These Vegan Brown Sugar Chai Cookies are chewy in the center and soft all around from using brown sugar! With hints of cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, and star anise- these chai cookies are the perfect cozy dessert!
*Recipe originally shared August 2020 and updated September 2026*
If you've been following SGTO, you know that we love vegan sugar cookies.
To give you a little overview, I've made everything from Vegan Funfetti Cookies, Earl Grey Cookies, Lemon Cookies, Matcha Cookies, Orange Cardamom Cookies, Coconut Lime Cookies, to Cinnamon Roll Cookies. Yes, my freezer is basically a mini cookie shop by this point!
Given that white sugar has gotten ALL the attention lately, I figured it'd be fun to give brown sugar its time to shine.
Brown sugar contains more moisture than white sugar, due to the molasses, so these vegan brown sugar cookies are softer than my other sugar cookie recipes. However, they still have perfectly chewy centers and lots of flavor from Chai spices like cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, and a dash of black pepper.
Ingredients:
How to make brown sugar chai cookies
Make the cookie dough:
Start by creaming together the butter, sugar, and spices.
This is a step I follow in most of my cookie recipes, but it's just as important to do when using brown sugar vs. white sugar. The butter and sugar will look a little more wet after creaming than with white sugar (see below for photo reference), but it will still end up fluffy.
Another fun tip- always cream your spices with sugar and butter! The fat from the butter actually does the best job holding onto flavor and infusing it throughout the dough.
Next, mix in the flax egg and vanilla. Then, mix in the all-purpose flour, baking soda, and salt until you have a thick cookie dough.
Chill the dough:
Add the dough to the fridge and let it chill for at least 1 hour. Since this is a slightly stickier dough, this chill time makes the cookie dough easier to handle and shape.
Roll cookie balls in sugar:
Remove the chilled dough from the fridge and shape it into 10 evenly sized cookie dough balls. Then, roll each cookie dough ball in granulated sugar.
Granulated sugar helps to dry out the outer surface of the dough faster while baking, which gives it that desirable "crinkly" appearance.
This step will NOT work with brown sugar (it's too high in moisture), so just skip if you do not have white granulated sugar.
Bake the cookies:
Then, add the cookies to a parchment-lined tray. This is one of my BEST tips for evenly cooked cookies with NO burnt bottoms. Parchment paper not only prevents cookies from sticking to the pan, but it actually helps cookie bottoms bake evenly without burning.
Add the tray of cookies to the oven and bake at 350F for 11-12 minutes.
Once the brown sugar cookies are out of the oven, they may look a little puffy. Just tap the tray on the counter to help them deflate and produce a more crinkly cookie.
Also, for perfectly eggless brown sugar cookies, use a round cookie cutter that is slightly larger than the cookie and swirl the cookies around inside until round. It's important to do this step when the chai cookies are still warm and easily shaped!
FAQ & Tips:
How do I store brown sugar chai cookies?
Store chai in a closed container at room temperature for 2-3 days, in the fridge for 7 days, and in the freezer for up to 1 month.
My preferred way is always to store cookies in the freezer, as it helps them maintain their chewy texture!
Brown sugar cookie troubleshooting:
Why did my cookies spread too much/ not enough?
1) Not measuring flour properly. Make sure to spoon the flour into a measuring cup or, better yet, just measure in grams! Here is the affordable Escali kitchen scale I use. Too much flour leads to cookies that don't spread enough, and too little flour leads to cookies that spread too much.
2) Baking soda is old or inactive. Always make sure to test your baking soda before using it!
3) Not chilling the dough. If you do not chill the dough, it's highly likely the cookies will spread too much. I recommend chilling this dough for at least 1 hour (and up to 24 hours is okay!).
I can't wait for you to all bake these soft, chewy, & absolutely delicious Vegan Brown Sugar Chai Cookies! They're the perfect cookie for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and also make a great gift for loved ones. Enjoy!
-TSG
More vegan cookie recipes you will love:
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Vegan Brown Sugar Chai Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup vegan butter room temperature
- ½ cup + 1 Tablespoon dark brown sugar *can also use light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon cardamom powder
- ½ teaspoon ginger powder
- ⅛ teaspoon star anise optional, finely ground
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper optional, for a little spice
- 1 flax egg 1 Tablespoon (8 grams) ground flaxseed mixed with 3 Tablespoons water and left to sit 5-10 minutes
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- 1 cup+ 3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 3 Tablespoons granulated sugar optional- for rolling cookies in before baking
Instructions
- Add the vegan butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, and optional anise & black pepper to a mixing bowl. Cream together with an electric mixer until soft and fluffy (about 2 minutes)
- Next, add in the flax egg and vanilla and whip together another 30 seconds.
