Chai Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

These cozy Chai Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting are what Christmas dreams are made of! They’re moist and fluffy and the perfect treat for the chai tea lover in your life!

Today, I’m sharing these warm and cozy Chai Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting and they’re perfect for indulging this holiday season, for your next holiday party or for gifting your favorite friend or neighbor.

Last season I shared my Chai Spiced Spritz Cookies and they were a huge hit, so I’m guessing I’m not the only one who loves the flavor of chai spices.

Making a chai spice mix on your own is really easy. You’ll just need some ground cinnamon, cardamom, ground ginger, allspice and ground cloves.

You’ll combine all your dry ingredients in one bowl and you’ll combine all your wet ingredients in a separate bowl. You’ll beat your butter and sugar in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until light and fluffy before adding your eggs, then sour cream and vanilla extract. Next up will be half the dry mixture, followed by the milk, then the remaining dry mixture. You won’t want to overmix. Just mix until there are no more streaks of flour remaining.

Add the batter to your cupcake liners and bake for just about 18-20 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the middle of the cupcakes comes out clean. Mine were ready at 18, but it all depends on your stove, so start to test at 18 minutes.

While the cupcakes are baking and cooling you can whip up the simple cream cheese frosting. A combination of 5 ingredients, this frosting recipe is my go-to for all my cupcakes and cakes.

I hope you treat yourself or someone special to a batch of these cozy, comforting cupcakes this holiday and winter season! Enjoy!

Chai Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Author: MaryAnn Dwyer

Servings: 15 cupcakes

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These cozy Chai Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting are what Christmas dreams are made of! They're moist and fluffy and the perfect treat for the chai tea lover in your life!

Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 18 minutes mins

Total Time 48 minutes mins

Ingredients  

Chai Cupcakes

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp. ground cardamom
• 3/4 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp. ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp. allspice
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 3/4 cup milk

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 8 oz. cream cheese, softened to room temperature
• 1/2 cup (one stick) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 3 1/3 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/8 tsp. salt

Instructions 

Chai Cupcakes

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake tin with paper liners and set aside.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, allspice and cloves. Set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar on medium high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time until well blended. Add sour cream and vanilla extract and beat an additional 1 minute. With a spatula add half of the flour mixture until just combined, then add the milk, followed by the remaining flour mixture, being careful not to overmix.

  Spoon batter into liners about 2/3 full. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cupcakes comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool on wire rack. Mine were ready at 16 minutes.

  While the cupcakes are baking and cooling, make your frosting. Wait until cupcakes are completely cooled before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese, butter, 3 cups confectioners' sugar, vanilla and salt on low until combined, about 30 seconds. Add the additional 1/3 cup if you like a thicker consistency. I used the whole 3 1/3 cups. Increase speed to high and beat for 3 minutes until smooth and creamy.

Notes

I use 3 1/3 cups confectioners' sugar for my frosting, but you can be the judge of how thick you like your frosting. Add more for a thicker consistency, less for thinner. It's best to start with 3 cups and then add from that point.

I used an Ateco Sultan Protruding Cone piping tip to frost my cupcakes. You can use whatever tip you prefer or just hand frost. I also topped mine with sprinkles and store-bought mini gingerbread man cookies. This is optional and just for decorating purposes.

Keyword: chai spices, cream cheese frosting, Cupcakes, dessert

Cuisine: American

Course: Dessert