EGGNOG COOKIES

So, I love Eggnog. My family loves Eggnog.

Growing up, one of the things we had with our breakfast Christmas morning was Fruit Loops cereal with Eggnog on it (diluted with a little milk so as not to get super-sick). When I married, I taught my husband and his family about this tradition. My husband loves it every year just as much as I do.

If you really want to barf now, I'm sorry. ;) I guess there are two kinds of people in this world: people that LOVE Eggnog and those who DO NOT. I'm told.

BUT, maybe this recipe will change your mind...give it a chance.

After Christmas - you can buy Eggnog marked down. It's not expired - they can't sell it if it is. So don't freak out. But it gets marked down because the holiday is over and then they also put reduced price stickers on it. I love this because then I can make my Eggnog recipes without stealing all of the thunder away from Christmas morning breakfast.

Here is one recipe I tried this year and it received rave reviews from everyone - even those who only sort of like Eggnog loved these!

Aren't they lovely and Eggnoggy?

I found this recipe in a Taste of Home recipe book called "Treasury of Christmas Recipes". I adapted this recipe to suit me and my adaptation is what follows. The original can be found on page 240 in the book. I love pretty much anything from Taste of Home - they have such user-friendly recipes that people really eat.

Here is their picture. Cute eh? Now, they made the roll-and-cut-out kind. I prefer the slice-and-bake variety of sugar-type cookies. Unless I'm in a particularly festive mood and want to deal with cookie cutters.

EGGNOG COOKIES
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 T plus 1 t Eggnog (I used 1/4 cup)
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 t salt
1/4 t baking soda
1/4 t ground nutmeg
1/2 - 1 t of rum flavoring (added by me - c'mon it's eggnog!)

GLAZE:
2 cups powdered sugar (I used at least 3 cups so it wasn't so runny)
1/4 t ground nutmeg
4 to 5 T Eggnog
1/2 - 1 t rum flavoring (also added by me)
food coloring or gel paste, optional

MAKE THE COOKIES:
In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Beat in eggs. Stir in the Eggnog and rum flavoring. Combine the flour, salt, baking soda and nutmeg. Add to creamed mixture. Then get out two huge pieces of plastic wrap out and dump 1/2 the dough onto each one. Shape each one into a log, using the plastic wrap to help as you wrap it up.

Freeze the dough in plastic wrap, several hours at least. Till it's very firm. Then unwrap it and slice through it immediately with a sharp knife. Makes the slices easier to cut. (Yes, that is a kitchen towel they are sitting on. I had the plastic-wrapped dough wrapped in the towel and just kept it there to cut out on).

Lay the slices out on your cookie sheet, spacing them out. (I know, my loaf shape looks kinda weird - I could not get it to be a perfectly round roll - the dough was pretty soft - so I guess next time I will visit the freezer every half hour or so and reshape it until it's perfect. Maybe. I kind of like them this way though... they have character)

I love using my new Silpat. It makes me so happy! No greasing or spray needed, no scraping the cookies off -perfect everytime!

Place on a baking sheet (grease it if you do not use a Silpat) and bake at 375 degrees just until it begins to brown.

I cooked them in my convection oven for 7-8 minutes. They just started to get brown on the edges. Barely.

Still very light on top. This makes them very chewy and soft.

Cool for five minutes on pan then remove to wire racks to cool.

While they were cooking and cooling, I worked on the glaze. I HAD to sift my powdered sugar - I hate a lumpy glaze!


MAKE THE GLAZE:
In a mixing bowl, sift powdered sugar to prevent lumps. Add eggnog, nutmeg and rum flavoring. Stir until desired consistency. (add more eggnog or sugar as needed, just a little at at time). Add food coloring here if desired.

There! Look at that smoooooth glaze.

You will want to frost them right after stirring your glaze. If you have to take a break from frosting for a while, just re-stir it right before you frost again. I just used a spoonful of glaze and dropped it on each one. I wanted it to kind of spread by itself so I just spread it imperfectly and let it do it's thing. (You can be more particular and/or fancy if you want - like the cute cutouts in the book's picture). Now - for the "icing on the cake": let them sit and dry until the glaze "glazes over" - you know when it gets that smooth, non-sticky finish - beautiful!

Have I convinced you yet to try them? Well, at least I'm sure the Eggnog lovers will at least try. Enjoy1

Here's the recipe condensed:

EGGNOG COOKIES
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 T plus 1 t Eggnog (I used 1/4 cup)
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 t salt
1/4 t baking soda
1/4 t ground nutmeg
1/2 - 1 t of rum flavoring (added by me - c'mon it's eggnog!)

GLAZE:
2 cups powdered sugar (I used at least 3 cups so it wasn't so runny)
1/4 t ground nutmeg
4 to 5 T Eggnog
1/2 - 1 t rum flavoring (also added by me)
food coloring or gel paste, optional

MAKE THE COOKIES:
In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Beat in eggs. Stir in the Eggnog and rum flavoring. Combine the flour, salt, baking soda and nutmeg. Add to creamed mixture. Then get out two huge pieces of plastic wrap out and dump 1/2 the dough onto each one. Shape each one into a log, using the plastic wrap to help as you wrap it up.

Freeze the dough in plastic wrap, several hours at least. Unwrap, slice. Lay slices on greased baking sheet or Silpat. Bake at 375 degrees just until it begins to brown.

Cool for five minutes on pan then remove to wire racks to cool.

MAKE THE GLAZE:
In a mixing bowl, sift powdered sugar to prevent lumps. Add eggnog, nutmeg and rum flavoring. Stir until desired consistency. (add more eggnog or sugar as needed, just a little at at time). Add food coloring here if desired. Frost cookies. Let cookies sit until glaze is no longer sticky.


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