Best Ever Vanilla Chai Powder Mix
This Vanilla Chai Powder Mix is the perfect little luxury to keep in your pantry for those mornings when you want something a bit more special than a plain cup of coffee. It’s got all those warm, cozy spices like ginger and cardamom that make it taste just like a fancy coffee shop treat, but for a fraction of the cost!
One of The Best Discoveries I’ve Ever Made!
A few months back, I met a friend in a local coffee shop for a little chat, and when I got there, she had ordered me their Spiced Vanilla Chai. I had never had this stuff before, and one sip had me leaping over the moon; it was so good! I was really surprised that it wasn’t coffee because it has such body and depth of flavor. It was like a perfectly baked ginger cookie dipped into perfectly made coffee.
However, I don’t drink sugar for a multitude of reasons (hence my sugar-free Skinny Pumpkin Spice Latte), so when the lady behind the counter told me she couldn’t make it sugar-free, I was pretty disappointed. Good thing I don’t give up too easily! The great thing about this recipe is that I could easily make it sugar-free (or significantly lower in sugar), and that is what I’m bringing you today.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Powdered milk
- Ideal Sweetener*
- Instant unsweetened tea
- Sugar Free French Vanilla Creamer
- Non-dairy coffee creamer
- Ginger
- Allspice
- Cloves
- Nutmeg
- White Pepper
- Cinnamon
- Cardamom*
*You can use regular sugar or Splenda in place of the Ideal Sweetener. I found Ideal at Kroger’s packaged under their own label, but with “Ideal” listed on the front.
Go for the cheap here wherever you can. I know some folks really get a thrill out of spending $20 plus on a little bottle of spices, and if you’re in that camp, knock yourself out. I cruise the store brands and sale bins for mine. Nothing but the cheapest for my family! ~grins~
*Now this cardamom is going to cost a fortune. I spent around ten dollars for my bottle. However, you’ll have enough of it to make several batches. I have no idea how many times I’ve made this and I’m still using the same bottle.
Step 1: Place Your Ingredients Into a Food Processor
Now this is where you decide if you like stronger or weaker beverages. If you prefer stronger flavors, use heaping measurements with your spices. I use heaping teaspoons, rather than teaspoons. If you prefer your flavors a little milder, use the exact measurements listed in the recipe.
Once you have all ingredients in your food processor, put the lid on that puppy and get ready to make some mix!
Step 2: Making Your Vanilla Chai Powder Mix
To make your chai, simply add two heaping tablespoons of mix to 8 ounces of hot water or milk and stir (I use hot water).
If you don’t have a food processor, you can also use a blender, but you may need to make it in smaller batches to have room. Just put your tea, spices, and powdered milk in first and mix those up really well, then you can stir the rest in by hand.
This is what it will look like when done.
Storing Your Vanilla Chai Powder Mix
Now, just store this in an airtight container to keep fresh. I like to put mine in little 8-ounce canning jars so I can have one or two to give away to friends.
In the mood for more traditional Southern sweets? How about some Old-Fashioned Frog Eye Salad? YUM! Now that we’ve done all that mental cooking, it’s time to sit down with a nice hot drink….
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Non Fat Dry Milk Powder
- 1 Cup Powdered Non Dairy Creamer Coffee Mate
- 1 Cup Sugar Free French Vanilla Powdered Non Dairy Creamer
- 2-1/2 Cups Ideal Sweetener Splenda, or Sugar
- 1-1/2 Cups Unsweetened Instant Tea can use Decaf
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon cardamom
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
Instructions
- Place all ingredients into a food processor or large blender. Blend until it is a fine powder. Store in airtight container.
- To make Vanilla Chai, add two to three tablespoons of mix to 8 ounces of hot water or milk (I use hot water).
Makes about 6 cups of mix. For more information about substitutions and ingredients, please see the recipe post.
Nutrition
Christy you did it again! This is beyond delicious. I made it exactly by your recipe. It is PERFECT! I am so happy to have something truly sugar free and truly delicious to give to my diabetic friends. Thank you so much for this recipe.
Merry Christmas to you and yours.
P.S. My little food processor won’t hold all the ingredients at one time so I mixed everything in a bowl then processed it in small batches. I put the blended mix into another bowl and stirred it all together just to be sure the spices were dispersed properly. Worked like a charm.
I am so glad you liked it Sylvia!! I love the way you put it all together, great thinking and thank you so much for sharing so that others who may only have a small food processor can follow your lead!!
Just made it to take with me to work tonight. It is soooo delicious! Even though I did not add Cardamon(too expensive) and Allspice. I thought I had the allspice, but it turns out I didn’t. Next time I make this, because there will be a next time, I will add the extra spices. It’s still good even without them.
HI Christy, I asked on facebook if regular tea powdered up would work, you didn’t think so, because finding instant tea that isn’t sweet iced tea mix is difficult, I am not a fan favourite of sweet tea of anykind. However that isn’t why I am posting this time, try to find a store that sells middle eastern, or Indian foods and spices, cardamom is used in both foods, I get cardamom by the bag full, and all I have to do is take the dried shell off, although you can grind that up too, and grind the seeds, its a bit hard to do in a regular spice grinder, but if you have a mortar and pestle its simple, its much better fresh ground as it does loose its flavour in the jar. I grind some every year at Xmas for cookies etc, and use up the leftovers over the next few months, its super deluxe in blueberry pie, which isn’t real highbush blueberries but low growing berries a lot call huckleberries, although my mother said they weren’t real huckle berries, due to the shape, they are round like blueberries and the huckle berries are long, they have very close flavours so we just picked all of them and called them blueberries or huckleberries depending on which we had the most of!
Christi one of the nurses at the VA Clinic asked me if this would taste as good with the sugar free chocolate coffee creamer???? She loves it just the way it is but shes a chocoholic lol 🙂
Dear Christy,
My husband volunteers at the VA Clinic 3 days a week at Ft Rucker and at least once a week I try to make a treat of some kind for the Drs, Nurses and other staff that work there. I sent a quart jar of your Vanilla Chai Tea last week and it was such a big hit that they are asking for more, so I promised them a jar once a month 🙂 My husband also has cancer and goes to the Cancer Center in Enterprise daily for radiation treatments. This morning I left the staff there a quart jar of your Vanilla Chai also. All of these people not only work so hard but give so much of themselves, its amazing how appreciative they are for homemade treats like this that they dont have time to make for themselves. Thank YOU Christy for sharing your recipes with us 🙂 You make a bad day good for so many people and you dont even know it 🙂
How sweet of you Patti!! Thank you for sharing my Chai mix and your heart. I will be praying for you, your husband and his team of doctors, nurses and staff!! I hope that you have a blessed Thanksgiving!
Christi, my husband tells everyone that this Chai tastes like Christmas in your mouth. He has a huge mug of it everyday after he wakes up from his nap 🙂
Made this weekend, and sipping on a cup as we “speak”. DELICIOUS! I don’t need the sugar either, and this recipe is PERFECT. Plenty sweet and gives my local “5-Bucks” a run for their money! I will be packaging in a mason jar and including in my neighbor gift baskets this Christmas. Thanks Christy! 🙂
Thanks for posting this recipe, I gathered everything up and made it today. I made it without sugar so that I can share it with a friend of mine who is diabetic and can add her sweetener to it. I used only 2 tsp mix per 8 ounce cup of hot water and added 1 tsp of sugar and I like this. Thanks again for the wonderful recipe.