golden brown with little brown bits at the bottom.
In your large mixing bowl, combine the cold cubed butter, that beautiful browned butter, demerara sugar, granulated sugar, whole egg, egg yolk, vanilla extract, and white miso paste (if using). Beat everything together with your mixer until it’s smooth and creamy – about 2-3 minutes.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, ground chai tea, baking soda, kosher salt, and mixed spice. This ensures everything is evenly distributed before adding to the wet ingredients.
Gradually add your dry ingredient mixture to the wet ingredients, mixing on low speed until just combined. Don’t overmix – you want tender cookies, not tough ones! Once your chocolate mixture is solid, chop it into chunks and gently fold it into the dough.
This step is NON-NEGOTIABLE! Scoop the dough into 80-90g portions (about 1/3 cup each) and roll them into balls. Place them on a plate or baking sheet and refrigerate for AT LEAST 1 hour – overnight is even better!
While your dough chills, preheat your oven to 190°C (375°F). Line your baking sheets with parchment paper.
Arrange the chilled dough balls on your prepared baking sheets, leaving about 3 inches between each one (they’ll spread!). Bake for 9-12 minutes – the edges should be golden brown but the centers should still look slightly underbaked and soft.
As soon as the cookies come out of the oven, press a few extra pieces of chocolate into the tops while they’re still warm. Sprinkle with flaky sea salt
Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes (they’ll firm up as they cool), then transfer to a wire rack.
Notes
Don’t Overbake – These cookies continue cooking on the hot pan, so slightly underbaked is perfect!
Grind Chai Fine – The finer you grind those tea leaves, the more evenly distributed the flavor
Press in Extra Chocolate – Adding those chocolate pieces while the cookies are hot makes them look professionally made!
Common Mistakes to Avoid:
Burning the brown butter (watch it like a hawk!)
Skipping the chill time (your cookies will spread into pancakes!)
Overbaking (take them out when centers still look soft)
Not grinding the chai fine enough (you’ll get uneven flavor)
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes + Chilling Time: 1 hour (minimum)
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American