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If you look forward to that first glass of eggnog every holiday season, these cookies are for you! Eggnog cookies are soft and cakey and filled with the flavors of eggnog. Topped with an eggnog icing and sprinkle of nutmeg, these holiday cookies are bound to be your new favorite!
What are some of your favorite holiday cookies?
Peanut butter blossoms are always a must around here. I have friends who can’t get through a holiday season without gingerbread cookies or frosted ginger cookies, and others who go wild for snowball cookies.
This is the year that eggnog cookies get added to the holiday-must list. These sweet cookies are soft and cakey with just a bit of chewiness to them and could not be more delicious.
WHAT ARE EGGNOG COOKIES?
People who love eggnog really love eggnog. I have friends who wait all year long for that first sip of eggnog during the holiday season.
I’m not really a fan of drinking eggnog thanks to the texture, but I do love the flavor of eggnog in baked goods.
Luckily, I can whip up a batch of these eggnog cookies to enjoy that nutmeg-forward flavor in cookie form.
I spent a lot of time researching before I made these cookies. I knew that if I was going to make a batch of eggnog cookies, they needed to have real eggnog in them.
A lot of recipes I saw only had a small amount of eggnog in the dough. In addition to making sure mine had a full cup of eggnog, I decided to complement the eggnog with ingredients like brown sugar and nutmeg to really round out the flavors.
These cookies are soft and a bit cakey (similar to iced pumpkin cookies) and are topped with a simple eggnog icing and a sprinkle of nutmeg. They are simple yet elegant, and have been a big hit with the eggnog lovers in my life!
HOW TO MAKE EGGNOG COOKIES
These eggnog cookies are a pretty simple drop cookie. No rolling or cutting, so they’re a nice balance to some of the more labor-intensive holiday cookies you might have on your list.
What kind of eggnog should you use?
I wanted my eggnog cookies to be kid friendly, so I used a nonalcoholic eggnog that I bought at the grocery store.
You can usually find eggnog in the dairy section starting in early November.
Keep in mind that I used a traditional eggnog, not a flavored eggnog.
If you are planning to feed these to a group of adults, you can go the boozy route and use a spiked eggnog. Keep in mind that most of the alcohol will bake off from the cookies themselves (leaving just the flavor behind), but that the icing will retain the alcohol since it is not cooked.
If you need this recipe to be dairy free, try using my friend Susannah’s dairy-free eggnog. Make sure to use vegan butter as well if you go this route to ensure the recipe is entirely dairy free.
What kind of nutmeg should you use?
Nutmeg is one of the main flavors in eggnog, so it’s a pretty important part of this recipe.
Because of this, you will want to use really fresh nutmeg. I always recommend buying whole nutmeg and grating it yourself as you need it using a microplane.
Store whole nutmeg in a jar in your pantry pretty much indefinitely.
If you buy pre-ground nutmeg at the store, the flavor is just not the same, even if you use it right away. You’ll notice a much better nutmeg flavor if you grate it yourself.
Making this recipe
Start by whisking together the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt. Set this aside for now.
Using a mixer, beat the brown sugar and granulated sugar with the butter until light and fluffy. This will take about 3 minutes.
Add in the eggnog, egg yolks, and vanilla extract. Beat until the mixture is smooth, then gradually add in the dry ingredients until the dough is just combined.
This dough is pretty soft and sticky, so cover it and refrigerate it for at least 1 hour before proceeding with the recipe.
When you’re ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 300°F. I know this is low for a cookie recipe, but I promise it’s correct! These cookies bake low and slow.
Use a medium cookie scoop to scoop the dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets, then bake for about 20-25 minutes. You want the edges to just be golden.
Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before moving them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Once the cookies have cooled, beat together the icing ingredients. Spread the icing on the cookies and sprinkle the tops with more nutmeg or even some sparkling sugar while the icing is still wet.
STORAGE TIPS
If you are planning to eat these cookies within a day, they are fine to leave out at room temperature.
If you need to store the cookies, I recommend storing them in the fridge due to the eggnog in the icing.
Place them in an airtight container with pieces of parchment or wax paper between the layers of cookies and keep them in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
You can also freeze the cookie dough to bake some of the cookies later! Simply follow my instructions for how to freeze cookie dough.
Make these eggnog cookies for an eggnog fanatic in your life. They’ll be so happy that you did.
Eggnog Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup lightly packed brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¾ cup unsalted butter softened
- ¾ cup eggnog
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the icing:
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter room temperature
- 2 cups powdered sugar sifted
- ¼ cup eggnog
- sparkling sugar or extra nutmeg for sprinkling optional
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.
- Beat sugars and butter together in a large bowl with an electric mixer or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy. Add eggnog, egg yolks, and vanilla; beat at medium speed until smooth. Gradually beat in flour mixture at low speed until just combined.
- Cover dough and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 300°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
- Use a medium cookie scoop to portion the dough 2 inches apart onto the prepared baking sheets.
- Bake in the preheated oven until edges are just golden, about 20-25 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet briefly before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Once the cookies have cooled completely, prepare the icing.
- Add the butter, powdered sugar, and eggnog to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl with an electric mixer. Beat on low speed until combined, then increase speed to high and mix for 2-3 minutes.
- Spread icing onto cookies. If desired, sprinkle with sparkling coarse sugar or additional nutmeg while the icing is still wet.
Video
Notes
- Make sure you know how to measure flour correctly before starting.
- Forgot to set out your butter ahead of time? Learn how to soften butter quickly.
- Ran out of brown sugar? Make a simple brown sugar substitute to use instead. Your brown sugar hardened? Learn how to soften brown sugar.
- Ran out of powdered sugar? Learn how to make powdered sugar for this recipe.
- Store unbaked cookie dough in the freezer to bake later using my tutorial on how to freeze cookie dough.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I’m super excited to make these! It’s hard finding an eggnog recipe that actually uses eggnog! I’m going to substitute the granulated and brown sugar for correlating erythritol & monk fruit alternatives because we are a sugar-free household.
I will let you know how they turn out!
Thanks for stopping by and commenting Emily! Look forward to hearing how they turn out for you!
Jamie
To think eggnog couldn’t get any better oh yummiest I can not wait to make these,I love eggnog so does hubby eggnog was hard to find last year but readily available this year,wish I was in your kitchen to be the sample gal,I always thought of making eggnog cookies and you did yeah.
Merry Christmas
Thanks so much for taking the time to comment, Leslie! Happy baking!
Do you have a recipe for eggnog muffins or cake using plenty of eggnog?
Hi Judy – I don’t have a recipe for either of those yet, but I’ll put them on the list for next year! Thanks for stopping by and commenting! Happy baking –
Jamie