- Then, add in the all-purpose flour, baking soda, and salt. Make sure to add the flour first and then add the other ingredients on top. Then, use a fork to gently sift the baking soda and salt into the flour. Once sifted, mix everything together until a thick cookie dough forms. The dough will be slightly sticky, but should not be wet.
- Cover the bowl of cookie dough with plastic wrap and place in the fridge to chill for at least 1 hour.
- About 10 minutes before removing the dough from the fridge, preheat the oven to 350F, line a baking tray with parchment paper, and fill a small bowl with the 3 tablespoon of granulated sugar.
- Remove the dough from the fridge and use a cookie scoop to scoop out 10 evenly sized cookies (about 45-50 grams per cookie). Roll into balls between your palms and then roll in the bowl of granulated sugar until the each cookie dough ball is coated.
- Place each cookie dough balls at least 2 -inches apart on the tray, and do not flatten them, as they will spread while baking. If all of the cookies will not fit on one baking bake 6 cookies at a time on one tray rather than putting two trays in the oven at the same time.
- Bake for 11-12 minutes until bottoms are lightly browned and the cookies are cooked through but have slightly soft centers. The cookies will continue baking after they are removed from the oven so the centers should still be soft, but not glossy or raw, when they are removed from the oven.
- Remove the cookie tray from the oven and immediately tap the tray on the counter to produce a more “wrinkly” cookie. For rounder cookies, use a round cookie cutter or a mug that is slightly larger than the cookie and swirl the cookies around inside to form them into a round cookie. This step will only work if you do it while the cookies are still warm.
- Then, let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes. The cookies will be soft and puffy out of the oven and will naturally deflate a little while cooling.
- After cooling, serve & enjoy!
Notes
- If using Miyokos butter or Earth Balance spread from a tub vs. baking sticks, add 1 tablespoon (8 grams) more flour. These butters have more oil and tend to spread more.
- If you like more spice, feel free to double all the spices in the cookie recipe. It will not affect the texture but will lead to a slightly more intense flavor.
- If making cookies smaller than 50 grams (about 2 Tbsp) adjust the cooking time to 9-11 minutes for chewy cookies.
- Dark brown sugar leads to softer cookies that spread more, whereas light brown sugar leads to crispier cookies.
- If you would like to make the dough and freeze it, scoop the dough into balls and freeze on a parchment-lined sheet pan in the freezer. Once frozen, transfer the cookies to a Ziploc bag or freezer-safe container. The baking time will need to be increased slightly for frozen cookies (usually 2-3 more minutes), so do keep that in mind!
- Baked cookies can be stored in the freezer in a closed container up to 1 month, in the fridge for 7 days, or at room temperature for 2-3 days.
Lily says
Thank you for the recipe! My mother in law is allergic to gluten, dairy, and eggs so I find it hard to find recipes she can actually have. I replaced the flour 1:1 with GF flour and it needed a bit more - I'd say an extra 30-40g, although I live in a humid climate so that could've also been a factor 🙂
Bridget L says
With a couple modifications, these are my go to fall cookies now and everyone always asks me to make more. I double the spices and roll them in Davidson Organic's spicy chai sugar (instead of white granulated sugar) before baking. The first time I did this I declared them the best cookies I've ever made, and I stand by it! People can't believe they're vegan.
Ryan F Carroll says
I accidentally bought anise seed instead of star anise. That won't work will it?
Megan says
Star anise tends to be more mild in flavor/not spicy so I would either omit the anise or just use less if you're not sure you like the flavor!
Denise says
10/10 would make again! Used half white sugar half coconut sugar and added a tsp on molasses to the sugars. Used a bad of chai tea and a little extra cinnamon and ginger on top. Delish! Thanks!!
Megan says
So glad you enjoyed!
Charlene Robinson says
These are my husband's favorite and with good reason! These are perfectly spiced, perfectly sweet, and all around warm, cozy cookie. Delicious!
Melaney says
Hello I'm thinking of trying this recipe but I don't use regular flour, what flour would be the best substitute?
Megan says
I don't test my recipes with other flours, but the only one that would work would be a gluten-free 1:1 baking flour mix. Otherwise, flour alternatives do not work in this recipe.
