These Eggnog Cookies take your classic butter cookies and give them a holiday glow-up with a splash of rich, lightly spiced eggnog and a swirl of browned butter for that irresistible nutty twist. The result? Quite possibly the best eggnog cookie EVER to grace your taste buds! And if you’re looking for a holiday recipe that’s easy-peasy but still screams “gourmet,” this is your golden ticket boos.
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Darling, these eggnog cookies are like little bites of holiday bliss – soft, chewy, and just bursting with that gorgeous browned butter goodness. Toss in a dash of those warming spices like cinnamon and nutmeg, and you’ve got a cookie that’s downright irresistible. But wait, I didn’t stop there – I went ahead and drizzled these beauties with a simple eggnog-flavored icing that’ll have you swooning!
Why You’ll Love These Eggnog Cookies
- Spectacular Seasonal Flavors. Eggnog is almost synonymous with Christmas and the holidays! You simply can’t go wrong with the rich, spiced flavors in this cookie.
- Easy Christmas Cookie Recipe. These cookies don’t require any cutting or chill time to make! Simply mix up the cookie dough and roll the dough into balls.
- Enjoy Eggnog in Cookie Form. If you love sipping on eggnog, then you’re going to love these cookies, or even better enjoy these cookies along with a glass of your favorite holiday eggnog.
- Great for Family Baking! The kids will love helping you bake up holiday treats. It’s a great way to create memories your family will cherish for a lifetime. They can help with measuring, rolling, and of course, eating!!
- Festive Yet Elegant Cookie. These iced butter cookies make a great addition to dessert tables, a plate of cookies as a gift, or to send along with the kids to school!
Ingredients
Here’s a look at the main ingredients you need to make these eggnog cookies this holiday season.
- Butter: Use unsalted butter for the best results.
- All-purpose flour: For the best results, make sure you take the time to sift your flour before mixing your cookies.
- Cream of tartar: Makes these a soft and chewy iced butter cookie and also activates the baking soda to help it do its thing.
- Baking soda: Gives these cookies the perfect amount of lift!
- Spices: Cinnamon takes the forefront with a bit of ground cloves, nutmeg, allspice, and black pepper added to make the spiced flavor a bit more complex and interesting.
- Sugar: These cookies use white granulated sugar for sweetening while also giving the cookies a tender crumb.
- Egg: We’re just using one for a bit of moisture. Make sure it’s at room temperature.
- Flavoring: We’re combining vanilla extract with a small amount of rum extract to give these cookies more eggnog flavor.
- Powdered sugar: Works best in making a smooth and creamy icing for the cookies.
- Eggnog: Replace the milk in the icing to thin it out!
How to Make Eggnog Cookies
Making these cookies requires a few separate steps, but it’s fairly straightforward. Here’s a glance at the highlights, but all the details are in the recipe card further down the page.
Step 1: Brown the Butter
- Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook while constantly stirring until the butter starts to foam up and darken. it will start to smell nutty, and you will begin to see brown specks begin to form at the bottom.
- Remove the browned butter from the heat and transfer it to a bowl. Let it sit until it’s completely cool.
Step 2: Mix the Cookie Dough
- Whisk together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, allspice, and black pepper in a medium bowl.
- Combine the remaining stick of butter, sugar, and cooled brown butter in a mixing bowl. Beat on medium speed until the mixture is light and fluffy.
- Add the egg, vanilla, and rum extracts to the bowl and beat on medium speed until they’re fully incorporated into the mixture.
- Gradually add the flour mixture to the mixing bowl. Take frequent breaks to stop the mixer and scrape down the sides. It’s super important you do not over-mix after adding the flour.
Step 3: Shape and Bake the Cookies
- Roll the dough into 1-2” balls and line them up on the prepared baking sheets.
- Bake in a preheated oven until firm around the edges but cracked and soft in the middle. Remove the cookies from the oven and allow them to rest for 5 minutes on the pan before moving them over to a wire rack. Allow them to cool completely.
Step 4: Make the Eggnog Icing and Drizzle the Cookies
- Add the icing ingredients to a medium bowl and whisk until it’s mixed and pourable.
- Drizzle the icing over the tops of the cooled cookies in a decorative pattern.
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Tips for Making the Best Eggnog Christmas Cookies
- Bake the cookies in batches. If baking more than one tray at a time, make space between racks in the oven and rotate the pans halfway through to make sure they cook evenly.
