Soft Eggnog Sugar Cookies with Whipped Eggnog Frosting
I feel I should dedicate all eggnog recipes (you know the two of them I now have on my site) to my husband, Brian. He loves eggnog. Oh my gosh, he loves it. And so do 2/3 of our children.
We are a house divided, you see, when it comes to drinking the stuff. Our fridge is stocked with it throughout December because Brian buys it.
In fact, it took me a few years to figure out why he begged to do the grocery shopping for about four weeks out of the year. Apparently it’s easier to sneak the carton of eggynoggy in the house if it’s buried in a bazillion other grocery bags.
I’m betting that most you are also divided on the issue of eggnog. Am I right?
For those of you who love eggnog, take heed. These cookies are an eggnog lover’s dream come true. And to be perfectly honest, coming from an apathetic view of eggnog, I’ll concede these cookies are quite tasty.
I ate one and thought “mmm, pretty darn good” while the 66% of my household that love eggnog ate five, each, and were giving each other high fives and doing heel kicks declaring them the best cookies ever. Eggnog lovers. They’re a weird sort.
The cookie itself is magically soft and perfectly, sweetly flavored with eggnog, nutmeg and cinnamon (and a beautiful hint of rum extract) while the frosting is ethereally light and creamy amplifying the eggnog flavor even more.
Tis the season for eggnog. I think you should find an eggnog lover and make their life complete today with these cookies. They’ll probably love you forever (so seek wisely).
One Year Ago: Chocolate Pudding Pretzel Pie
Two Years Ago: Homemade Eggnog
Three Years Ago: Butternut Squash Stuffed Shells with Sage Browned Butter
Yield:
2 dozen cookies
Prep Time:
20 minutes
Cook Time:
13 minutes
Total Time:
33 minutes
Ingredients
Cookies:
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2 1/2 cups (12.5 ounces) all-purpose flour
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2 teaspoons baking powder
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1/2 teaspoon salt
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1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
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1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
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3/4 cup butter (12 tablespoons, 1 1/2 sticks), softened to room temperature
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1/2 cup (3.75 ounces) granulated sugar
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1/2 cup (3.75 ounces) lightly packed brown sugar
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2 large egg yolks (1.25 ounces)
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1 teaspoon vanilla extract
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1/2 teaspoon rum extract
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1/2 cup eggnog (see note)
Frosting:
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6 tablespoons butter, softened to room temperature
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3 tablespoons eggnog
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1/4 teaspoon rum extract
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1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
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2 cups (8 ounces) powdered sugar
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Nutmeg for sprinkling (see note)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, silpat liners or grease with cooking spray. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whip the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar together with an electric mixer (handheld or stand) until light and creamy, one minute or so. Add the egg yolks and mix until combined. Add the vanilla, rum extract and eggnog and mix on low speed (it will splash a bit) until just combined.
- Add the dry ingredients and mix again until just combined. Using a cookie scoop or two spoons (the dough will be very soft), scoop the dough into 1-2 tablespoon-sized mounds (I use a #40 cookie scoop) and place a couple inches apart on the baking sheets.
- Bake the cookies for 12-13 minutes. They shouldn't be browned on the sides at all if you want them to stay really soft; they'll have flattened into a nice cookie shape and will be just slightly puffed.
- Let the cookies rest on the baking sheets out of the oven for a couple minutes before removing them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- For the frosting, whip the butter until light and fluffy, 1-2 minutes. Add the eggnog, vanilla extract and rum extract. Mix to combine (again, be aware it might splash a bit). Add the powdered sugar and whip the frosting until very light and creamy, 2-3 minutes. Add additional eggnog as needed if you want to thin the frosting a bit.
- When the cookies are cool, spread frosting evenly on each cookie. Dust lightly with nutmeg.
Notes
I haven't tried this recipe using light eggnog. Also, for the nutmeg, fresh nutmeg (grated on a rasp grater) will give the best nutmeg flavor but you can also use nutmeg from a spice jar - dust a little less liberally with nutmeg if using the kind from a jar.
