Day 6 of my 12 days of Christmas cookies/treats! I cannot believe I am half way through with today’s post! Putting all these recipes together, along with the photos and the blog posts was a humungous task that I took on, to share some of my favorite treats with you all, but I had a lot of fun with it, and I loved sharing them with some of you and I am so happy you enjoyed the treats! My kids are having a blast with different cookies in their lunch boxes everyday ;), and their friends are definitely envious! Especially with today’s cookie which I really enjoyed creating and the flavors really work so well together.
I grew up having masala chai every single day of my life, since I was probably in 6th grade! I was not a fan of drinking milk in the morning, and masala chai was so flavorful and would wake me up instantly. The authentic masala chai, contains black tea from Assam, chai masala, which is a blend of ground ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and black pepper. The chai masala is very versatile and makes amazing desserts. I wanted one of the cookies from my 12 day bonanza to have an Indian touch to it, so I made Chocolate-Chai Masala Thumbprints with an Eggnog Buttercream.
I have made chocolate thumbprints with a chocolate ganache and sea salt many a times and they are very popular in my home. I gave these thumbprints a riff by using chai masala in the chocolate, and rolling it in red sanding sugar, giving it a very festive look! The thumbprint by itself is absolutely delicious! The filling is eggnog buttercream with a dash of rum and nutmeg in the buttercream, which complements perfectly with the chocolate-chai masala cookie! I had to add a touch of gold to the top of the cookie for a luxurious finish! These cookies would be perfect for a small plates party. They come together quickly, and each batch makes a lot of cookies!
My kids could not stop having these cookies. A tip to make the indentation in the cookie : use the back of a honey dripper, cause it has the perfect shape to form the indentation without breaking the cookie much. If the cookie breaks apart, gently pinch it together with your fingers. If you want to put a decorative touch with the gold leaf, you can find the gold leaves, that I purchased from Amazon, right here.
Anything with buttercream needs to be stored in the fridge, and cannot be kept out for over a day. To eat them, I simply remove them about half an hour earlier so they get a softer texture when you bite into it. I love how festive these cookies are, and great to take to a party. Hope you get a chance to make them and wow your guests! 🙂
Day 7 is a cookie from a blogger that I admire so much and has just released a cookbook that I love!
Cheers,
Amisha
Day 6: Chocolate-Chai Masala Thumbprints with Eggnog Buttercream
Ingredients
- Chai Masala cookie:
- 1 cup (120 g) all-purpose flour
- ½ cup (56 g) unsweetened dutch-process cocoa powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ginger powder
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon powder
- ¼ teaspoon clove powder
- ½ teaspoon black pepper powder
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg powder
- 1/3 cup (67 g)granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup (50 g) light brown sugar
- 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 large egg yolk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 tsp whole milk
- Decoration:
- ½ cup of Red sanding sugar
- Gold leaf sheet(from amazon)
- Eggnog Buttercream:
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 2 tablespoons rum
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
- 3 ½ cups to 4 cups powdered sugar or confectioner’s sugar
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, ginger, cinnamon, clove, black pepper and nutmeg.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, with a paddle attachment, add in the butter, and sugars and whisk for 2-3 minutes until pale yellow in color and fluffy, at high speed. Now add in the vanilla extract, whole milk and egg yolk and whisk again till blended. Scrap the sides of the bowl to gather the mixture into the center. Add in the flour mixture in 2 batches, and mix at low speed until just combined. Do not overmix!
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Use a small bowl to add the red sanding sugar. Use a mini scoop or a tablespoon scoop and roll small balls. Roll out each ball into the sanding sugar. Place them on a baking sheet with a parchment paper about 2 inches apart. I used the back of a wooden honey spoon to create a little indentation into each cookie. If it breaks apart, gently push it together. Bake the cookies for about 10 minutes, in the lower middle rack, rotating the sheets half way through, until cookies are just set. Using the honey spoon or 1/2 tsp spoon, make the indent again to make it slightly deep. Let cool for about 10 minutes on the baking sheet. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack and let them cool completely.
- To make the buttercream, in a medium bowl, vigorously whisk the butter, salt and nutmeg, with a rubber spatula, for about 3 minutes, until pale yellow and fluffy. Add in the powdered sugar, heavy cream and rum, and mix vigorously with the spatula, whisking until well combined. It should be pliable, but not runny AT ALL. It should be pipeable and hold its shape ever so slightly when pipped. If a bit loose, add in ¼ cup of confectioner’s sugar more at a time, until the consistency is correct. Put the buttercream in a pipping bag with a ¼ inch round tip. Scrape the bag, to get all the buttercream together towards the tip. Now close it tight from the top, and pipe swirls into each cookie.
- Decorate with a smidge of gold leaf for a festive and elegant touch. These cookies keep well in the fridge for about a week. You can keep it out for an hour, before serving.
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