- Don’t over-mix your cookie dough. Too much mixing activates the gluten more and can make your cookies tough.
- Drizzle the cookies on a wire rack over a pan. Place your wire rack up above a baking sheet so that excess icing drizzles off the cookies and onto the baking sheet. This makes cleanup a snap!
- Use a whisk, spoon, or fork to drizzle the icing over the cookies. You can go over the cookies in various directions to create a simple pattern with the icing.
- Spacing the cookies on the baking pan. These cookies have a small spread so you need to leave some room for them to spread out.
Popular Substitutions & Additions
- No eggnog? Use milk instead and add a ¼ tsp of rum and vanilla extract along with a pinch of nutmeg
- Adjust the spices. Add more nutmeg, use a spice blend such as pumpkin pie spice, or make any other adjustments you want in your iced butter cookies!
- Skip the icing. While I love the extra boost of eggnog it gives these cookies you can leave it off. Instead, add your favorite holiday sprinkles on top. You can also roll them in cinnamon sugar before baking.
- Leave out the rum extract. Replace it with more vanilla for more intense natural sweet flavors of vanilla.
- Add nuts. Chop up pecans, walnuts, or almonds and mix them into the cookie dough at the end of mixing.
What to Serve with Christmas Cookies
- Give out cookies as gifts. I adore giving wonderful homemade gifts to family and friends for Christmas. It speaks more than words could ever say. My favorite homemade gift to give is a cookie tray with these eggnog iced butter cookies included.
- Festive sippers to serve. Enjoy these cookies with a spiked cup of coffee, homemade eggnog, or a festive Christmas punch.
- Enjoy with other winter holiday treats. These gingerbread crinkle cookies, classic sugar cookies, and peppermint bark are just a few ideas!
- Mix it up. Serve up a variety of desserts for the holidays. This gives your guests lots of options of flavors, textures, and types of desserts to enjoy. I love this chocolate peppermint pound cake, red velvet trifles, chocolate bourbon pecan pie, and divinity candy make a varied selection to offer.
How to Store cookies with icing
Store your eggnog cookies in an airtight container with a layer of parchment paper in between each row to keep them fresh for a longer amount of time. These are soft and chewy cookies, so be sure to store them in their container on their own. They may make crisper cookies soft when stored together.
How long will eggnog cookies last?
These cookies are best enjoyed within 2-3 days of baking though they may stay fresh as long as 5-7 days when stored properly. If you know you won’t be eating them all within the first few days, I’d recommend freezing them to extend their yummy life.
Can I freeze iced cookies?
Yep, you can freeze the cookie dough and also freeze the baked cookies. If they’re baked, place unfrosted cookies in a bag or airtight container. If you have already frosted them and want to freeze them, I suggest flash-freezing them first so they don’t stick together. Lay them out in a single layer on a baking pan and freeze for an hour or two. Then transfer them to a container and separate layers with a piece of parchment paper. Freeze your baked cookies for up to two months.
To freeze cookie dough, wrap it in plastic wrap first and then place it in a freezer bag. Store it in the freezer for up to two months.
Frequently Asked Questions
Look for the edges to be slightly browned with slightly soft centers. These are a soft cookie so the middle will still be a bit soft when cooked. They will continue to cook a little when you first remove them from the oven and setup more as they cool.
The best way to make sure your cookies all end up the same size is to use a cookie scoop or a measuring device. Scoops for cookies come in one or two tablespoons. I used the 1″ for baking my cookies, and they came out a nice size that can be eaten in just a couple of bites. You can certainly make them larger if you prefer, but they may need to cook a bit longer. If you don’t have a cookie scoop, you can use a tablespoon to measure out the dough.
This may happen when ovens cook unevenly or aren’t properly calibrated. The heat comes from the heating elements on the bottom and top of an oven. If your cookies are too close to the heat, then they may cook more on one side more than the other. The best solution to this issue is to bake cookies on a single tray on the middle rack of your oven. If you’re baking two trays on different racks, you should rotate the trays halfway during cooking to prevent this issue.
Get your Christmas bake on this year and make sure to whip up a batch of these soft, chewy eggnog iced cookies! Whether you’re spreading the joy to your fam and friends or gifting them, these cookies are gonna be the crowd-pleaser, no doubt!
