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I can now officially talk all things Christmas!!!
And clearly I could not be more excited!
But first, happy Friday! How was everyone’s Thanksgiving? Did you all fill up on turkey, gravy and stuffing? Was everything perfect? Do you have horror stories?!?
TELL ME!! I so need to know. Mine was awesome, but I will tell you more about it on Sunday or Monday. I want to keep things short and sweet today since we are celebrating my younger brother Malachi’s 20th birthday and I need to actually try to be present!! Which means not spending the entire day working. Actually, this is an order from the fam, so I am trying my hardest.
That said, let’s talk cookies!!
Christmas Eggnog Scented Sugar Cookies to be exact! Aren’t these so fun? I mean, I know they don’t look all professional and perfect, but I have never claimed to be a pastry chef with mad skills at decorating. I actually want to pull my hair out most times I set out to make the “fancy” sugar cookies.
But these sugar cookies are easy. You can decorate them however you please (and for me that clearly means holiday sprinkles all the way!) and the dough is simple as can be… as is the icing. And umm, my dough is extra special since it’s spiked with a little Christmas eggnog.
Don’t be freaked if you’re not a fan of eggnog, you will still enjoy these sugar cookies. The eggnog really just keeps the cookies soft, moist and lends a nice sweetness that just kind of reminds you of all things Christmas. It’s perfect.
So a few notes. I make my sugar cookies a little different from most. Instead of refrigerating my dough before rolling them out and cutting the shapes, I do the opposite. I like to roll my dough out while it’s at room temperature. I think it just makes cookie making SO much simpler. I mean, the dough is so easy to work with and it never cracks. I do use flour to keep it from sticking, which I know some people are against, but I don’t know, I love the way my sugar cookies turn out. Once the cookies are all cut, shaped and on my cookie sheet, THEN I place them in the freezer (on the cookie sheet), for about 20-30 minutes to firm up before baking. This step insures the cookies don’t spread or change shape while baking.
Then off to the oven they go!!
Once the cookies have cooled I frost them with my simple vanilla icing. I like to use meringue powder in my icing, it just gives the icing a nice glossy look and also helps it to set and harden. If you don’t have meringue powder or don’t want to buy it, no biggie. You can omit it, but your cookies may take a little longer for the icing to set and harden. As for decorations, I keep it simple, holiday sprinkles work just fine for me. An artist I am not.
OKAY, but I did try kind of hard on those santa hats and faces. I used colored red and green icing (I like to use gel food coloring) and simple sprinkles. It actually wasn’t too hard.
Pat on the back for those santa cookies! 🙂
The rest were all made with sprinkles and icing. Super simple, but so cute! Or at least I think so!
Aside from all the cuteness, these eggnog scented sugar cookies are actually delicious! They’re soft in the middle, sweet and vanillay… pretty much Christmas perfection! You have to try them for your next cookie party or holiday baking day!!
PLEASE!!!
Eggnog Scented Christmas Sugar Cookies with Easy Vanilla Icing.
Servings: 48 Cookies
Calories Per Serving: 120 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 3 sticks (1 1/2 cups) unsalted butter softened
- 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
- 1 vanilla bean seeds removed (optional)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract* optional
- 1 egg at room temperature*
- 1/3 cup high quality eggnog
- 4 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Easy Vanilla Icing
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons meringue powder
- 6-8 tablespoons water
- 1 vanilla bean seeds removed
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- assorted food coloring, holiday sprinkles and or candies, to decorate (optional)
Instructions
- To make the cookies, cream the butter, sugar, vanilla bean seeds, vanilla extract and almond extract in a large bowl or bowl of a stand mixer until light and fluffy, about a full 3-5 minutes.
- Add the egg and eggnog and mix until evenly combined. Add half the flour, baking soda and salt, beating until combined. Then add the remaining flour and beat until the dough forms a ball.
- Generously flour your work surface. Divide the dough in half and flatten each half into a disk.
