Soft and flavorful cookie bars filled with warm and cozy chai spice blend, topped with a thick layer of vanilla-chai frosting.
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What sets this recipe apart
Blondie-cookie hybrid: These bars taste like a combination of chewy blondie and soft sugar cookie bar.
Chai spices: The warm and cozy combination of chai spices elevates this recipe.
Frosting: A thick layer of vanilla-chai buttercream is the perfect finishing touch!
Visual recipe overview
*Full recipe below in recipe card*
Cookie dough
Make the chai-spiced cookie dough. Press into pan and bake.
Frosting
Combine butter, powdered sugar, milk, vanilla, and spice mix.
Assemble
After the bars have cooled, top with frosting.
Chai spice blend
Chai is traditionally a spiced tea made with black tea, milk, sweetener, and a blend of spices. The exact combination of spices can vary, but cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, and cloves are commonly used.
For these cookie bars, I use those same warm spices (no tea) to flavor a buttery cookie dough. Think of it as an elevated snickerdoodle.
You can buy a chai spice blend or you can make your own with the following combination of spices:
- Cinnamon
- Ginger
- Cardamom
- Allspice
- Cloves
The exact proportions are in the recipe card. Leftover chai spice? Make this chai crumb cake.
Tips: Getting the perfect texture
These bars have a fantastic soft and chewy texture that you can really sink your teeth into. Several things help develop the ideal texture:
Brown sugar: For moisture and sweetness
An extra egg yolk: For chewiness and richness
Sour cream or yogurt: For tenderness
Don’t overbake: These bars should be removed from the oven as soon as the center bakes through. They will firm up as they cool.
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Recipe
Frosted Chai Cookie Bars
Ingredients
Bars:
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup light brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons sour cream or plain yogurt
- 1½ cups Bob’s Red Mill White All-Purpose Flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 4 teaspoons chai spice mix, see note
Frosting:
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons half and half or cream
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons chai spice mix, see note
Optional topping:
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar or coarse sugar
- ½ teaspoon chai spice mix, see note
Instructions
Bars:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9×9 baking pan (preferably metal). You can also line the baking pan with foil, leaving a couple inches of overhang on two sides (this will allow you to easily lift the whole pan of bars out of the pan). Spray or grease the foil.
- Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat butter and both sugars on medium speed for several minutes, until light and fluffy. Add egg, egg yolk, vanilla, and sour cream and beat until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.
- In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, and 4 teaspoons chai spice.
- With the mixer on low, slowly add the the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until just combined (do not over-mix). Spread the dough into an even layer in the prepared pan (it will be thick). If necessary you can moisten your fingertips with water to press it into an even layer.
- Bake for 20-23 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the center no longer jiggles. Be careful not to overbake, it will firm up as it cools. Cool completely on a wire rack.
Frosting:
- With a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat butter and powdered sugar for 1-2 minutes, until light and creamy. Add half and half, vanilla extract, and 2 teaspoons chai spice. Beat until completely combined, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary. Spread the frosting on top of the cooled bars. If desired, combine the topping ingredients and sprinkle over the frosted bars.
Notes
Chai spice mix
Combine the following:- 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 3 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
Nutrition
Nutritional Information is an estimate based on third-party calculations and may vary based on products used and serving sizes.
Tried this recipe?Leave a comment and rating below!
Sarah says
Bob’s Red Mill is my favorite! Loving the chai spice you have in these too! What an awesome recipe, can’t wait to try! XO
Nicola @ Happy Healthy Motivated says
I love sipping on chai tea lattes at this time of year, so I can’t wait to try your dessert bar version! I love the ratio of bar to frosting – in some of your pics is looks like it’s 50-50!
Sabrina | The Tomato Tart says
This is delicious looking cookies , love the frosting. This is great sweet treats idea for holidays.
Alyssa says
I love how beautfiully cleancut these bars looks! I also love Chai and all Indian flavors. I actually just made Dirty Chai cupcakes and posted on my blog. These looks like something that could be just as delicious.
Claire Jessiman says
These have a real hygge feel about them. A hug in cake form! Love all the spices and flavours.
Kristine says
I love making cookie bars, they are so easy and so yummy! And chai? Oh my gosh, my daughter would love these – I am saving this recipe to make with my holiday baking! Thank you!
Ali @ Home & Plate says
This is my favorite time of the year. Time to enjoy the baking and time in the kitchen with family. These Chai spice cookie bars are so unique and look delicious. I’m afraid we’d have to double the recipe though. Happy Holidays.
Charla @ That Girl Cooks Healthy says
Yum! I need to be more adventurous and whip up some chai spiced recipes. This one sounds amazing, and that frosting…….drool worthy!
Annemarie @ justalittlebitofbacon says
Those bars look amazing! I love the thick layer of chai frosting you put on top. That makes them a perfect holiday indulgence. 🙂 And I agree on Bob’s Red Mill. I’m always buying their specialty flours. Where would we be without their almond flour and rice flour and so on?
Kara @ Byte Sized Nutrition says
I love chai flavors, but rarely ever make chai baked goods. These look incredible and the vanilla chai frosting just does me in!