More Christmas Cookie Recipes
These eggnog iced butter cookies are the best Christmas cookies you’ll ever taste, but if this recipe isn’t your cup of tea, you might love some of my other Christmas cookie recipes!
- White Chocolate Ginger Cookies
- Butter Ricotta Cookies
- Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Chai Browned Butter Snickerdoodles
- Dark Chocolate and Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies
- Hot Chocolate Cookies
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Eggnog Iced Butter Cookies
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Equipment
Ingredients
For the Cookies
- 1 cup unsalted butter divided
- 2 3/4 cups all purpose flour sifted
- 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon allspice
- pinch ground black pepper
- 1 ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large whole egg room temperature
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 tablespoons eggnog
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon rum extract
For the Icing
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 2-3 tablespoon eggnog until pourable
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
For the Eggnog Butter Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt a 1/2 cup of butter. Continue to melt, constantly stirring, until the butter starts to foam up and darken. The butter will start to smell nutty and brown specks will begin to form at the bottom. Remove the brown butter from the heat, transfer it to a bowl, and allow it to completely cool.
- Whisk together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, allspice, and black pepper.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer or using a large bowl and a hand mixer, combine the remaining butter, sugar, and cooled brown butter. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Add the whole egg, egg yolk, eggnog, vanilla and rum extracts, then continue to beat on medium speed until fully incorporated.
- Begin to gradually add in the flour mixture, taking breaks to stop the mixer and scrape down the sides. Do not over mix.
- Roll the dough into 1-2” balls and line them up on the baking sheets. Transfer to the oven and bake for 8-10 minutes, or until firm around the edges but cracked and soft in the middle. Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to rest for 5 minutes before moving them over to a wire rack. Allow them to cool completely.
- Bake the cookies in batches. If baking more than one batch in a row, make space in between racks in the oven and rotate the pans halfway through.
For the Eggnog Icing
- Whisk together all ingredients until pourable.
- Once cookies are cooled, drizzle icing over the tops of cookies in a decorative pattern.
- Optional: Add sprinkles to tops of cookies and serve.
Notes
- Bake the cookies in batches. If baking more than one tray at a time, make space between racks in the oven and rotate the pans halfway through to make sure they cook evenly.
- Don’t over-mix your cookie dough. Too much mixing activates the gluten more and can make your cookies tough.
- Drizzle the cookies on a wire rack over a pan. Place your wire rack up above a baking sheet so that excess icing drizzles off the cookies and onto the baking sheet. This makes cleanup a snap!
- Use a whisk, spoon, or fork to drizzle the icing over the cookies. You can go over the cookies in various directions to create a simple pattern with the icing.
- Spacing the cookies on the baking pan. These cookies have a small spread so you need to leave some room for them to spread out.
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Yummy, soft pillow like cookie. My dough was dry as well, I just added eggnog to the dough until it came together. Baked up beautifully.
Oh thank you for the feedback. We just retested and add in an extra egg yolk and a bit of eggnog. I’m so glad you enjoyed the cookies however!
I just baked these cookies and the flavor is amazing. I wasnt surprised. All the recipes I’ve tried of yours have, in one aspect or another, impressed me!
I do wonder if I didnt miss something when making them. After they were mixed i found the dough to be quite dry and didnt come together as I expected. I added a couple tablespoons of water to the dough and mixed and it came together just enough for me to be able to roll ball shapes. Next time I would substitute water for egg nog.
Also, mine didnt spread hardly at all. The first batch I cooked puffed up nicely, but was more of a ball shape. The second, I imprinted my thumb in each, and that helped. From reading this can you tell if I might have missed a step? I did double check the ingredients and dont feel as if I missed any. Thanks for such fabulous recipes and your help!
Hmm, I am not sure. These cookies are heavier, like a shortbread so don’t really spread too much or puff up.
As usual, your cookies are the best. Great idea using the eggnog and rum. Your recipes never disappoint. Thanks again!
I love anything egg nog around this time of year and these cookies seem really tasty and festive. Thanks for sharing.
I am baking these cookies again for a cookie exchange. We usually have a sort of contest and I know who’ll be the winner hahahaha! Thanks for the recipe!
Fun cookie twist, these cookies are so flavorful and fun to make. I will be making batches to give friends and family during the holiday season.
Made these for an office potluck and they were a hit! The brown butter makes the cookies extra decadent but it’s the eggnog glaze that make them special.
Aren’t they so great? So glad you loved them.