Real Swifties know that the superstar singer's skills are not limited to the stage and her songbook—Ms. Taylor Swift is also a killer baker.
Evidence of her kitchen wizardry is all over the internet. She famously sent ex-nemesis Katy Perry "peace offering cookies" to end their feud. She brought a homemade pumpkin loaf to her Person of the Year photoshoot for TIME. And she even recently baked her boo (Kansas City Chiefs Tight End Travis Kelce) cinnamon rolls as his pregame meal (which is an odd choice, but you do you, Travis).
So if you ever got the vibe from Swift that she'd be a fun person to bake cookies with, you'd be right. But because it's unlikely that any of us are getting a personal invite to her kitchen anytime soon, we'll have to settle for the next best thing: following whatever recipes she graciously decides to share.
Our number one pick? Her Chai Tea Sugar Cookies.
Okay, so they're not technically her Chai Tea Sugar Cookies. Back in 2009, Swift came across a recipe for sugar cookies on Joy the Baker and casually decided to add some chai spices and an eggnog glaze. She posted her handwritten recipe on Tumblr. The results were delicious.
So if you want to bake like Taylor Swift (and let's be honest, who doesn't?), here's how you can make your very own batch of Chai Tea Sugar Cookies.
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What You Need
What we love about this recipe — besides how well they pair with a glass of red wine, a rainy night, and Folklore on repeat — is that they're pretty easy to recreate. Think of them as just classic sugar cookies with a few extra spices thrown in. Which means you might have most of the ingredients in your pantry already. You'll need:
- 1/2 cup of unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/2 cup of vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup of sugar (and more for topping)
- 1/2 cup of powdered sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
- 2 cups of flour
- 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon of salt
- 1 chai tea bag
Joy Wilson (who runs Joy the Baker) laid out Taylor's version of her cookies for her readers and said that if you don't have chai tea bags, you can use the following spices as a substitute:
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
- Pinch of fresh cracked black pepper
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Step-by-Step Instructions
The good news? There's nothing overly difficult about making these cookies. The bad news? They're not as instant as those pre-made dough rolls. But trust us — and Swift — they're worth the extra effort.
Step #1: Prep the Dough
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F (or about 175 degrees C). Then, in a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and vegetable oil. On her blog, Wilson says that it's okay if the oil doesn't fully incorporate into the dough. It's all good in the end, she promises.
Once that mixture is nice and beaten, add in your sugar, powdered sugar, egg, and vanilla. Get everything combined, and then stir in the flour, baking soda, salt, and tea (or spices, depending on which option you're going with). After that's all mixed, refrigerate the cookie dough to let it chill for one hour.
Step #2: Form the Cookies
Take your freshly chilled dough out of the fridge and use it to line a cookie sheet with 12 tablespoons of dough scoops. Make sure they're evenly spaced and have plenty of room to spread while baking.
Press your cookies and cover them with sugar before popping them in the oven for — according to Swift's recipe — "9ish minutes."
Step #3: Make the Glaze
In her original recipe, Swift just says to cover the cookies with icing when they're done baking and have cooled completely. But Wilson offers up another option: whisk together a homemade Swift-inspired glaze.
To make her eggnog glaze, you'll need:
- 1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (plus more for sprinkling the top of the cookies)
- 3 tablespoons of eggnog
Whisk all those ingredients together until the mixture is thick but not too thick that you can't spread it.
Step #4: Assemble and Eat
Once your cookies have completely cooled, spread the eggnog glaze over the center of each cookie. Leave the edges free of glaze and top each one with a sprinkle of nutmeg.
That's it! You're now in possession of a batch of cookies that Taylor Swift herself would approve of. So go on and enjoy while listening (see also: crying, screaming) to your favorite T-Swift album. Because that's exactly what she'd want.
