Ho, ho, ho! It’s time to break out your ugly holiday sweater and get cozy, y’all! My budget-friendly Eggnog Cookies are the perfect sweet treat to make and share with friends and family this holiday season. The cookie base is made with simple ingredients like flour, sugar, and spices, and then I add a buttery frosting to top it all off. They’re sweet, creamy, and have a subtle hint of rum flavor without having to spring for a pricey bottle of the real stuff. These easy-to-make cookies would be the perfect addition to any Christmas party or festive cookie platter this year!
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Eggnog has a long-standing history as a holiday drink, spanning all the way back to Medieval Britain, with many variations and adaptations over the years. But nowadays, we typically associate it with a creamy, spiced drink, which is often spiked with rum, whiskey, or brandy. But I know not everyone is a fan of straight-up eggnog drinking. So, I wanted to find a way to incorporate those delicious flavors into a tasty treat that everyone can enjoy!
What are Eggnog Cookies?
These melt-in-your-mouth eggnog cookies are soft, chewy, and packed with holiday flavor. They’re essentially a simple sugar cookie base, but I add cinnamon, nutmeg, and a dash of rum extract to the dough to give it that distinct eggnog taste. And, of course, the creamy frosting made from butter, powdered sugar, heavy cream (and a little more rum extract!) helps to tie everything together. Even if you’re not a fan of eggnog, give these cookies a try—you might just be surprised at how much you love them. 😉
Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make this recipe for eggnog cookies:
- Flour: I use all-purpose flour to give the cookies structure and create a soft but sturdy base for the frosting.
- Baking Powder & Baking Soda: Both of these leavening agents help the cookies rise and give them a light texture.
- Unsalted Butter: You need butter to make the cookie dough and the frosting in this recipe. I recommend using softened butter to ensure it mixes well with the other ingredients. Let it sit out at room temperature for about an hour, or you can use Marsha’s tip of filling a glass with hot water, dumping it out and covering the stick of butter with the hot glass to soften it!
- Granulated Sugar: Adds just enough sweetness and moisture to the dough.
- Egg: I use a large egg to bind everything together.
- Ground Nutmeg & Ground Cinnamon: These spices help create the classic eggnog flavor. I also add a pinch of salt to balance the sweetness!
- Vanilla Extract & Rum Extract: Rum extract is much more budget-friendly than using actual rum or eggnog, and I like how I can better control the flavor this way. If you’re unsure about it, you can skip adding it to the frosting and just start with the cookie dough. Vanilla extract is a must-have flavor enhancer for this recipe!
- Powdered Sugar & Heavy Cream: When mixed with butter, vanilla extract, and rum extract, these ingredients make the most delicious frosting for our easy eggnog cookies recipe.
Success Tips & Suggestions!
This easy eggnog cookie recipe is really simple and perfect for first-time cookie makers! But to help you out, here are some tried and true tips and suggestions:
- Add the dry ingredients slowly to avoid overmixing the dough. Adding it all at once makes it harder to mix and also increases the chance of overworking the dough, which can create tough and dense cookies.
- Don’t skip the chill time. I know it can be tempting to skip this step and bake the cookies right away, but trust me, chilling the dough stops them from spreading too much (they’ll still spread a bit, but not as much as they would if you skipped the chill time). It also makes it easier to handle the dough when rolling into balls.
- Evenly coat the cookie dough balls in sugar. Just like when you’re making snickerdoodles, you want to make sure the cookie dough balls are evenly coated in sugar. This adds a little extra sweetness and helps develop a subtle, chewy crust while baking.
- I recommend letting your cookies cool before icing them. If they’re still warm, they’ll melt your eggnog frosting!
- You can top your cookies with any festive decoration you like. I used pearl sugar as an optional topping in the photos shown here, but a sprinkle of cinnamon, ground nutmeg, sanding sugar, sprinkles, granulated sugar, or extra powdered sugar are all nice additions.
