For some reason I always promise my kids we’ll make gingerbread cookies when I have barely any ingredients and basically no time to bake them.
Kinda a running theme for everything we do.
Thankfully, the food gods occasionally bestow upon us a recipe that forgives a near-empty kitchen cupboard—and piteous time management skills.
Enter the No Chill, No Molasses Gingerbread Cookies—with chai glaze (because basic don’t mean we can’t be fancy).
Why Don’t I Need to Chill These Cookies Before Baking?
Because you start with chilled butter and eggs! BUT—if you have a super-warm kitchen, I’d definitely recommend chilling the dough for at least a couple hours before you get to work with the cookie cutters.
How to Measure Flour Correctly (3 Quick Steps!)
This is one skill you need for whatever you bake—not just these spicy little beauties. Too much flour makes for dry, crumbly, and generally disappointing goodies!
- First, fluff up the flour with a fork. This ensures it’s not too densely packed.
- Next, spoon the flour into your measuring cup. Do not tap or shake the cup to even out the flour; let it make a gentle heap.
- Finally, scrape a knife across the top of the cup to remove the excess flour.
Can I Use Any Chai Instant Powder?
Yes you can! For this recipe’s Chai glaze, I use my favourite instant Chia Latte mix from Drink me Chai: an aromatic dream of coconut oil, caramelised sugar, black tea extract and of course, spices. (And they have a dreamy vegan version, too!)
NO CHILL, NO MOLASSES GINGERBREAD COOKIES (WITH YUMMY CHAI GLAZE!)
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 10
- Total Time: 25mins
- Yield: 20 cookies 1x
DescriptionYum
Don’t have molasses but neeeed gingerbread cookies? I gotchu. Don’t have time to chill? I gotchu, too. Easy gingerbread cookies with silky chai glaze, zero chill time and no molasses required!
Ingredients
- 1 cup chilled salted butter
- 2 1/2 cups lightly packed brown sugar (dark or light, depending on how mild you prefer the gingerbread taste)
- 2 large eggs, cold
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1 tbsp ground ginger
- 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground clove
- 1/2 tsp allspice
- 4 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and scraped*
- Parchment paper
For the chai glaze—
- 4 tbsp milk of choice
- 1 tbsp instant chai powder
- 1 cup sifted icing sugar (confectioner’s sugar)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180C / 350 F / Gas Mark 4.
- Set two cookie sheets to one side.
- Cut the cold butter into small cubes.
- Using a food processor or hand mixer, mix the butter and brown sugar until smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Add the egg, salt and spices. Mix briefly until just combined. Scrape down bowl.
- With the processor or hand mixer on low, gradually add the flour until just incorporated. If your mixer struggles with the thick dough, knead it with your hands briefly to bring it together.
- Form dough into a ball and slice in half. Sprinkle a little flour over a sheet of parchment paper and your rolling pin. Roll one half of the dough to around 1/4” thick (if you roll out thicker, the cookies will be softer).
- Get to work with your cookie cutters and transfer cookies and parchment paper gently onto baking sheets.
- Bake for 9-12 minutes. (Shorter baking times=softer cookies; longer=crispier cookies).**
- While the cookies are baking, sift the icing sugar (confectioner’s sugar) into a small bowl. Whisk in milk and chai powder. Add more milk if too thick, one spoon at a time. Add more chai powder, to taste.
- Cool cookies completely before dipping in the glaze. Store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Notes
*Always measure your flour correctly—see my main post for the three easy steps you need to follow!
**If your oven is known to bake unevenly, turn your cookie sheet around halfway through baking.
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