Step 1

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set it aside.

Step 2

Prepare the chai sugar by adding white and brown sugars, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, cloves, nutmeg, and black pepper to a medium bowl. Whisk together until combined. Set aside.

Step 3

In a separate large mixing bowl, add flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom. Whisk everything together until fully combined. Set flour mixture aside.

Step 4

To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add butter, white sugar, and brown sugar. Beat on medium-high (a speed of 6-8 on a stand mixer) until butter and sugars are light and fluffy, scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl down a few times to ensure everything gets mixed evenly. This should take anywhere from 5-8 minutes.

Step 5

Once the butter mixture is fluffy, turn off the mixer and add egg, molasses, and vanilla to the bowl with the butter and sugar. Beat on low, gradually increasing speed to medium, and mix until all of the ingredients are fully combined.

Step 6

Add the flour mixture, about a cup at a time, to the bowl with the butter mixture and mix on medium after each addition to combine. Be sure and scrape the bowl to ensure everything gets combined. After adding the last of the flour, mix just until no more dry flour is visible and turn off the mixer.

Step 7

Transfer the bowl of dough to the freezer to chill for 15 minutes or, for a thicker cookie, transfer the dough to the refrigerator and chill the dough for about an hour.

Step 8

Scoop out balls of dough into your palm using a cookie scoop, and use both hands to form them into round balls. Roll each dough ball into the chai sugar, coating all sides, then transfer cookies to the prepared baking sheet, spacing them an inch or more apart.

Step 9

Bake cookies for 7-10 minutes, until the edges are just set but the middles are still gooey. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking for about 10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. The cookies will continue to firm up as they cool.

Step 10

Sprinkle the cookies with a little more of the chai sugar while they cool if you like. Enjoy!