BETTAMEDhealth

23/01/2025

A balanced breakfast can help stabilize blood sugar and improve focus, mood and productivity. But let’s be real: many of us either skip it altogether or rely on sugary, processed options like cereals or pastries in the name of convenience, only to face inevitable energy crashes not even halfway through the day.

On top of it all- sugary foods and processed dough in breakfast items like pancakes, waffles and packaged cereals are usually packed with refined carbs that lack fiber and other nutrients, slow your metabolism and cause weight gain.

Making some simple changes can help keep your energy levels steady and set the tone for a more productive day. Here’s what nutrition experts recommend to ramp up your energy levels.

The best time to eat breakfast for sustained energy is soon after you wake up.
Vanessa King, a registered dietitian nutritionist and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, suggests aiming to eat breakfast within one to two hours of waking to fuel your day. But if that timing doesn’t work for you, you can still enjoy all the benefits of breakfast by having it at a time that works better for you. “The best time for breakfast is when it fits in your schedule, causes the least stress and you can make it a regular habit, considering your other responsibilities such as exercise, work, family, pets and kids,” King said.

What makes a balanced breakfast?
A balanced breakfast brings together protein, complex carbs and healthy fats. The Diet clinic Weigh-less recommends: “For most healthy adults, at least 7 to 10 grams of fiber and at least 5 grams of fat are good goals to aim for at breakfast,” she added.

Set up your blood sugar levels early, because they affect your energy levels later.

“When we eat a balanced breakfast, our blood sugar levels rise slowly and also go down more slowly, [which] leads to sustained energy and feelings of fullness,” Pacheco explained. “Eating foods with fiber, protein or healthy fats helps keep your blood glucose steady, giving you long-lasting energy without the highs and lows.”

Upgrade #1: Swap juice for whole fruit.
If you’re the type to grab a glass of orange juice with breakfast, try swapping it for the whole orange, or any piece of fruit, instead.

Opting for the whole orange or apple provides more fiber, which can stabilize your blood sugar levels and make you feel full longer.
Seasonal mixed berries and grapes are available from Foodlovers and make a tasty breakfast addition to yoghurt and Oats.

#2: Switch to whole grains.
Opting for the whole grain version instead, is it’s packed with more fiber.

White breads have less than one gram of fiber per slice, while quality whole grain breads can have three to five grams of fiber per slice
Fiber slows down how quickly your body digests food, helping release energy more steadily instead of all at once. This keeps your blood sugar stable, preventing energy crashes and feeds your good gut bacteria, which boosts your immune function.

Upgrade #3: Supercharge your smoothie with ground flax or chia seeds.
Most people toss some frozen fruit or veggies into the blender with milk or yogurt for an easy, on-the-go breakfast smoothie that delivers a combination of complex carbs and protein.
Try balancing it out with two tablespoons of ground flax or chia seeds for an extra boost of fiber to keep you feeling full and energized longer.

Upgrade #4: Ditch the butter.
Toast and butter might be a quick and easy go-to for busy mornings, but swapping the butter for half an avocado can upgrade your breakfast game by adding healthy fats and a solid boost of fiber for longer-lasting energy.

Avocados are also great sources of potassium, magnesium and some B vitamins which can help with energy levels too.

#5: Choose protein-packed milk.
It takes longer for the body to break down protein, which allows you to feel satiated for longer. Dairy and soy milk are the only two milks that naturally contain complete protein, so opting for those, whether you’re making oatmeal, pouring it over cereal, or whipping up some chia seed pudding. One cup of dairy milk or soy milk typically contains 8 grams of protein while almond, rice, cashew and oat milk fetch 1 to 3 grams per serving unless they are fortified.

Upgrade #6: Boost your Oatmeal.
Instant oatmeal packets might seem like a healthy choice, but on their own, they can leave you facing mid-morning crashes since they’re typically low in protein and fat. To keep things balanced, Michael Hershey, registered dietitian nutritionist and owner of Michael Hershey Nutrition, recommends adding a protein boost, like ¾ cup of Greek yogurt, an egg or ¾ cup of low-fat cottage cheese.

