In a 2019 YouTube video, Vice President Kamala Harris, then a U.S. senator, baked cookies in the kitchen of an Iowa constituent. She deftly cracks eggs with one hand and recalls how much she loved sneaking spoonfuls of raw cookie dough from the bowl as a child. “That’s the beginning of any good cookie recipe,” she said as she stirred in the cream and sugar. Vice President Harris often uses cooking to connect with voters, so much so that there’s now an entire website dedicated to her recipes and others she inspired.
On Kamala’s Recipes website, you can find recipes for the Blue Wave Tuna Melt she once made on Instagram Live, the tub kale dish she talked about at a Georgia rally earlier this year, and the turkey she shared with reporters brine.
In addition to the cookies she made on YouTube in 2019, Kamala’s Recipes also released Cat Lady Chai cookies. (Full recipe ahead.) Cra Lady Chai cookies are essentially ice-sugar cookies, but instead of regular vanilla, the icing is infused with chai spice, the main ingredient in chai tea, in a nod to the presidential candidate’s South Asian heritage. The cookies also include eggnog, which was inspired by Taylor Swift’s milk tea sugar cookie recipe, which she used in an Instagram post in 2020 with Biden-Harris. Harris’ logo on her cookies to show support for the Democratic candidate.
As you may have guessed, the name Cat Lady Chai Cookies is a reference to J.D. Vance’s 2021 comments about Harris and the Democratic Party consisting of “cat ladies without kids,” something conservatives keep repeating a topic. Swift recaptured the brand this year when she signed Harris to a highly-anticipated endorsement deal with “Childless Cat Lady.” Harris later addressed the broader topic on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast, saying, “Family comes in many forms, and I think all of us are increasingly understanding that this is not the 1950s anymore.” Since this isn’t the 1950s, it’s safe to say that sugar cookies can have chai flavoring, too.
While the flavor profile of Cat Lady Chai cookies may challenge traditional sugar cookies, if you already like chai and eggnog, they’re basically catnip. The cookie dough itself is just like any other sugar cookie in that it combines butter with sugar, eggs, powdered sugar, flour, and vanilla. The milk tea spices and eggnog are not added until later as they are added to the frosting along with the powdered sugar, more vanilla and milk.
It’s worth noting that these cookies are not a quick recipe, so if you plan on making them at the next presidential debate or watching the election results, keep in mind that they require patience. You have to let the dough sit in the refrigerator for an hour, or in the freezer for at least 15 minutes, otherwise they will spread too much in the oven. Then, allow time to shape, coat with icing, and allow the cookies to cool well after removing them from the oven to prevent the icing from melting when spreading or drizzling on top.
Although the cooking process is a bit lengthy, these Cat Lady Chai Cookies are well worth it. Despite the vegetable oil content, they have a rich, buttery flavor without being greasy, and have a soft, chewy texture. The icing adds a layer of warm spice that complements the sweetness, and there’s plenty to share. The recipe on the website claims to make a dozen cookies, but if you use the recommended serving size of one tablespoon per cookie, you’ll actually get 32.
If you want to try these Cat Lady Chai Cookies for yourself, read on for step-by-step photos and the full recipe.
Kalea Martín writes primarily about food and cooking for PS, but as a former figure skater and hockey player, she also covers fitness. Before becoming a lifestyle writer, Kalea covered hotels, restaurants and travel for Milan-based Luxos magazine and worked in marketing at HarperCollins Publishers.
