Eggnog cookies are festive, sweet cookies that melt in your mouth. They are soft and fluffy that tastes incredibly like eggnog and drizzled with a sweet eggnog glaze. They’ll be the most popular treat at the Christmas cookie exchange!
My heart jumps for joy every time I see eggnog in the grocery store this time of year. That means it’s officially Christmas season!
My husband’s face light up the first time I bring home this delicious holiday drink. It’s not just for drinking in my house though, I put it in EVERYTHING! It makes its way into pancakes, French Toast, cakes, and many other desserts.
One of my favorite things to make with eggnog is a batch of these cookies. Kids wait very impatiently for the oven to ding and the cookies to cool. Even if you don’t love the eggnog itself, you’re going to LOVE these cookies.
How to Make Soft Eggnog Cookies
Prepare the butter and eggs. Let the butter and eggs adjust to room temperature for about 45 minutes before you begin whipping up this recipe.
Separate the yolks. Once the eggs are at room temp, separate the yolks from the whites. (You can discard the whites, or I like to save it and make egg white omelet or use in another recipe. Just make sure to cover, refrigerate, and use within a day.)
Mix the butter and sugar. Your butter should be soft at this point, making this step easy. In an electronic mixer, beat these ingredients together on medium-high speed. After a while, scrape the bowl and beat for an additional minute, making sure everything is fully mixed.
Add rum extract and egg yolks. Keeping the speed at medium-high, toss in these ingredients and keep mixing until everything is fully incorporated.
Add remaining ingredients. Lower the speed of your mixer and add everything else. The flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and eggnog are going to transform your mixture into the most mouthwatering cookie dough! Make sure you keep beating the dough just until everything is combined.
Scoop cookie dough. Once scooped, gently roll each ball of dough into a ball. Work quickly, placing each ball onto a prepared baking sheet. They’ll need to be about 2 inches apart, so they don’t bake into each other.
Bake and cool the cookies. Let the cookies bake for about 11-13 minutes. Keep an eye on them! Once they’re baked, let them cool for a while on a wire rack before adding the homemade icing.
How to Make Eggnog Icing for Cookies
PRO TIP: Make sure to prepare the icing when cookies are cooled and ready to be drizzled in icing.
Prepare the ingredients. Place the powdered sugar and ground nutmeg in a bowl. Then, warm the eggnog for just a few seconds in the microwave. Once warmed, pour the eggnog into the bowl.
Whisk the mixture. Keep whisking until there are no bumps from the powdered sugar. When the icing is completely smooth, it’s ready to go!
Drizzle the icing. If you have kids, this is the fun part for them! Drizzle the icing over the room temperature cookies. It can be as neat or as messy as you want – the cookies will be delicious no matter what! Enjoy!
Tips For The Best Eggnog Cookies
- Remember to take butter and eggs out of the refrigerator and leave it on the counter to get to room temperature for 30-45 minutes.
- Measure flour right! Make sure you spoon the flour into the measuring cup instead of dunking the cup into the bag! Then, cut the excess at the top with the back of the knife to level. When you dunk the cup, you really pack the flour into the cup.
- Check your baking powder. Make sure that it is not expired! In order for your baking powder to be potent and work properly, you need to use it within 6 months of opening the container.
- Never ice hot or warm cookies! Make sure to let the cookies cool to room temperature before adding eggnog icing.
Storing Instructions
You can store these cookies at room temperature WITHOUT the icing or in the refrigerator.
At room temperature, store them in an air-tight container for about 2 days. (WITHOUT icing)
If you need to store them longer or with icing, place them in the refrigerator. Make sure to keep them in an air-tight container. They should be good for up to 4 days, after that they will be getting stale.
More Eggnog Recipes To Try
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Eggnog Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
Cookies:
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 3/4 cup white granulated sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 2 egg yolks
- 1/2 cup eggnog
- 1 tsp rum extract
Icing:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 2 tbsp eggnog warmed
Instructions
- Take butter and eggs out of the refrigerator and leave it on the counter to get to room temperature for 30-45 minutes.
- When the eggs are at room temperature, separate egg yolks from egg whites. (You can discard egg whites or use it to make an egg-white omelet or something else.)
Prepare cookie dough:
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- Beat butter and sugars together for a couple of minutes in an electric mixer on medium-high speed.
- Scrape sides and bottom of the bowl and beat for another minute.
- Beat in rum extract and egg yolks.
- Lower the speed to low and mix in flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and eggnog.
- Beat just until combined. Turn off the mixer, scrape sides and bottom of the bowl and make sure that all ingredients are mixed evenly.
- Use a cooking scoop (preferably #50) to scoop cookie dough and quickly but gently roll it into a ball.
- Place all rolled cookie dough onto the prepare baking sheet about 2 inches apart.
Baking:
- Bake for 11-13 minutes, depending on the size of the cookie.
- Cool cookies on a wire rack before adding icing.
Icing:
- Place powdered sugar and ground nutmeg into a wide and shallow bowl.
- Warm up eggnog for only a few seconds (until hot but not too hot where it's boiling) in a microwave and mix it into the powdered sugar.
- Keep whisking until the icing in completely smooth.
- Drizzle the icing over cooled cookies.
Notes
- Storing: You can store these cookies at room temperature WITHOUT icing or in the refrigerator. At room temperature, store them in an air-tight container for about 2 days. If you need to store them longer or with icing, place them in the refrigerator. Make sure to keep them in an air-tight container.
- Freezing: You can store them even longer in the freezer. Freeze cooled cookies on the baking sheet for 2 hours and then transfer into a zip-top freezer bag. Get as much air out as you can and seal.
Nutrition
Originally published on Will Cook For Smiles in November 2020.
Aiden says
Yummy!