Melaney says
Awesome! Thank you, I will try that! 😀
Allison says
These cookies were so good! Next time I make them, and there will definitely be a next time, I will double all the spices as suggested. They were still wonderful. Thank you for a great recipe.
Angie says
I love Chai & the Black Pepper added that extra spicy touch. Mine didn't spread out so I flattened them out myself. I used stick butter, too. (Vegan) The second batch was much flatter. They are still delish!!! My neighbor will not mind either!!!
Megan says
Glad they worked out and you all loved them 🙂
Ellie says
I was so excited to try this recipe - they look absolutely delicious! But for some reason, mine came out very different. They did not spread at all, and stayed quite thick and round. Could it maybe be the brand of butter I used, Country Crock w/ olive oil?
Megan says
That butter should actually work really well in these cookies. Did you measure the flour in grams and make sure the baking soda is active and working? If they didn't spread at all those are the two main reasons it can happen!
Danette says
Hello, I made your Earl Grey cookies and they were really really good and everybody loved them.
I’m setting out to make the chai cookies and I wonder if I can use coconut oil instead of the margarine? Thanks for your time. But most of all thanks for these awesome recipes!!
Megan says
So glad the earl grey cookies were a hit :). I always recommend using vegan butter or margarine as it's definitely important to cream the butter and sugar together and coconut oil doesn't really have the same consistency when it is solid (it's really hard and not "soft" as vegan butter or margarine can be). You can definitely try it but I think it will affect the spread of the cookies, though flavor-wise it should be fine. Hope that helps!
Naama says
Hey! I'm new with baking so forgive me if this is a dumb question, but I don't have the needed spices. Is it ok if I empty a chai tea bag and finely grind it or will that be weird?
Megan says
That will probably work 🙂 You may want to try 1/2 of the tea bag to start so the spices aren't too strong.
Abigail @ OhMyVegan says
These cookies are oh so good!
I left out all of the spices and added a pack of apple cider drink mix instead to make a caramel apple cookie.
Turned out fabulous and very flavorful.
Megan says
Love hearing they taste good with a different spice mix, thanks for sharing!
Ashley says
This recipe was a 10/10 from me! I made them to send to a friend for their birthday, and they turned out amazing. These were the softest/fluffiest vegan cookies I’ve ever made (I have a huge sweet tooth, so I’ve made a lot, lol)! The tips about using the spoon method for measuring the flour and chilling the dough helped tremendously, and they’re something I’ll definitely keep handy for recipes in the future 🙂
Angie says
I was excited to try this recipe, but I struggled.
My cookies did not flatten out (I used a large cookie scoop 2tbs) and they were underdone.
Where did I go wrong?
Megan Horowitch says
Did you measure the flour in grams? If not, try reducing the flour a bit. I'd also recommend increasing the baking time for a larger cookie to make sure it bakes through. It's hard to know what went wrong without more info but feel free to email me from troubleshooting help any time!
Will says
Hey! This recipe looks amazing but it's really hard to find flax where I am- would this work with any other egg replacement or without it? 😍
Megan Horowitch says
You definitely need to use an egg replacement, but if you can find chia seeds that also works in place of the ground flax. Also, you could try a different egg substitute and it would likely work- I just haven't tested others myself. Let me know how it goes!
Karianne says
Hi! These look delicious. Just wondering if I could use a chia egg instead of flax? I'm new to veganism and vegan cooking, so I'm not sure if it will make a difference or not?
Megan Horowitch says
Yes a chia egg will work perfectly! Just keep in mind the chia seeds may be visible throughout the cookies so it will change the "look" a bit but they will still be delicious.
Cata says
Hi! I just finished baking these cookies and they look sooo good! But they turned out a little under-cooked. Do you think i can put them in the oven again for 5 minutes, or they wont work? Thank you for the recipe!!! <3
Megan Horowitch says
If they've been out of the oven for awhile adding them back to the oven won't work as well to cook them as intended. If it's only been a minute or two then go for it!
Riley says
Could i use regular butter and a regular egg??
Megan Horowitch says
Maybe! I don't bake with eggs or real butter so I couldn't really say if it works but I don't see why not.
Courtney says
These sound delicious! Do you think you could make these as cutout cookies?
Megan Horowitch says
Thanks! Unfortunately these cookies spread quite a bit so they aren't going to work as cut out cookies.