Monday 10 December 2012

Eggnog Spice Cookies




I love Eggnog. It’s not a very common drink where I live. In fact when I have made eggnog based drinks or desserts in the past, folk usually ask me – what is eggnog?!

Well, for the uninitiated, it’s a dairy based drink that’s made with milk or cream, sugar and eggs. Flavoured with some alcohol, rum is the most common, and it’s finished off with some nutmeg spice. It’s popular in North America, especially at Christmas time. Luckily this year I managed to track down some Eggnog juice boxes (complete with little straw) in the African section of Tesco?!



Last year I made these particular cookies for gifts and they were very popular. So I thought I would share them with you. They are super-easy  to make, if you can get hold off the eggnog of course!

Eggnog Spice Cookies
(Adapted from SouthernFood.About.Com)

Yield: 40 cookies

Ingredients:
250 grams plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
280 grams granulated sugar
170 grams unsalted butter, softened
120 ml prepared eggnog
1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large egg yolks
Red and Green sprinkles

Method:
Preheat the oven to 150oC. Line a cookie sheet (or three) wth greaseproof paper.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg in a large bowl. Set aside. In another bowl, beat together the sugar and butter until pale and creamy. Add the eggnog, egg yolks and vanilla, beating well. It might look a bit curdled at this stage, but keep beating and it will get smoother. Next add in the flour mix and mix to combine until no streaks of flour are seen.



I used a 1 1/2 “ cookie scoop and placed balls of the cookie dough onto the prepared sheets, slightly spaced apart. With wet fingers I pressed on each one slightly to flatten a little. I then added the sprinkles, patting them into the dough slightly. I popped them into the oven for 20 minutes until lightly golden brown. I let them cool fully before removing them from the paper.



They are quite cakey, soft type cookies with an unmistakable creamy, almost boozy taste. And of course the cinnamon and nutmeg shine through. If you didn’t want to add sprinkles, you could use royal icing, or just a small sprinkle of more nutmeg. These are sure to be Christmas favourites! Enjoy…


I'm entering these cookies into this month's biscuit barrel challenge - the theme is Festive and Party. I think host Laura from I'd Much Rather Bake Than... would agree these are a good fit for the festive season!


4 comments:

  1. Well I have tried drinking eggnog in the past and I have to be honest that I'd need a fair bit of persuasion to try it again. Baking with it sounds like an excellent notion, though. Creamy and boozy sounds just great to me.

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  2. Your taste buds change all the time apparently - you might just surprise yourself if u try it again! The cookies are fab!!

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  3. Yet another clever and intriguing recipe. Informative too because although I'd heard of it, I was amongst those who didn't know what eggnog was so thanks for sharing with the Biscuit Barrel challenge =)

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    1. Thanks Laura - never thought of myself as informative!

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