Storage Instructions
These frosted eggnog cookies will keep for about 4 days in an airtight container in the fridge. However, please note this is only a guideline and will depend on the freshness of the heavy cream used in your frosting. You can also freeze these cookies (without the frosting) between layers of parchment paper for up to 3 months. Just let them thaw at room temperature before adding the frosting!
Eggnog Cookies Recipe
Servings 24 cookiesIngredients
Cookie Ingredients
- 2 ¾ cups flour ($0.52)
- ¼ tsp salt ($0.01)
- 1 tsp ground nutmeg ($0.55)
- ½ tsp cinnamon ($0.04)
- 1 tsp baking powder ($0.04)
- 1 tsp baking soda ($0.01)
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened ($2.13)
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar, divided (¼ cup reserved for rolling) ($0.52)
- 1 large egg ($0.30)
- ½ tsp vanilla extract ($0.29)
- ½ tsp rum extract ($0.18)
Icing Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar ($0.82)
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, softened ($0.53)
- ½ tsp vanilla extract ($0.29)
- ¼ tsp rum extract ($0.09)
- 3 Tbsp heavy cream ($0.30)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. In mixing bowl, combine flour, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, baking powder, and baking soda. Whisk to combine and set aside.
- Add the room temperature softened unsalted butter and 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar to a mixing bowl. Cream them together with hand mixer on low speed.
- Beat the egg, vanilla, and rum extract together and add to the butter/sugar mixture. Mix on low until combined.
- Slowly add all the dry ingredients to wet mixture and mix until a sticky dough forms.
- Chill the dough for 20-30 minutes. Then, using a 1 oz cookie scoop, portion cookies and roll each into a ball in your hands. Toss each ball in the remaining ¼ cup granulated sugar.
- On a parchment-lined baking sheet, place the dough balls 2 inches apart and flatten slightly with the bottom of a clean cup.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes. Let them cool completely before frosting, for about 10 minutes.
- To make the icing, add powdered sugar, softened unsalted butter, vanilla extract, rum extract, and heavy cream to a mixing bowl and mix on medium-high with a hand mixer until smoothly whipped and creamy.
- Transfer icing to a piping bag (or a ziplock bag with one of the corners snipped off!) and frost each cookie. Alternatively, you can smooth the frosting on each cookie by hand with a butter knife. Enjoy!
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Equipment
- Hand Mixer
- Baking Sheet
- Piping Bag, optional
- 1 oz. Cookie Scoop
Nutrition
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how to make Eggnog Cookies – step by step photos
Preheat oven to 350F. In mixing bowl, combine 2 ¾ cups flour, ¼ tsp salt, 1 tsp nutmeg, ½ tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp baking powder, and 1 tsp baking soda. Whisk to combine and set aside.
Add 2 sticks room temperature softened unsalted butter and 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar to a mixing bowl. Cream them together with hand mixer on low speed.
Beat 1 large egg, ½ tsp vanilla, and ½ tsp rum extract together and add to the butter/sugar mixture. Mix on low until combined.
Slowly add all the dry ingredients to wet mixture and mix until a sticky dough forms.
Chill the dough for 20-30 minutes.
Then, using a 1 oz cookie scoop, portion cookies and roll each into a ball in your hands. Toss each ball in the remaining ¼ cup granulated sugar.
On a parchment-lined baking sheet, place the dough balls 2 inches apart and flatten slightly with the bottom of a clean cup.
Bake for 8-10 minutes. Let them cool completely before frosting, for about 10 minutes.
To make the icing, add 1 ½ cups powdered sugar, ¼ cup softened unsalted butter, ½ tsp vanilla extract, ¼ tsp rum extract, and 3 Tbsp heavy cream to a mixing bowl.
Mix on medium-high with a hand mixer until smoothly whipped and creamy.
Transfer icing to a piping bag and frost each cookie. Alternatively, you can smooth the frosting on each cookie by hand with a butter knife. Enjoy!
I wonder if you could use actual egg nog instead of heavy cream in the icing?