Ninja Chai Cookies

I'm still working through all the baking toys I got for the holidays - there are just so many things to bake, yet so little time. To help with that issue, I'm combining different baking ideas into one recipe. For example,  I have these ninja cookie cutters that my sister got me for Christmas and I also wanted to make something chai flavored. The solution? CHAI NINJA COOKIES!

The cookie cutters! Got to be ninja to use them....

I had issues last time I tried to make cutout cookies, but luckily this time, I found a good chai-flavored cutout cookie recipe that was easy to make and easy to handle. The dough was sticky enough to stay together, but not too sticky that it was hard to cutout cookies. It didn't hurt that it was rather tasty too. I adjusted the spices in the recipe to amp up the chai flavor a bit and was really pleased with the results!

While the cookies themselves were easy to create and bake, decorating them was another story. The extent of my decorating supplies is pretty limited to cupcakes - no fancy cookie decorating tips or anything. All I had was those squeeze-tube gel colored frostings, and those aren't the easiest to use. I had to apply a lot of pressure to squeeze the tube to get a steady enough line of icing, giving my hands a good workout during the cookie decorating session. It was worth it though, seeing the end result. Look how cute (yet lethal) they all are!

In other baking news, I will be having a baking party this weekend and am hoping for an end result of a variety of cookies, cupcakes, and other sweets. Stay tuned for that post!

Rainbow ninja! (Was running out of colors at this point)

Chai Cutout Cookies (makes dozen ninja-shaped cookies)
Recipe adapted from Pâtisserie Natalie

• 1/2 cup of butter (unsalted, softened)
• 1/2 cup of white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp cardamon 
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ground allspice
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper

1. Cream butter and sugar together in a stand mixer at medium speed until combined and fluffy. 
2. Beat in egg and vanilla and mix until smooth. 
3. Combine the rest of the ingredients (all the dry ingredients) in a separate bowl. Add dry to wet and mix with stand mixer on low speed until just combined. Dough will be crumbly and slightly sticky. 
4. Flour your hands and press the dough together until the crumbs form a smooth dough. 
5. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 2 hours.
6. Preheat oven to 350C. Roll out dough until 1/4 inch thick and cutout shapes using cookie cutters (I used these cute ninja cookie cutters!). 
7. Place on cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes or until edges are set. Let cookies cool completely. 
8. Decorate with frosting/icing of your choice! I used red and black gel icing to trace outlines on the cookies.