It’s the season of miserable chill, when all of London dons North Face puffers, iced coffees are replaced by warm wintery drinks on cafe menus and baking becomes the seasonal hobby.
Take the chai latte, for instance: while it’s not exactly “seasonal,” it’s arguably one of winter’s most comforting drinks. Chai lattes never leave the lineup, so no matter the season, every sip continues to be a cacophony of warm socks, thick sweaters and crisp air.
Taylor Swift, just like the chai latte, is an all-year experience, yet truly makes the season winter complete. How could one merge these two exquisite entities? Take a page out of Swift’s cookbook and bake her favorite treat: chai cookies. My undying love for cookies, chai and Swift brought forth this recipe during one of my boredom-induced Pinterest doom-scrolls. THE Sad-girl-winter aesthetic was calling my name and the next thing you know, my fate was sealed and confections were in my future. So, with no further rambling, let’s begin.
I followed the recipe by food blogger Joy the Baker.
As this series has called for in the past, to arrive at the final verdict, I will assess the recipe based on three criteria: accessibility, difficulty and taste.
Accessibility:
As much as it pains me to say, following this recipe step-by-step is certainly not as simple to throw together as your basic chocolate chip cookie. As any baking extravaganza does, it has its fair share of distinctive ingredients and specific orchestration. I am lucky to have a plentiful spice cabinet, yet even I lacked a few of the called-for components.The multitude of spices demanded in the ingredient list can seem like overkill, but without it, the recipe will result in plain shortbread cookies.
Still, the final cookies turned out just fine and if anything, I think it’s possible to undertake this cookie engagement with just two or three of the spices in the original recipe. Cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice would do just fine on their own. The rest of the ingredients are commonly found in the avid bakers’ toolset, and as long as you own an oven and a mixing bowl, you too can reap the benefits of this seemingly laborious baking challenge.
Difficulty
Difficulty-wise, I simply don’t think the order of ingredients is really necessary. Save yourself some time and throw everything together all at once. You will still be left with the delectable concoction you dreamed of.
Taste
So was the tedious spoon-measuring and spice-hunting worth it in the end? Well, I ate about four cookies worth of dough before I’d even baked it. When all was said and done, I left the cookie platter to the wolves – in other words, my dear family – for a total of 20 minutes before I took the entire platter up to my room and proceeded to spend the next day and a half eagerly devouring every last cookie I had previously made.
So, heed my cookie counsel with a grain of salt if you will, but know that this journey was altogether life-changing. I’ll be baking these cookies as often as possible and I shed a tear at the thought that one day, I will yet again experience culinary heaven.
Final verdict: Feast