Upgrade #7: Power up your cereal with nut butter.
Most cereals are loaded with refined carbs, which means your body digests and absorbs them super quickly. “In this instance, you will not feel satiated for very long,” Hershey said. To keep hunger at bay, opt for a cereal that’s high in fiber — at least 5 grams per serving — and toss in some healthy fats like one tablespoon of nut butter or ⅛ cup of your favorite nuts.

No matter what’s on your breakfast plate to help fuel you for the day, be sure to incorporate balance in your meal by including complex carbs, protein and healthy fats in a way that you enjoy, emphasizes Hershey. “I care most about what you can sustain in your nutrition over the long run. Consistency is key.”

20/12/2024

Your Gut Health Might Need A Reset Rather Than A Detox

The body detoxes itself and shouldn't need an active intervention, There are issues that may need a different type of intervention, like a Gut Reset.

- Here Are Some of the Common Symptoms

𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐞
Fatigue, or constant tiredness, can be a sign that your gut health is not good. When the balance of bacteria in your gut is off, it can affect how much serotonin your body produces. Serotonin is important for mood and sleep. If your gut isn't working well, you might not get enough serotonin, leading to sleep problems and ongoing fatigue during the day.
𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐖𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬
Unintentional weight changes, whether gaining or losing weight without trying, can indicate an unhealthy gut. If the bacteria in your gut are out of balance, it can make it hard for your body to absorb nutrients and regulate metabolism. For example, too many harmful bacteria can lead to weight loss by preventing proper digestion, while inflammation from an imbalanced gut can contribute to weight gain.
𝗚𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗕𝗹𝗼𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴
Gas and bloating are common signs that your digestion isn’t working well due to an unhealthy gut. When there are more harmful bacteria than good ones, they can ferment undigested food and produce gas, leading to discomfort and bloating after meals.
𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗯𝘂𝗿𝗻
Heartburn often indicates that something is wrong with your gut health. An imbalanced microbiome can lead to digestive issues like acid reflux, where stomach acid flows back into the esophagus. Keeping a balanced gut microbiome is important for good digestion and reducing heartburn discomfort.
𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻
Constipation is another sign of an unhealthy gut. When there aren’t enough good bacteria in the gut, it can slow down digestion and make it difficult to have regular bowel movements. A healthy microbiome helps keep things moving smoothly through the digestive system.
𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗜𝗹𝗹𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀
Frequent illnesses or infections might mean your gut health is compromised because a large part of your immune system is located in the gastrointestinal tract. An imbalanced microbiome can weaken your immune response by reducing the diversity of helpful bacteria needed to fight off germs. This shows how important it is to maintain a healthy gut for overall immune function.
Shingles is often linked to a system that is run down and needs to be repaired.

12/12/2024

Humans are exposed to many small molecules foreign to the body, including dietary components, drugs, and environmental chemicals. The trillions of microorganisms that inhabit our gastrointestinal tract can directly or indirectly alter the chemical structures of such compounds, thus modifying their permanence in the body, biological effects, or toxicity. While most research has focused on drug-microbiome interactions, little is known about how the gut microbiome metabolizes dietary xenobiotics.

New findings from Yale University School of Medicine researchers provide insights into how the gut microbiome contributes to individual differences in dietary xenobiotics’ metabolism.

The authors studied inter-individual variability in response to food by systematically mapping the effects of chemically diverse dietary xenobiotics on bacterial growth and gut microbiome composition, and bacterial capacity for compound modification using estimated doses that reach the colon. The in vitro effects of 140 dietary xenobiotics-belonging to 37 structural classes-were surveyed in four gut microbial communities from unrelated healthy donors.

Interestingly, most of the tested glycosides were non-toxic. Yet, when their (non-glycosylated)-microbial metabolites were incubated with the different human f***l microbiomes, results showed community and compound-specific capacity to inhibit bacterial growth.

In some cases, further microbial transformation of bactericidal non-glycosylated forms revoked the inhibition of bacterial growth. Thus, microbial metabolic transformation of dietary xenobiotics may convert some compounds into antibiotics and detoxify others. Interestingly, the impact of individual dietary xenobiotics on a given community was not always readily predicted by toxicity observed in monocultures. In communities, both cross-protection and cross-sensitization occurred. These results showed the relevance of community interactions for compound metabolism and that different microbes share metabolites due to cross-feeding interactions.

