Eggless Chai Pistachio Chocolate Snickerdoodles

Snickerdoodles are cookies made with flour, butter and sugar and the cookie dough is rolled in cinnamon sugar before baking. I came across the recipe for chai chocolate snickerdoodle in Boston Tea Company's website when I was searching for a cookie recipe including tea. Baking with tea is a new concept for me and this is the first time I came to know that there are so many bakes involving tea out there in the web. When Kalyani announced this month's Magic Mingle, I was shocked to see the magic ingredients. They are tea nad pistachios. I know how to make a refreshing tea but other than that I had no idea about using it in cooking. So I need to thsnk Kalyani for introducing such a new and fabulous concept. These snickerdoodles tasted delicious with a slight hint of tea and crunchy pistachios and of course chocolate. The recipe mentioned about allowing the tea to seep in butter. I didn't understand it and again google search helped me out. To flavour the butter with tea, we need to melt butter along with tea leaves. Then keep it aside for 30 minutes. By this time the flavour of tea will be out in the butter. Strain the butter and you will end up with a sweet smelling tea flavoured butter. This butter can be used in all kinds of bake to give the dish a wonderful aroma of tea.

Recipe Source: Boston Tea Company
Ingredients:
Butter-1 cup
Tea leaves-1 tbs ( can add more for intense tea flavour)
Sugar-2 cups
Ground Cinnamon-1 tsp
Ground Cardamom-1 tsp
Powdered White Pepper-1/2 tsp
Milk-1/2 cup
All Purpose Flour/ Maida-2 1/4 cups
Cocoa Powder-1/2 cup
Baking Powder-2 tsp
Pistachios-1 cup

Procedure:
1. Add tea to butter and heat butter.
2. When it melts, remove from flame and allow it to cool for 30 minutes. This is seeping time and the tea flavour gets into butter.
3. Strain the butter. Press the tea leaves in the strainer to extract all the butter from the tea leaves.
4. Preheat oven to 175C.
5. Mix sugar, cinnamon, white pepper and cardamom together.
6. From this mixture take 1 1/4 cup and add it to the melted butter.
7. Beat well. Add milk and beat until incorporated.
8. In another bowl mix flour, baking powder and cocoa powder.
9. Add this flour to the butter mixture.
10. Beat until all the flour has been incorporated.
11. Add the pistachios to the dough and mix well.
12. Line a baking tray with butter paper.
13. Pinch small lemon sized balls out of the dough.
14. Roll it in the remaining sugar mixture. Flatten it to form a thick cookie.
15. Arrange the cookies on the tray.
16. For soft cookies bake for 10-12 minutes and for crispy cookies bake for 20minutes.
17. Remove from oven and allow it to cool on tray for 5 minutes.
18. With a spatula remove the cookies from tray and arrange on a wire rack.
19. When completely cool store in airtight jar and serve.