- Roll out the dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Make sure you are using enough flour or your dough will stick. You can also roll the dough out between two piece of wax paper. Cut out the cookies into your desired shapes. Carefully transfer the cookies to a parchment line baking sheet. Cover the baking sheet and place the baking sheet in the freezer, freeze until very firm, about 25 minutes. Roll out the leftover scraps, and repeat with the remaining disk of dough.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Bake the cookies on the middle rack of the oven for 12-15 minutes or until just lightly golden brown. Do not over bake. Cool on the baking sheet five minutes and then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
- To make the icing, combine the sugar and meringue powder in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mixing on low speed, add 6 tablespoons water. Mix until icing holds a ribbonlike trail on the surface of the mixture for 5 seconds when you raise the paddle. Add the vanilla bean seeds and nutmeg, mix until just combined.
- Frost the cooled cookies and decorate as desired. I like to keep things simple and use holiday sprinkles to decorate most of my cookies. You can also use food coloring and color the frosting red, green or whatever colors you like. To pipe the icing onto the cookies, add the icing to a gallon size ziploc bag (or a piping bag), then snip of a small portion of the corner off.
Notes
*If you do not have almond extract on hand or cannot find it, feel free to just leave it out. BUT if you can find it, I think it really adds a lot.
**To quickly bring your eggs to room temperature, place them in a large bowl with their shells on. Cover them with warm water and let them sit 5 minutes.
***The cookie dough can also be stored in the freezer for up to 1 month. To bake remove from the freezer and let sit on the counter for 5 minutes prior to baking. Bake As directed.
Don’t forget, always accompany your cookies with a large mug of milk…or maybe a cold eggnog….ooh, or maybe even hot cocoa!?!
Great cookies! We made them gluten free so I did add a little more fat. The flavor is very good and nice texture too. I missed the part about chilling after cutting them out. They lost a little shape but they’re still delicious and my daughter can enjoy them too bc they’re gluten free!
Hey Jess,
Wonderful!! Thanks a bunch for making this recipe and sharing your feedback! Love to hear that it was enjoyed! Happy Holidays!🎄🎁
Can I leave the meringue powder out of icing?
Hey Dominique,
Yes, that should be just fine for you to do! I hope you love this recipe, please let me know if you give it a try! xx
These have become my go-to rollout sugar cookie and I’ve tried a lot. I actually like to roll them very thin (closer to 1/8), and bake them a slightly shorter time. They’re crispy but still very buttery and tasty. It also makes up a lot of cookies this way, if you need a big batch.
For a holiday version, I add some rum extract and nutmeg to add extra eggnog flavor. The rest of the year, I’ve been subbing heavy cream for the eggnog and trying other extracts like a splash of fiori di sicilia or highlander grogg.
Yum!
Hey Jill,
Wonderful!! Thanks a lot for trying this recipe out, I love to hear that it was a hit! Have a great weekend:) xx
Instead of using flour to dust on my work surface, I use the powdered sugar. Same results but better flavor.
Great! Thank you Casey!
I’ve been baking for abut a million years but it never occurred to me to chI’ll the cookies after cutting them out to help them retain their shape. Brilliant! Thanks for the tip!
Thank you Ann! I hope you love these!
I have just found you and will be making these yummy sounding cookies…. But what do I use for meringue powder? Don’t have any and don’t have time to order it.
Thank you so very much and Merry Christmas.
Hi! You can omit the powder from the recipe, not a big deal! Let me know if you have other questions. Hope you love these and Merry Christmas!
I just want to say thanks for your wonderful post, it is contain a lot of knowledge and information that i needed right now. Thanks!
Thank you!
Well Tieg, it looks like you did it again! These cookies were amazing with all the hints of Christmasy goodness. The eggnog, vanilla bean, and almond made me want to eat the dough right out of the bowl. I did have to adjust my baking time considerably. At 12 minutes, my cookies were burned to a crisp. After a number of adjustments, I ended up not freezing the dough and baking the cookies for about 6 minutes. It’s a good thing this recipe makes for a ton of cookies! Happy holidays : )
I love sugar cookies, these are beyond perfect!
So festive and beautiful, Tieghan!
Thankyou!