Andrew L. Goodman and colleagues also identified enzymes involved in dietary xenobiotic toxification and detoxification. Specific enzymes that reduce resveratrol to dihydroresveratrol were restricted to selected bacteria species and strains. Moreover, altering the microbial gut communities in gnobiotic mice by adding or excluding individual members shaped the levels of microbial- and host-derived metabolites. The addition of Eggerthella lenta led to depleted serum resveratrol and related host-mediated metabolites and increased serum levels of host-mediated dihydroresveratrol metabolites. In contrast, the absence of E. lenta led to a disrupted gut microbiome with increased pathogenic E. coli resistant to growth inhibition by resveratrol.

While these findings are still far from being applied to improve the treatment of human disease and personalize dietetic advice based on the individual makeup of the gut microbiome, they explain why the same diet can have different effects on different people. Inter-individual variation of dietary xenobiotics’ metabolism depends not only on the presence of metabolites, but also on the presence or absence of specific gut commensals.



Reference:

Culp EJ, Nelson NT, Verdegaal AA, et al. Microbial transformation of dietary xenobiotics shapes gut microbiome composition. Cell. 2024 ; 187(22) :6327-6345.e20. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2024.08.038.

The post Why does not everyone respond the same way to diet appeared first on Gut Microbiota for Health.

New research maps interactions between dietary xenobiotics and the gut microbiome, explaining why diet can work differently for different peopl

10/12/2024

After a week of cookies, it’s time I brought you an easy, savory, crowd-pleasing dinner that doubles as the perfect game day recipe. My husband Tony’s a big fan of a Chicago-style beef sandwich, which has thinly shaved, seasoned beef topped with hot giardiniera and drizzle of the beef au jus. Abra’s fiancé, Len, makes a similar chicken version every week in the slow cooker and calls it “chicken slop.” I’ve fondly named him Mr. Slops after learning about his recipe, and it actually inspired these delicious sandwiches.

These slow cooker Italian chicken sandwiches are seasoned with a few simple spices and slow cooked until the chicken is juicy. You’ll add a little brine from jars of the giardinera and pepperoncini, which gives the chicken a kick of delicious heat and helps to tenderize it. Top it all on a toasty hoagie bun with melty provolone cheese and omg it’s love at first bite.

Make a big batch for football Sunday, or enjoy a fun, hands-off weeknight dinner with the family!

Ingredients in these slow cooker Italian chicken sandwiches

You’ll need really simple ingredients to make these flavorful Italian chicken sandwiches:

Chicken: I like to use boneless skinless chicken thighs because they end up a lot juicier when slow cooked.

Olive oil: you’ll want to brown the chicken in a little olive oil before adding it to your slow cooker.

Onion: you’ll also cook down some onion in the chicken fat to give it extra flavor.

Seasonings: we’re using salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, and onion powder to season the chicken.

Chicken broth: I like to use low-sodium chicken broth so that I can control how much salt is in the recipe. The chicken broth will help the chicken cook in your slow cooker.

Giardiniera & pepperoncini: you’ll find both of these ingredients near the olives and jarred pickles of your grocery store! The pepperoncini themselves and the brine from the jars will give the chicken flavor and moisture, and will actually help tenderize the chicken. I recommend using mild giardiniera.

For serving: I like to serve the chicken up on hoagie buns with provolone cheese and extra giardiniera and pepperoncini for a little crunch and spice.

What is giardiniera?

If you’ve never seen this word before, I don’t blame you! It’s an Italian staple that’s famous in Chicago and is used on Italian beef sandwiches here in the city. It’s essentially a jar of pickled vegetables like peppers, cauliflower, and carrots that get jarred in vinegar and olive oil. It can range from mild to very spicy, so I recommend using mild in this recipe if you’re not used to the kick of heat!

Make them gluten-free or dairy-free

To make gluten-free: simply use your favorite gluten-free buns or rolls!

To make dairy-free: omit the provolone cheese and add a dairy-free sauce or your favorite dairy-free cheese slices.

