Sunday Best

~CHEWY CHAI SPICE COOKIES~

I LOVE Chai. Especially in the Fall, my favorite season. I drink it hot, iced, sometimes with milk, and usually almost always with a shot of espresso! Since I'm on this cookie craze with special orders and private parties, I thought it would be fun (and also basically genius) to make a chewy sugar cookie and give it a bold kick with spices!

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups sugar, plus 1/3 for rolling
2 oz. cream cheese, cut into small pieces
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground cardamom
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
a pinch of pepper
6 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup veg. oil
1 large egg
1 tbsp. whole milk
1 tsp. vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 325. Line sheets with parchment. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together; set aside.

2. Combine 1 1/2 cups sugar with the next 6 ingredients in a bowl. Put the 1/3 cup of sugar in another bowl and set aside.  Whisk the melted butter of the cream cheese mixture just to combine, then whisk in the oil. Add the egg, milk, and vanilla. Whisk until smooth.

3. Add flour mixture. Dough will be soft.

4. Scoop dough and roll balls in bowl of sugar ad drop on baking sheets. Flatten dough balls with the bottom of a greased drinking glass. Sprinkle tops of cookies wit more sugar.

5. Bake trays of cookies one at a time, about 6 min, then rotate, and bake another 6 min. more or until they begin to brown.