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Recipe Source: adapted from this recipe at Cooking Classy (cut down the frosting a bit, added weights, increased the flour just a tad so the cookies didn’t spread, and a few other minor changes)
We made these cookies over Christmas and found them good. Glad we made them, wouldn’t make them again given how many new tantalizing recipes there are to discover. However, we threw the leftovers, frosted, into the freezer and just pulled them out tonight. They are AMAZING from the freezer. Soft, chewy and the flavors have melded beautifully. The icing is actually great too. My daughter suggested we not eat them fresh next time, but just freeze them all.
That’s great to know!
Do you think you could use homemade eggnog in place of the store bought stuff in this recipe or would the consistency be too thin??
Sorry – just read your note that you hadn’t tried it with any lighter eggnog! Ignore my comment!
Made these for my company bake-off AND for my family Christmas dessert. They were fantastic!! But they isn’t flatten out almost at all in the oven, so I squished them while they were still warm (like with your peanut butter cookies); they were PERFECT. Soft and slightly chewy and i thought the eggnog flavor was awesome. New fave holiday treat.
Thanks for the awesome recipe!! These were a huge hit at all my holiday parties. My mom and sister said these cookies are now the new holiday tradition from me and I must make them every year!
Mel ~ I would like to make these for Christmas Eve/Christmas which is still a few days away. How long do these stay fresh and can you freeze them?
You could definitely freeze the cookie part and then frost them when ready to give away (once the cookies have been defrosted).
It’s very apparent what you are referring to but you forgot to say 3/4 cup “butter” above. Just thought you would like to know. These do look delicious and I am making them tonight. Thanks for a recipe featuring eggnog.
Thanks for the catch, Robyn!
Great cookie texture and frosting is fabulous! However, being an eggnog LOVER, I found the flavor lacking. I added more freshly ground nutmeg to the batter and while that was a good addition, it still didn’t bring out the eggnog flavor (I tested that aspect on my book club and they were in agreement). I will add however, that in making numerous eggnog cookie recipes over the years, I find this to be a common problem. Thus I will stick to eggnog out of the carton-Southern Comfort brand ranking at the top of my list!
In college my friend and I (both eggnog lovers) decided to use it as our “secret ingredient” in chocolate chip cookies. NOT a success. Thank you for a delicious and legitimate way to break out the Good Stuff in my baking. 🙂
Haha, this made me laugh, Anne. Way to be adventurous!
We are a house divided too. Have you ever had Sprite/7UP in it? It’s not my thing, but some people like it. I would rather indulge in other things than eggnog, but I can see why people like it I guess.
Ah, yes! My dad always put sprite in it. We don’t do that around here but Brian usually puts milk in the kids – I think so it means more of the 100% stuff for him. 🙂
These cookies look delicious! I love egg nog, so I’ll be needing a batch of these.
Paige
http://thehappyflammily.com
I just … don’t understand why anyone wouldn’t like (love!) eggnog. It’s like a license to drink custard.
These look so soft and perfect 🙂 I’ve been wanting to make some eggnog-flavored treats this season!
Dani | http://www.styledvariety.com
Hm Mel, sketchy, very sketchy. However, seeing as how you’ve never let me down and I just whipped up a batch of Fresh Cranberry Salsa (thanks very much!) I’ll trust you and give ’em a try.
Can’t wait to make these! We are a house divided too. I love eggnog! I am now sulking that we have so much snow that I can’t get to the store for the eggnog to make these : (( Sad thing is, I almost bought some on Saturday, but decided to wait for the calories…Maybe tomorrow!
Your homemade eggnog recipe on the site is my favorite! I am looking forward to making a batch next week. These cookies would be the perfect accompaniment!
These look dreamy, Mel! Question: did you use freshly grated nutmeg in the cookie dough or ground nutmeg from a spice jar?
Nancy – I used ground nutmeg from the jar in the dough (because I was running low on fresh nutmeg) and fresh nutmeg on top. 🙂
My husband likes it with 7-up or Sprite too. Weirdo. 😉 I like it occasionally mixed half & half with milk. But I will make these cookies!