Easy Italian chicken sandwiches right in your slow cooker

Brown the chicken. Season your chicken with salt and pepper, then brown it on both sides in a skillet with a little olive oil. Cook your onions in with the chicken during this step, then transfer both to your crockpot.

Cook the chicken. Stir in the seasonings, broth, pepperoncini and giardiniera, cover, and cook for 3-4 hours on high or 6-7 hours on low.

Shred it up. Once the chicken is cooked, remove it with a slotted spoon and shred it with two forks. Add the chicken and juices back to your slow cooker and turn it to warm.

Assemble & serve. Toast your hoagie buns in the oven, then add your cheese, top with the warm chicken and garnishes, and serve them up!

More ways to serve the chicken

The shredded slow cooker Italian chicken would also be delicious on nachos! Load the chicken up on tortilla chips with your favorite melty cheese and make a big platter for sharing.

Storing & freezing tips

To store: If you have leftover chicken, simply store it in an airtight bag or container and keep it in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

To freeze: allow the chicken to cool completely before transferring it to a freezer-safe bag or airtight glass container. It will stay good in the freezer for up to 3 months. Allow the chicken to thaw in the refrigerator before fully reheating or using it.

To reheat: for a hands-off option, you can add the leftover chicken to your crock pot and place it on “warm” to warm it back up. Otherwise, you can simply reheat it in the microwave or on the stovetop.

More dinner recipes you’ll love

Get all of my dinner recipes here, and my game day recipes here!

I hope you love these slow cooker Italian chicken sandwiches! If you make them be sure to leave a comment and a rating so I know how you liked them.

The
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook

125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day

Slow Cooker Italian Chicken Sandwiches

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 3 hours

Total Time 3 hours 20 minutes

Serves8 sandwiches

Easy slow cooker Italian chicken sandwiches made with simple ingredients and packed with savory, spicy flavors. Grab your favorite jar of giardiniera, a few simple spices, and delicious toppings for a weeknight dinner or game day meal everyone will love!

Ingredients

2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs

1 teaspoon kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

½ medium yellow onion, sliced

1 ½ cups low-sodium chicken broth

1 tablespoon italian seasoning

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

Freshly ground black pepper

8 ounces pepperoncini slices, plus ⅓ cup of their brine

8 ounces chopped giardiniera (mild is best), drained and rinsed

For serving:

8 hoagie buns

Provolone cheese slices

Chopped giardiniera (mild is best)

Pepperoncini slices

Instructions

Season both sides of the chicken with salt and pepper.

Warm olive oil in a dutch oven or large deep skillet or braiser and place over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, add in the chicken and cook, undisturbed, until golden brown and fat starts to render and the thigh easily releases from the pan when moved, 4 to 5 minutes. Immediately nestle the onions in between the chicken thighs and cook, stirring as best as you can so they soak up some of the chicken fat. Once chicken is brown on one side, turn the chicken over and cook until golden brown on the other side, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer the chicken and onions to the slow cooker.

Sprinkle the seasonings all over the chicken and onions: italian seasoning, garlic powder and onion powder. Next add in the chicken broth, pepperoncini peppers, ⅓ cup of pepperoncini brine and the drained giardiniera. Gently stir mixture with a wooden spoon. Cover and turn the crockpot to low for 6 to 8 hours or high for 3 to 4 hours. Use a slotted spoon or tongs to transfer the chicken to a sheet pan and shred with two forks. Add the shredded chicken and juices back to the slow cooker and gently stir. Turn the slow cooker to warm.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Split the hoagie buns open, place on a baking sheet and toast in the oven for 5 minutes until slightly golden on the edges. Next, add cheese to the bottom of the hoagie (the cheese will melt in the warm bun and with the hot meat mixture on top.), then fill with the shredded chicken and top with pepperoncini and extra giardiniera! Enjoy!

Recipe Notes

To keep gluten-free: simply use your favorite gluten-free buns.

To make dairy-free: omit the provolone cheese or use your favorite vegan cheese slices.

Nutrition

Serving: 1sandwich (with toppings)Calories: 509calCarbohydrates: 46.7gProtein: 38gFat: 18.3gSaturated Fat: 7.5gFiber: 3gSugar: 2.8g

Recipe by: Monique Volz // Ambitious Kitchen | Photography by: Eat Love Eats

Easy slow cooker Italian chicken sandwiches made with simple ingredients and packed with savory, spicy flavors. Great for dinner or game day!

