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Maple Chai Latte Cookies with Brown Butter Icing: a cross between a really great soft, chewy maple cookie and a delicious steaming chai latte made with real espresso. These cookies are made with sweet dark brown sugar, rich maple syrup, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, nutmeg, all-spice, pepper, and the real secret – espresso powder. They’re generously glazed with a sweet, thick, creamy brown butter icing that melts in your mouth. They’re the perfect cookie to bake, share, and soon gift for the holiday season!
Is there anything cozier this time of year than a latte on a cold day? It’s honestly one of my favorite things. I often make a steaming apple or chai latte at home while cooking to keep warm.
During the winter, that will turn into hot chocolate, but right now, I’m loving a good latte. My favorite is that pecan latte I shared a couple of weeks ago. It is so good.
But you know what makes a latte on a cold afternoon even better? A cookie!
My mom and I were just discussing this the other night. Sometimes, we forget about the things we used to love. For us, that was baking and sipping on something warm back home in Cleveland.
During October, November, and December, my mom would bake nonstop. The best was when November hit; she would blast Mariah Carey’s Christmas non-stop. These are some of my favorite memories! When I told her about these cookies, she said I had to make them. What excited her most was that they sounded like the coziest cookie, yet didn’t involve pumpkin or apple. Something I’ve been receiving a lot of requests for – enough already, we need a fall cookie without pumpkin! These are delicious and wonderful cookies to bake all season long!
These are the details
Ingredients
- salted butter
- dark brown sugar
- espresso powder or instant coffee powder
- vanilla extract
- an egg
- maple syrup
- flour
- baking soda
- cinnamon
- ginger
- cardamom
- nutmeg
- all-spice
- pepper
- granulated sugar
- powdered sugar
- milk
- flaked sea salt
What you will need in the kitchen:
Just a mixer and baking sheets!
Steps
Step 1: make the cookie dough
Start by preheating the oven to 350° F and lining two baking sheets with parchment paper!
Next, beat soft, room-temperature butter with dark brown sugar and a high-quality espresso or instant coffee powder to create a butter mixture. Then, add an egg and your favorite pure maple syrup. Runamok sent me a vanilla bourbon maple syrup that’s wonderful in these cookies!
Add the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, and salt.
Step 2: the chai spice blend
I create a mix of ground cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, all-spice, and pepper. I only do a small, small amount of pepper.
It’s perfectly spiced and the espresso only helps to highlight the warming chai spices.
Step 3: roll the cookies
Roll the dough into rounded tablespoon-sized balls. I use a cookie scoop for this, but you can also use a tablespoon measure for the correct size. This is a sticky dough, but if you’re really having trouble, add a couple of tablespoons of additional flour.
Next, add granulated sugar to a bowl and roll each cookie lightly through the sugar.
step 4: baking
Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes. I find 9 minutes to be perfect, but all ovens are different! I love making these into drop cookies because they’re chewier than, say, a cutout cookie would be.
Not to mention, they’re incredibly easy!
Step 5: the brown butter icing
I love the nutty brown butter flavor and creaminess of this icing. It’s one of my favorites for cookies! I find it’s what makes these cookies really melt in your mouth. The icing just seeps into the cracks of each cookie, it’s so scrumptious!
The ingredients: salted butter, sugar, vanilla, a pinch of flaked sea salt.
The key is to brown the salted butter on the stove in a skillet. I like to use a 6-inch or 8-inch skillet for this. Add the butter to a pot set over medium heat to brown the butter. Allow the butter to brown lightly until it smells toasted, about 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool for five minutes. Once cooled, add everything to the brown butter and thin it out with some milk. The milk is essential in bringing the icing together and preventing the butter from separating.
Tip: ice each cookie quickly; the frosting sets up pretty fast.
Decorating Tips
For decorating, I didn’t do anything fancy. I used some star anise and flaked sea salt.
If you want to be fancy, you can use some edible gold glitter, but you certainly don’t have to!
The warm chai spice and espresso with the maple and brown butter is unexpected, but I’m finding that everyone LOVES it.
The result is a chewy maple cookie with rich notes of chai, espresso, and vanilla. And the frosting really makes them special.
Hope you guys love these just as much as I do!
Looking for other sweet pumpkin recipes? Here are my favorites:
Pumpkin Butter Chocolate Chip Blondies
Pumpkin Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Vanilla Chai Pumpkin Latte Cupcakes
Cream Cheese Swirled Cinnamon Pumpkin Butter Bread
Lastly, if you make these Maple Chai Latte Cookies with Brown Butter Icing, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And, of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Maple Chai Latte Cookies with Brown Butter Icing
Servings: 22 cookies
Calories Per Serving: 170 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Watch the How-To Reel
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 sticks, 3/4 cup, 12 tablespoons salted, butter at room temperature
- 3/4 cup light or dark brown sugar
- 2-4 tablespoons espresso powder, or instant coffee powder
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 1/3 cup maple syrup
- 2 1/4 cups, plus 1-2 tablespoons, as needed all-purpose flour
- 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon all-spice
- 1 tiny pinch black pepper
- granulated sugar for rolling
Brown Butter Icing
- 1 stick, 1/2 cup, 8 tablespoons salted butter, at room temperature
- 1 1/2 – 2 cups powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons milk
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean powder
- flaked sea salt
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. 2. In a mixing bowl, beat together the butter, brown sugar, espresso powder, and vanilla until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Add the egg, mixing to combine. Then, add the maple and mix to combine. Add the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, nutmeg, all-spice, and pepper, beating until combined.3. Place the sugar in a small bowl.4. Roll the dough into tablespoon-size balls (if the dough is too sticky, add 2-4 additional tablespoons flour), then lightly roll through the sugar. Place on the prepared baking sheet, spacing the cookies 2 inches apart. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the cookies are just starting to set around the edges. The centers should be a little doughy. Let cool on the pan.5. Meanwhile, make the icing. Add the butter to a pot set over medium heat. Allow the butter to brown lightly until it smells toasted, about 2-3 minutes. Remove from the heat. Let cool 5 minutes. Whisk in the powdered sugar, milk, vanilla, and salt. Immediately spread the icing over the cookies, it will set quickly. Sprinkle with sea salt. Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
This post was originally published on October 15, 2024
I followed the recipe exactly, but the cookies don’t spread in the oven. are you meant to flatten into shape before baking?
