Annoyance, Thy Name Is Redundancy

Chewy Chai Spiced Sugar Cookies

I think we all have our own little quirks as to what bugs us in how others write and/or speak, don’t we? One of mine (other than the misuse of different versions of ‘your” and “there”) is redundancy in writing. One of my biggest pet peeves there (you’ll notice that that says “there” and not “their” or they’re” 😛 ) is Chai Tea. Chai is another word for tea when used correctly (though yes, I know it usually refers to a specific spiced tea) so when people say they want Chai tea, they are saying they want tea tea hehe. Drives me batty. But then, I’m a picky pain the arse. What can I say?

I know one thing I do that drives others batty is my use of the ellipsis. I tend to overuse it, I admit. Strange writing affectation I have had for years.

Another thing that makes me cringe is when I hear people use computer slang out loud in “real” life. It seems to be more common among the younger crowd but I have heard it done by older people who should very definitely know better. Hearing someone say “LOL” to show they thought something was funny makes me want to tape their                               (or is that there? 😛 ) mouth shut. I’d only use a small piece of tape! Honest injun!

So what have I made for you today that brought on this rant? Why… Chai Spiced Sugar Cookies. The original recipe (from the McCormick site) just called them Chai Sugar Cookies but I changed it to Chai Spiced because the original title bugged me hehe. If there is not chai in it, then it shouldn’t be called chai and this uses only the spices normally found in chai, not the actual tea. I also hate when something is advertised as pumpkin flavored when in reality all it has is the typical pumpkin pie type spices in it. It’s misleading and it makes me cry when it ends up having no pumpkin flavor *sniffles in memory*

On topic, these are some pretty good sugar cookies. Pleasantly chewy if not baked too long with a nice spicy scent. The warm spices in these are perfect for this time of year and would make a great addition to a Christmas cookie tray. They also make a great addition to a cup of coffee or tea. I ate enough… I should know. The only thing I will do differently when I make these again would be to use more of each spice in them.

Chewy Chai Spiced Sugar Cookies

  • 2 3/4 cups flour
  • 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
  • 3/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I used more like 2)
  • 1/4 sugar mixed with 1 teaspoon cinnamon and a couple of dashes of cardamom in a small bowl)
  1. Mix first 8 ingredients in a medium bowl. Set aside while you mix the wet ingredients.
  2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and creamy. Beat in the eggs and the vanilla.
  3. Gradually add the flour mixture, using either low speed on your mixer (if you like cleaning up a fine flour coating from every surface in your kitchen) or a wooden spoon. Make sure it’s well mixed.
  4. Transfer to a smaller container ( a 4 cup measuring cup works well) and refrigerate for about 2 hours.
  5. Preheat your oven to 400. Shape the dough into small balls. Roll in the small bowl of sugar/cinnamon mixture. Place the balls 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
  6. Bake at 400 for about 6 to 8 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on the cookie sheet for one minute then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling. Well, those that you don’t eat as you pull them off the cookie sheet anyway.

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8 thoughts on “Annoyance, Thy Name Is Redundancy

  1. I have those same pet peeves…plus those seemingly intellectuals who can’t use I and me properly. I could go on and on. But I’ll stop and let you know I love these cookies…and your new name for them 🙂

  2. I am an over user of parenthesis and I really have to watch myself when blogging or I will begin every paragraph with “And,”But,” “So,” or my biggest misuse of all: “And so…” (I once read that it was allowable to use a conjunction at the beginning of a sentence IF it was followed by a comma. So, I went crazy!)

    I love Chai and have made cookies before by busting open a tea bag. I like this take!

    • Hi Debra! 🙂

      I’ve seen the ones using tea in them and I haven’t been able to make myself brave enough to try them yet. Knowing you have however may be enough to make me try them!

  3. I have this belief that everyone in the universe has a twin. I used to think that my twin was Kim B. from Cravings of a Lunatic, but then I learned that she hates pumpkin, so all bets were off. Due to your infatuation with the ellipsis and with all things pumpkin, it’s quite possible that YOU are my twin. My blog is chock full of pumpkin recipes…and ellipses because…well, they’re DANDY! Congratulations, your twin is whacko!

    • Now that cracks me up cause Kim and I have been twins for like a year now. This must mean that in reality we are all triplets… she just has a major birth defect with that pumpkin issue hehehe. 😛

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