06/12/2024

It’s the FINAL day of AK Cookie Week 2024 and yes, I saved the best for last. This *might* just be my favorite cookie recipe I’ve ever made, which is saying something because I have over 50 on my site.

I tested these insanely delicious salted brown butter banana chocolate chunk cookies not once, not twice, but literally 5 times because I knew they were going to be something special. And OMG. Truly exceptional is the only way to describe them. They have those perfect edges with a fudgy, chewy middle, and pack in the flavor from caramel-like brown butter, sweet banana, and rich dark chocolate in every bite.

These cookies were love at first bite — my whole team and family instantly became obsessed. If these don’t win your cookie contest this year, I don’t know what will!

Enjoy two FREE cookie e-books + BONUS cookie recipe!

Sign up for AK Cookie Week below to get:

Each new cookie recipe in your inbox every morning

My FREE Ultimate Guide to Cookie Baking E-Book

A BONUS, email-only cookie recipe AND an additional e-book with 10 of my best cookie recipes on 12/7!

Ingredients in these banana chocolate chunk cookies

These deliciously fudgy brown butter banana cookies use simple ingredients and pack delicious flavor. Here’s what you’ll need:

Butter: you already know we’re browning salted butter to give the cookies that rich, nutty, caramel-like flavor.

Banana: you’ll add real mashed banana right to the dough for moisture and sweetness.

Sugar: we’re using a mix of granulated sugar and brown sugar to sweeten the cookies.

Flaxseed meal: just a bit of flaxseed meal helps the cookies baked up without an egg. Don’t skip it!

Flour: you’ll need regular all-purpose flour to bake these cookies.

Baking staples: don’t forget the vanilla extract, baking soda, a little cinnamon, and salt.

Chocolate: chop up a dark chocolate bar to get those beautiful, melty chocolate chunks. I like Lindt 70% dark chocolate!

To garnish: as always, sprinkle your cookies with a little flaky sea salt for that sweet and salty magic.

Wait, there’s no egg?

You read that correctly! The combination of mashed banana and flaxseed meal acts as the binder in these cookies. So they’re completely egg-free!

Can I make them gluten-free or dairy-free?

To make gluten-free: please note that I have NOT tested these banana chocolate chunk cookies using a gluten-free flour, but I suggest trying it with a 1:1 gluten-free all-purpose flour if you’d like! Let me know in the comments if you give it a shot.

To make dairy-free: use a vegan / dairy-free butter instead — you’ll simple melt it instead of browning it as vegan butter does not brown.

Make these brown butter banana cookies your own

I love the puddles of dark chocolate paired with the sweet banana flavor in this recipe, but you could also:

Glorious banana chocolate chunk cookies in 5 steps

Brown the butter. Start but browning your salted butter until it’s amber in color and smelly nice and nutty. Scrape ALL of the brown bits into a bowl to cool. Get my tips for browning butter here!

Mix the wet ingredients. Mix all of your wet ingredients in a large bowl until the mixture looks like caramel.

Finish the dough. Add the dry ingredients right into your bowl and mix until just combined, then fold in the chocolate chunks.

Time to chill! That’s right, you’ll chill the dough in the fridge for at least 2 hours before baking.

Bake, cool & devour. Scoop your cold dough into balls onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, then bake at 375 degrees (this temp is important!) Pull them out right when the edges started turning golden brown, then sprinkle with sea salt and cool before devouring.

Don’t forget my cookie-baking tips

Reminder that you’ll find all of my best tips & tricks for making perfect cookies in the Ultimate Guide to Cookie Baking e-book! A few key takeaways for these banana chocolate chunk cookies:

Substitute at your own risk. Please be sure to follow the recipe as written unless substitutes are noted in the notes section of the recipe. Changing ingredients will likely change the texture and/or flavor of the cookies, so do so at your own risk.

Use room temp ingredients. After browning your butter, set it aside until it’s cooled to room temperature so that it doesn’t affect the texture of the cookies.