Hi Taryn,
Thanks for trying these cookies and sharing your feedback! Sorry to hear they didn’t spread. Was your dough chilled by chance? Next time, you could take your baking sheet out of the oven and tap on the counter for a flatter cookie. I hope this helps! xT
Hello Teighan, thanks for your reply!
No, the dough was not chilled… I used room temp butter and baked right away. This is my second attempt so not sure what’s up! But I will try the tapping method and let you know.
I don’t have instant coffee/ espresso powder. Could I substitute a shot of espresso or finely ground beans? Can’t wait to try!!
Hi Hannah,
I would do a shot of espresso:) I hope you love these cookies, let me know how they turn out for you! xx
Sugar says 1……cup?
Hi Nancy,
So sorry, I am not sure where you are seeing that….you are going to use 3/4 cup brown sugar and 1 1/2-2 cups of powdered sugar in the icing. I hope this helps! xx
Can’t wait to try these cookies! I don’t have cardamom. Is it ok to omit it? Or can I substitute it with something else?
Hi Megan,
It should be okay to omit it, I think these cookies have enough flavors in them:) I hope you love this recipe! Happy Friday! xT
Hey Tiegan, I can’t find vanilla bean powder at the local store. What else would work with the icing consistency?
Hi Ashley,
No worries, regular vanilla extract will work just fine! I hope you love this recipe! xT
These just have everything I wanted … flavors layers, texture, chai, and coffee. I love these so much.
I sort of overdid the icing. They looked good, but I had a lot of icing leftover and I tried to drip it across the cookies and it ended up blobbing. My mummy cookies turned into blobs. 😆 oh well, they’re still delicious! I’m just hoping the caffeine from the two I ate don’t keep me up all night.
Hey Ashely,
So glad to hear you enjoyed this recipe, thanks for trying it! Have the best autumn weekend! xT
Hi Tieghan, if I don’t add the cardamom, would that alter the recipe significantly? I don’t have any. 🙁
Hi Emily,
No worries, these will be just fine, there’s lots of other great flavors here! I hope you love these cookies! xT
These were delicious!! I made them with my son. I halved the brown butter icing recipe as others suggested and had plenty. So delicious great layered, balanced flavor and not too sweet. Excellent!!!
Hey Sarah,
Fantastic!! I’m so glad to hear this recipe turned out nicely for you, thanks a bunch for making it! Have the best week!🎄☃️ xT
These are delicious! I may have found my new favorite cookie.. And I’m not a huge cookie person. The only alteration I made was that I did half the amount of icing… It was the perfect amount in my opinion! These will be made again!
Hey Kelsey,
Perfect! I appreciate you trying this recipe and your comment, so glad to hear it turned out well for you! xx
These cookies were easy to make, I baked them for about 9 minutes but could have gone longer. They are really good though and I could eat the icing all on it’s own!
Hey Erin,
Amazing!! Thanks a lot for trying this recipe, I’m so glad to hear it turned out well for you! Have a great Monday! XxT
We LOVED these cookies! So much flavor and the brown butter frosting is amazing! My husband says they are the best cookies he has had in a very long time. Haha I guess we need to make more cookies!
Hey Joanne,
Wonderful! So glad to hear these cookies turned out well for you, thanks for making them! Have a great fall weekend! xT
These have a LOT going on! The coffee (2T King Arthur Espresso Powder), spices, and relatively low sugar make for a very intense flavor- not bad, just a level of intensity I don’t expect in a cookie. I baked them for 13 minutes, and these were still very dense and moist. The browned butter frosting is a must – it adds necessary sweetness and is crazy delicious!
Hi Jennifer,
Happy Friday! Thanks so much for making these cookies and sharing your feedback! Glad they were enjoyed! xT
Was this recipe developed at sea level or at elevation? Thank you!
Despise coffee, and can pick the flavor out in anything. Could I just leave the espresso powder out?
Hey Jordan,
Yes, totally fine to do:) I hope you love these cookies, let me know how they turn out for you! xT
Could I substitute vanilla bean powder with vanilla extract??
Hey Pam,
Sure, that should work nicely for you! Please let me know if you give this recipe a try! xT
To make them gluten free would you just swap it with gluten free all purpose baking flour?
Hi Lindsey,
Yes, that should work nicely for you! Please let me know if you give this recipe a try, I hope you love it! xT
In your “what you will need” column, you indicated Christmas cookie cut-outs. These aren’t cut-out cookies. I assume this was from a different recipe that got included by accident…….
Hi Alice,
Thanks so much for pointing that out! It was a typo and it’s fixed now:) I hope you love these cookies! xT