Eggnog Cookies

Eggnog Cookies

By Irvin Lin

Because of the addition of eggnog, this dough is pretty moist. Make sure to wet your hands when you roll the dough out into balls. It will keep the dough from sticking to your hands. It will also slightly dissolve the sugar you are rolling the cookie dough balls in, creating more of a crunchy “glaze” like effect on the cookie. I use rum extract which has a punchier rum flavor than rum itself when baking as well as freshly grated nutmeg on top to give it that holiday cheer. If you don’t have either, just omit the rum (or use the same amount of actual rum) and use ground nutmeg in the jar. But the freshly grated stuff really is great! Take note this cookie bakes at 300˚F for a longer period of time.

Adapted from Holiday Cookies by the editors of the Chicago Tribune (an awesome book that I featured in Day 3 of my Holiday Cookbook Roundup).

Ingredients
Cookie Dough
3/4 cup (170 g or 1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup (200 g) white granulated sugar
1/4 cup (55 g) dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon rum extract
2 large egg yolks
2 1/4 cups (315 g) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup eggnog

To assemble
about 3/4 cup white granulated sugar
Fresh grated nutmeg (about one whole nutmeg or 2 teaspoon ground nutmeg)

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 300˚F. Line a baking sheet with a silpat or piece of parchment paper.

2. Place the butter, both sugars, nutmeg, baking powder, salt, vanilla and rum extract all in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Cream together until the butter starts to stick to the side of the bowl and looks uniform sandy brown in color. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, beating to make sure the first one is incorporated before adding the next one.

3. Add the flour, and on the slowest speed start to mix together until the butter starts to incorporate the flour. The dough should look a bit pebbly and dry. Drizzle the eggnog into the bowl while it is on slow speed. Once all the eggnog is added, increase speed to medium and beat until completely incorporated. The dough should be fairly moist.

4. Place the white sugar for coating the cookie in a small bowl. Fill another bowl with a water to wet your hands. Wet your hands and scoop out tablespoons of the dough and roll into 1” round balls, about the size of a small walnut. Roll the ball in the sugar, then place on the baking sheet. Repeat, setting the cookies about 2 inches apart. Repeat until the baking sheet is filled. Dry your hands with a paper towel and then, using the palm of your hands, flatten the balls so they are small disks on the baking sheet. Sprinkle lightly with the fresh grated nutmeg. Bake in the oven for 20-23 minutes or until the edges start to get golden brown. Let cool on the baking sheet for five minutes before moving to a wire cooling rack.

Makes 60 cookies.