Use fresh baking soda. Make sure your baking soda is fresh to ensure that these cookies bake up properly.

Measure your ingredients correctly. In this recipe, it’s VERY important to measure out the mashed banana instead of just mashing and using 1 full banana. I weighed the ingredients for these cookies, as you’ll see in the full recipe below. If you don’t have a scale, be sure to use this method for measuring flour.

CHILL the dough. I know it seems tedious, but you really do want to chill your dough for at least 2 hours so that they cookies do not come out flat!

Storing & freezing tips

To store: store these brown butter banana cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

To freeze: you can actually freeze the cookie dough OR the freshly baked cookies to enjoy later! Get all of my tips and tricks for freezing cookies here.

More cookie recipes you’ll love

Get all of my cookie recipes here!

I hope you love these banana chocolate chunk cookies! If you make them be sure to leave a comment and a rating so I know how you liked them. Enjoy, xo!

The
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook

125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day

Truly Exceptional Salted Brown Butter Banana Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Prep Time 2 hours 25 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 2 hours 35 minutes

Serves15 cookies

The most incredible salted banana chocolate chunk cookies baked with rich brown butter, real mashed banana, and puddles of dark chocolate in every bite. These might be my new all-time favorite cookies, and for good reason! They're perfectly chewy and sweet, and a sprinkle of flaky sea salt takes them to the next level. Chocolate banana heaven!

Ingredients

Wet ingredients:

½ cup (113g) salted butter

⅓ cup (95g) mashed banana (from 1 medium ripe banana) YOU MUST MEASURE THIS OUT

¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar

¼ cup (53g) packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon flaxseed meal (DO NOT SKIP THIS!)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Dry ingredients:

1 ⅔ cup (200g) all purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

3.5 ounces dark chocolate (Lindt 70% dark chocolate melts beautifully in these!), coarsely chopped into chunks

To garnish:

Flaky sea salt (I like Maldon)

Instructions

Brown the butter: Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Once melted, whisk constantly; the butter will begin to crackle, then eventually foam. After a few minutes, the butter will begin to turn a golden amber color. As soon as the butter turns an amber brown brown and gives off a nutty aroma, 5 to 8 minutes total, remove from the heat and transfer to a medium bowl to cool for 5 to 10 minutes. MAKE SURE YOU SCRAPE ALL THE BROWN BITS INTO THE BOWL WITH A RUBBER SPATULA! Every little yummy bit counts!

Mix the wet ingredients: Measure out ⅓ cup (95g) mashed banana. If you have excess mashed banana, you can discard it. It is important to not use any more than ⅓ cup or these cookies will not bake up properly. (Trust me, I tested the recipe 5 times!) After it is mashed, beat the banana in the bowl with a fork for 30 seconds until virtually no lumps remain. Next, add in the granulated sugar, brown sugar, flaxseed meal and vanilla extract and whisk until smooth and the mixture resembles caramel.

Add the dry ingredients: In the same bowl with the wet ingredients, add in the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Fold the dry ingredients into the dough with a wooden spoon until well combined. Next, gently fold in the chocolate chunks.

Chill the dough: Cover the bowl with the dough with plastic wrap and transfer to the fridge to chill for a minimum of 2 hours or up to 24 hours.

Once ready to bake: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. (Again, I want to make sure we know the proper temp is 375 degrees F.!) 🙂Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

Bake: Once the oven is preheated, make your dough balls (you want to have cold dough going onto the baking sheet). Measure about 1 ½-2 tablespoons of dough and roll into a ball, placing dough balls at least 3 inches apart. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes until the edges of the cookies are lightly golden brown. Mine were perfect at 10 minutes every time. Remove from the oven, immediately sprinkle with sea salt, then allow cookies to cool on the cookie sheet for 15 to 20 minutes. Enjoy!

Recipe Notes

To store: store these brown butter banana cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

To freeze: you can actually freeze the cookie dough OR the freshly baked cookies to enjoy later! Get all of my tips and tricks for freezing cookies here.

Recipe by: Monique Volz // Ambitious Kitchen | Photography by: Eat Love Eats

Incredible salted brown butter banana chocolate chunk cookies with puddles of dark chocolate. Perfectly chewy and absolutely delicious!

