Chai Latte Cupcakes
FYI, Santa told me he wants buttery Spiced Chai Latte Cupcakes this year.
I have a lot to be thankful for. No, I’m not a prodigy in any area. I don’t drive a Bentley or have spare homes in exotic lands. I’m not dripping with jewels, and my closet is surprisingly small.
There are mornings I wake up and sigh at the potential monotony of life. There are days I argue with my husband on purpose. I get impatient with my little guys at times. I’m a regular person with regular problems.
Yet I look around me every day and drink in thankfulness. With every breath, I feel a deep sense of gratitude for all of life’s experiences, high and low.
There are moments in life that seem so painful, it’s a wonder we make it through… But we do. We do make it through, and that alone is reason to be thankful. It’s amazing how you start to notice all the little things you should have always been thankful for, when bigger distractions are out the way.
I’m thankful for sunshine. I’m thankful for the aroma of freshly baked bread. I’m thankful for butterfly kisses and homemade gifts made of yarn and twigs. I am thankful my husband and I still look at each other the way we did 20 years ago.
In fact, thankfulness itself, is something to be thankful for. Gratitude is the oar the keeps your raft in delicate balance on the raging river of life.
I wasn’t planning to post this chai latte cupcake recipe, this week. However, I made them for a friend’s baby shower and these cupcakes had such rave reviews, I thought I better share them with you with before Christmas.
I opted to use “instant chai latte powder” in the batter, instead of combining all the spice myself, because I felt the flavor would benefit from the dehydrated milk added to the powder. It gives the chai latte cupcakes the creamy quality of good chai.
This chai latte cupcake recipe was a rare first-attempt success… Something else to be thankful for!
The flavor was spot-on, after I added a touch of cardamom for extra kick. They are buttery, moist and well spiced, with a decadent spiced cream frosting on top!
I hope you enjoy these chai latte cupcakes as much as we did.
Chai Latte Cupcakes
Ingredients
For the Chai Latte Cupcakes:
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2/3 cup instant chai latte powder
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom (optional)
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour + 2 tablespoons
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
For the Frosting:
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 3 tablespoons whole milk
- 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 12 large or 48 mini cupcake cups with paper liners. Cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes on high. Then add the chai latte powder and extra cardamom if desired.
- Mix in the eggs, milk, and vanilla. Scrape the bowl with a spatula. Then mix the baking powder and salt with the flour and add to the wet mixture a little at a time.
- Fill the liners 2/3 of the way full and bake: 10 minutes for minis, and 15-20 minutes for regular cupcakes. Check by inserting a toothpick into the center of a cupcake. If it comes out clean, they are done!
- Once the cupcakes have cooled, make the frosting. Cream the butter and sugar together, with an electric mixer, until light and fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients and beat until smooth. If the frosting is too soft add 1/2 cup more powdered sugar. Pipe the frosting on each cupcake and enjoy!
Nutrition
Making this recipe? Follow us on Instagram and tag @ASpicyPerspective so we can share what you’re cooking!
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Excellent! I made it twice–mini & regular cupcakes and both were absolutely scrumptious! A big hit with all.
Can this recipe be doubled as written?
Excellent! Made just as written…twice! I made the cupcakes & the mini-cupcakes & they came out scrumptious! Can the recipe be doubled as written?
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I made this and it’s my favorite!!!! I want it all the time now!
Hi Pagli,
Yay! I’m so happy you liked them. :)
How many would this make if I use regular size cupcake pans?
Hi Veronica! It makes 12 regular cupcakes. :)
these sweet little cupcakes are another thing to be thankful for! bite sized deliciousness!
Does it mater if you use salted or unsalted butter or not ?
Hi Barry, I always bake with unsalted butter so I can adjust the salt to taste. Yet if you go with salted butter, just use a little less salt in the recipe. Happy Baking!
Very attractive, great for entertaining. How can you go wrong.
Santa would definitely like a few of these to mix things up! Love the flavors!
