It was cold and rainy today. The leaves have fallen off of the trees and the cold weather has come on with a vengeance. As soon as the weather starts turning, I start thinking of all the things that I love about autumn. The crisp leaves, the cool air, my cozy slippers, flannel sheets, and warm drinks.
My favorite warm drink is chai tea. The drink mixes are expensive, but mixing up a batch of this yourself can help to keep your pockets nice and warm with a little extra money. Most of the spices, dry creamer, and dry milk are already stocked in my pantry. The only additions I usually have to run out and get is the instant tea and powdered vanilla creamer.
To make the batch more smooth, instead of gritty, I process everything through my blender. I first mix all of the white ingredients in my blender (milk, sugar, creamer, vanilla creamer). I dump those in a plastic container and then I mix up all the brown ingredients (tea and spices). I pour this on top in the plastic container, seal the lid and give it a good shaking to incorporate or mix it up with a spoon. If you have a large food processor, you may be able to process it all together, but if you have a blender it is best to do this in divided batches.
Not only is this drink mix wonderful for yourself, but mixing up a batch of this and tucking some of it in a mug would be a wonderful gift to give to someone special in your life.
I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do!
Homemade Vanilla Chai Tea Mix
1 cup nonfat dry milk powder
1 cup powdered non-dairy creamer
1 cup French vanilla powdered non-dairy creamer
2 ½ cups white sugar
1 ½ cups unsweetened instant tea
2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp allspice
¼ tsp white pepper
Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend until it is a fine powder. Add two-three tablespoons of mix to 8 ounces of hot water or milk.
What is your favorite autumn/winter drink? Do you have any recipes to share for drink mixes?
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30 Responses to “Homemade Vanilla Chai Tea”
Thank you, Amy! I have a couple of the boxes from using a starbucks gift card but really would love to try making it on my own. It is so good on a cool afternoon. And I love making chai tea lattes when I have company over. No one ever refuses one
I too love Chai. I’m going to have to try this! I make vanilla coffee a lot from the hillbilly housewife website.
This looks great! I love Panera’s but will rarely ever pay for one. Have to try this.
Looks great!! Will have to give this a try.
Yum yum! I already know the perfect person to give a batch to!
I am not a coffee drinker but I do love chai tea. I’m definitely mixing up a batch of this. Thanks for sharing.
Amy, Can I ask if this is similar to Tastefully Simple’s On My Chai? I love that stuff and have found a less expensive version, but I would be THRILLED to make it myself! The drink I am looking for is like a creamy, spiced hot chocolate. Thanks for letting me know!
Michelle- I have only had that chai once, but to the best of my recollection, it is VERY similar. This is very creamy since it has the creamer, milk, and vanilla creamer. I liked the Tastefully Simple, but I think this rivals the taste of that quite well. Let me know if you try it!!
I am about to have mine iced this morning, but as it is getting chillier I will be referring to this! Thank you!
P.S.
So, are we ever going to manage a get together!?
Steph
My mother-in-law is a big fan of chai tea. I’ll be passing this recipe on to her. Thanks for sharing!
oh yummy! Can’t wait to make.
As for our fav drink…my hubbie and I sit down almost every night to a cup of Bengel Spice Tea from Celestial Seasonings. Absolutely divine!
This sounds great and would be a perfect gift for the tea drinkers in my family! Thanks for the tip.
I love to take a small bag of red hots and fill a coffee filter with them. Then I’ll top them with a scoop of instant lemonade then run the coffee maker. It’s so delicious and super easy!
That looks yummy – I love Chai Tea!
This looks delicious! My favorite cold weather drink is Spiced Tea!
2 cups Tang
1/2 cup powdered Lemonade
1/2 cup instant Tea
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp cinnamon
(but I use one cup instant lemon-flavored tea and leave out the lemonade)
This is delicious and also a great mix for sharing!
This sounds very similar to a recipe I have been using for years from allrecipes.com, and I LOVE it! I am going to make up batches to give as Chrismtas gifts this year!
Oh My Goodness! This is so good. I made the mix with my daughter this afternoon and it is so good. I’ve been looking for a chai mix recipe for a while now, but couldn’t find on that I like. This is wonderful! I think I might make some for Christmas gifts this year!
I love chai tea too. I have become a fan of celestial seasonings decaf chai. I got this for free after coupon at my grocery store. It is really nice and even better than coffee house quality. I recommend it.
Junglewife- I did get it from allrecipes and then used the comments and feedback to add the other various spices that got mixed in there. It is sooo good!
Mandy- I am so glad that you guys liked it and even like it enough to maybe give it for gifts too. I think it is just great for entertaining. My mom expects it when she comes over in the fall & winter- it has become our drink
Thanks for giving it a try!
Stef- That drink sound sooo good. How in the world did you come up with that winning combination? I love it!
Yet again another great reciepe. I was at Wal-Mart @ 5:30 this morning to get the fixings for this tea. When I got home, I made it and brought it to school (a small container) with my hot oatmeal. Brad thought I was crazy blending @ 6:30. But now that I have had time to breathe and take a bite of the oatmeal and a sip of tea, OMG it was so worth it. I agree that I may put this in jars for Christmas gifts. THANKS!!!!
Hugs
April
I have been trying to come up with some sort of good, dry drink mix that I could give out at Christmas that wasnt hot chocolate and i think you posted it! This tea sounds great and I am going to put some of it in jars and give it as gifts to some of my favorite tea drinkers!! Thanks!!!
Hi! Thanks for this recipe. My husband LOVES chai tea and we’ve had a hard time finding a mix that is just right. I made him a batch of this for Christmas and he told me it was “perfect” and now he never wants to buy another cup of Chai cause it won’t measure up!
-Christen
This is amazing! We just whipped up a batch and it is delicious. The cardamom was a little too pricey for our budget so we omitted it (& the white pepper) & it is still realy good. So don't let the price of the cardamom keep you from trying this recipe.
YUM! I’ve been wanting a recipe to make this as I got some homemade as a gift last year and wanted to know how to make a batch myself! Thanks so much!
I think I will try making this without the creamer or the milk powder and just add to the instructions to mix with your favorite hot milk, since I have family that is allergic to dairy and even my mom can't take the non dairy creamer, but she could mix this with hot soy or rice milk and it would be a wonderful treat! thanks for the recipe!!
Just want to tell you I did the mixing and blending and pouring of hot water yesterday. I was scared that with about 7 cups of this mix I wasn’t going to like it. It rated an A on my books! Definitely a challenger for the Oregon Chai packets that cost so much! Thanks for posting this!
I am so glad it was a hit, Tina!! I know that it can be nerve-wracking to buy that much in ingredients or make a batch of that size. I am so glad you trusted me
Amy, Do you know how many calories is in this recipe? Per 8oz cup? I am counting calories and would LOVE to make this at home but I have to know how much is in it. Thanks!
Approximately 100 calories per serving and 1.9 grams of fat. I hope that helps!!
What do you mean by instant tea? Store bought powder for making iced tea? Or, do you mean loose tea (ie. tea leaves without the tea bag)? Sorry, we don’t call anything here instant tea. Dropping a tea bag into a teapot of boiled water and letting it steep is our “instant”.
JMK- Instant tea is a powdered tea like instant coffee, used for making instant iced tea. It doesn’t come in a tea bag, just a loose powder. Hope that helps!