05/12/2024

Swifties, Day 5 of AK Cookie Week is a recipe just for you! Okay, even if you’re not a huge Taylor Swift fan I promise that you’ll fall head-over-heels in love with these pillowy-soft, perfectly chewy cookies with an epic vanilla bean frosting.

T-swift herself took inspiration for these chai sugar cookies from the OG iconic baking blogger, Joy the Baker. They use a few special ingredients like vegetable oil and powdered sugar right in the batter and get topped with an icing made with butter, powdered sugar, and nutmeg.

I, of course, made a few AK-style changes to make them my own, and the result was INCREDIBLE. These cookies have such a wonderful texture and the spices really shine through. As always, read through the full post to get all of your baking questions answered, and get ready for your house to be filled with the coziest smells this holiday baking season!

Enjoy two FREE cookie e-books + BONUS cookie recipe!

Sign up for AK Cookie Week below to get:

Each new cookie recipe in your inbox every morning

My FREE Ultimate Guide to Cookie Baking E-Book

A BONUS, email-only cookie recipe AND an additional e-book with 10 of my best cookie recipes on 12/7!

Everything you’ll need to make soft chai sugar cookies

The key to these chai cookies? All of the lovely spices! Be sure to read the note below about the different ways you can add spices to these cookies. Here’s everything you’ll need to make them:

Flour: we’re using regular all-purpose flour as the base of the cookies.

Cornstarch: a little cornstarch gives the cookies they’re super soft texture.

Spices: you’ll mix in a blend of cinnamon, ground ginger, cardamom, ground cloves, and allspice to give the cookies their wonderful chai flavor.

Baking staples: you’ll need both baking soda and baking powder in this recipe. Don’t forget the salt and vanilla extract, too!

Butter: the chai cookies get their moisture from all butter instead of butter AND vegetable oil like T-Swift uses. I always bake with salted butter, but you can feel free to use unsalted butter if you’d like.

Sugar: we’re mixing both granulated sugar and powdered sugar right into the dough.

Egg: you’ll need 1 egg to help the cookies hold together.

Greek yogurt: just like in my Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies, you’ll add a bit of Greek yogurt, which interacts with the baking soda and powder to give the cookies a lovely chewy texture. Sour cream works as well!

For the frosting: that luscious vanilla bean cream cheese frosting is made with butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, a vanilla bean, and a tiny bit of milk for a creamy texture. Use extra vanilla beans to make homemade vanilla extract!

Ingredient swapping FAQ

As with all recipes (baking especially), I recommend making the recipe as is to get the best outcome. To answer some questions I typically get:

Can I make them gluten-free? I haven’t tested these using a gluten-free substitute, so I can’t be sure how they’ll turn out. Feel free to try using a 1:1 gluten-free all-purpose flour and let me know in the comments if it works well!

Can I make them dairy-free? You can use dairy-free butter and dairy-free yogurt.

Can I make them vegan? I also have not tested these using a flax egg, but let me know if you try it. Then be sure to follow the dairy-free swaps as well.

Choose your chai spices

I chose to add a blend of spices to give the cookies that warm chai flavor, but Joy the Baker and Taylor Swift use actual chai tea for their cookie recipes! To do so simply omit the spices in the cookies and use a chai tea bag (just dump all of chai tea in the bag into the dough).

Make these chai sugar cookies extra special

Taylor opted for an icing made with powdered sugar, nutmeg, and a little milk, but I personally love the bold vanilla flavor in the frosting I created. Some more fun ways to jazz them up:

Use a little egg nog in the frosting instead of milk for even more spiced flavor. Egg nog typically has cinnamon and nutmeg in it already!

Decorate your cookies with gold sparkling sugar (gorgeous), pearl or gold pearl sprinkles, or your favorite Christmas sprinkles for even more holiday cheer

Don’t forget my cookie-baking tips

Reminder that you’ll find all of my best tips & tricks for making perfect cookies in the Ultimate Guide to Cookie Baking e-book! A few key takeaways for these chai-spiced cookies:

Substitute at your own risk. Please be sure to follow the recipe as written unless substitutes are noted in the notes section of the recipe. Changing ingredients will likely change the texture and/or flavor of the cookies, so do so at your own risk.