I just finished making the Chai Latte cupcakes EXACTLY as you described, and they are an absolute disaster. I have a cupcake stand at our local farmers’ market, so I am not an amateur. Are you sure that the proportion of dry ingredients to moist is accurate? My batter was very sloppy and looked under-mixed. Why not use the standard cake technique of dry/wet/dry/wet/dry instead of adding all the liquid ingredients first, (which makes it very difficult to incorporate the butter), then throwing in all the dry ingredients at the end? My mini cupcakes look like they were made by a six year-old…sticking to the paper, huge holes in the top, crunchy round the edges and rubbery in the middles. Help!!
Hey Beth, sorry about that. Without watching the process, I’m not sure what happened. I’ve made these dozens of times without fail. I makes me wonder about your chai latte powder… Maybe not the classic blend with dehydrated milk?
You very well may be right, because I live in Canada, and was only able to buy Chai Latte powder in bulk. It does have dehydrated milk in it, but without knowing the ingredient list of your chai powder, I can’t tell if mine was radically different. Next time I am in the States (I live less than an hour away!), I will check out Walmart. Could you please give me the brand name so I can buy the right stuff? Thanks so much for responding. I appreciate it.
Beth
Hi!
I really want to try out this recipe, it says “2/3 cup instant chai powder”, this seems like a large amount of chai powder! Is this correct?
Thank you :)
Liana
Hi Liana, Yes, to get a strong chai flavor that is the right amount.
Thanks Sommer, I’ll give these a go :)
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I really love Chai Latte and now I found your recipe and can’t wait to make them today…!!!! I wrote from Spain and I hope my english is ok…
I can’t find Chai latte instant powder here in Spain so I’m asking if I can used 1/2 cup of Chai Latte Milk… do you think it will work?? I really have a good recipe to do your own Chai Latte at home…
Your cupcakes looks so lovely… thanks for sharing..
Lovely greetings from Spain,
Susana
Hi Susana,
I would be more inclined to suggest adding chai spices like ground cinnamon, nutmeg, star anise or cloves and some powdered milk. You could also try powderizing black tea and adding that to the batter, but I wouldn’t add any more liquid.
Good Luck!
Is instant chai powder the same as what is found in chai tea filter bags?
Oregon Chai offers a powdered instant chai latte mix. I have seen it at Walmart…it’s usually on the shelf near the regular teas. Give it a Google and see if you can spot the box on your local grocery store shelf. Alternately, Amazon has quite the grocery section these days.
I have a cupcake blog called My Year of Cupcakes. I featured your Chai Latte Cupcakes recipe on day 77. Here’s the link if you wanna take a look: http://myyearofcupcakes.com/2013/10/16/day-77-chai-latte-cupcakes/
Thanks for the tasty recipe!
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These are really great mini spicy bites. I’ve featured this recipe on my blog, hoping that you don’t mind, but if you do, please contact me and I’ll remove it. All the best.
I wondered where you found the instant chai powder mix? I searched a couple grocery stores but no dice, so I just guesstimated using liquid chai mixture.
Hi Lydia, sorry you’re having trouble finding it. I found chai powder in the coffee/tea section at Walmart.
Thanks for sharing; these look awesome! My husband and sons love chai lattes, so I can’t wait to try this!
Oh my god! I just made these, and they are the greatest thing I’ve ever tasted! Thank you!!!
what tip did you use for the frostig? i’ve been looking for awhile!
I stumbled across your recipe while looking for a pistachio cupcake recipe. I LOVE chai lattes and will definitely be making these. Thanks for the idea!
1/2 milk…. uuummm, 1/2 cup?? Surprised no one has caught this yet. lol. These look amazing and I will make them later this week, I have decided :)
Thanks Rebecca–got it!
Oh, what lovely thoughts you’ve shared today….and lovely cupcakes as well~
Just got a stumble on these beauties from Thanksgiving! Love chai & cupcakes :)
Cupcakes and Chai, two of my favoritie things. Oh my gosh, do I really want to make these. I don’t have an electric mixer… do you think it will work if I do it by hand? I’m also out of regular flour but I have whole wheat–would that work?
Thank you for your cupcake inspiration!
Those are adorable cupcakes, and I can almost taste the spice in them. It's making my mouth water!
Your post really made me smile and I enjoyed reading all of the things you are thankful for. I took a few minutes to reflect on my life and I am thankful for a lot too. Thank you for reminding me to remember that.
What a wonderful post…and I love the quotes you have chosen.
Beautiful as are you lovely cupcakes :)