Use room temp ingredients. You’ll want to make sure your butter isn’t too cold or melted for both the dough and the frosting. Room temp butter will be easy to mix in and will give the dough and frosting the right texture.

Use fresh baking soda & powder. Make sure your baking soda and baking powder are both fresh to ensure that these cookies bake up properly.

Measure your ingredients correctly. I weighed the ingredients for these cookies, as you’ll see in the full recipe below. If you don’t have a scale, be sure to use this method for measuring flour!

How to store & freeze chai sugar cookies

To store: store these cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

To freeze: you can actually freeze the cookie dough OR the freshly baked cookies to enjoy later! Get all of my tips and tricks for freezing cookies here.

More cookie recipes you’ll love

Get all of my cookie recipes here!

I hope you love my take on Taylor Swift’s chai sugar cookies! If you make them be sure to leave a comment and a rating so I know how you liked them. Enjoy, xo!

The
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook

125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day

Taylor Swift’s Soft Chai Sugar Cookies with Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Serves24 cookies

Perfectly sweet and spiced chai sugar cookies inspired by the recipe from the one and only Taylor Swift! These easy, soft chai sugar cookies are baked with a warming mix of spices like ginger, cardamom, and cloves, and get topped with a lovely vanilla bean cream cheese frosting. Add your favorite sprinkles for a festive cookie everyone will love.

Ingredients

Dry ingredients:

1 ¾ cups (210g) all purpose flour

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

½ teaspoon cardamom

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

¼ teaspoon allspice

½ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

Wet ingredients:

½ cup (1 stick, 113g) salted butter, at room temperature

½ cup (100g) granulated sugar

½ cup (60g) powdered sugar

1 large egg, at room temperature

1 tablespoon plain or vanilla whole-milk greek yogurt (or sub sour cream)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the vanilla bean cream cheese frosting:

4 tablespoons (57g) salted butter, at room temperature

4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

1 ½ (180g) cups powdered sugar

1 vanilla bean, split and seeds removed (or sub ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract)

1 to 3 teaspoons milk (or eggnog!), to make the frosting creamy

Gold sparkling sugar, pearl or gold pearl sprinkles, or Christmas sprinkles

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

Mix the dry ingredients: In a large bowl, add the flour, cornstarch, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, cloves and allspice, baking powder, baking soda and salt; whisk the dry ingredients together until well combined then set aside.

Mix the wet ingredients: In the bowl of an electric mixer, add the butter, granulated sugar and powdered sugar. Using the paddle attachment, beat the mixture together until well combined and butter and sugar are well incorporated, about 1 minute. Add in the egg (make sure it is at room temperature!), the Greek yogurt and then vanilla extract. Mix again on medium speed until the ingredients are well combined, about 1 minute. You may need to scrape the bowl down a few times with a rubber spatula and mix again.

Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix on medium low speed until the dry ingredients are well incorporated into the wet ingredients and a dough forms.

Use a small cookie scoop to grab tablespoonful sized dough balls and roll into balls. Place dough balls on the cookie sheet, 2 inches apart, and bake for 10 to 12 minutes. They may look slightly underbaked but that is the trick to keeping them soft so try not to overbake! Allow cookies to cool on the cookie sheet for 5 to 10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to finish cooling completely.

Once cookies have cooled, prepare the frosting: ​​In the bowl of an electric mixer, add the softened butter and cream cheese and whip on high until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Add in powdered sugar, seeds from the vanilla beans, and milk, and beat slowly at first, then increase speed to high and beat for 1 to 2 minutes. Spread the frosting over the cooled cookies then sprinkle them with sprinkles of choice. Enjoy! Makes 24 cookies.

Recipe Notes

Recipe inspired by Taylor Swift herself.

If you want you can omit the spices in the cookies and use a chai tea bag (just dump all of chai tea in the bag into the dough). This is what Taylor does in her original recipe.

Recipe by: Monique Volz // Ambitious Kitchen | Photography by: Eat Love Eats

Perfectly sweet chai sugar cookies inspired by Taylor Swift! These soft chai sugar cookies get topped with a vanilla bean cream cheese frosting.