There are days when patience wins out overall. I have been looking for eggnog for the last few weeks and it finally showed up at the grocers. Prior to this I even asked one of the clerks when it would be coming in and she answered that no one even tells her what creamers will arrive.
However, today have my eggnog (not a creamer) and the grocery clerk is probably still stocking the store. The sweet holiday flavor of that beverage was just the thing I wanted to capture in the form of a cookie. The main issue was that it was a liquid and the flavor components of most cookies originate from powder or very little liquid.
The best way to enhance the flavor of any type of liquid is to boil it down. As it boils, the water evaporates off, leaving a stronger flavor behind. This was also the fix to having too much liquid in the cookie dough.
The final result to experimenting is a cookie that is soft and chewy, sort of like the texture of bar cookies. Since I like bar cookies, the fact that they did not have a crispy texture was not important. The dough retained the delicious and unmistakable flavor of eggnog after baking, which was exactly what I wanted. Now we are into the Christmas flavor category! To enhance this even more, I topped the cookies with a glaze that has a touch of gingerbread flavored whiskey and added some sprinkles of little gingerbread men. This recipe makes about 2 dz cookies.
Now it is time to start the festivities, so on to the recipe....
Eggnog Spice Cookies
by flourtrader
Ingredients/Cookies
1/2 cup of eggnog
1 egg (separated)
1 1/2 tsp melted butter
2 tbs sour cream
1 3/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt (optional)
3/4 cup sugar
Ingredients/Topping
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp whiskey (preferably gingerbread spiced)
1 tbs plus 1 tsp water
holiday sprinkles (optional)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Also, dust a flat work surface with flour.
Fill a saucepan with eggnog. Place over medium heat and let simmer, stirring constantly. Let cook down until reduced to 1/3 cup. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.
Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg and salt (if using). Set aside. Using a medium size bowl, whisk egg yolk. Add sour cream, sugar, cooled eggnog and melted butter and stir until blended together. Fold in half of the sifted ingredients until no dry streaks remain. Then add the remaining dry ingredients and blend into a smooth dough. The dough should be somewhat stiff and sticky.
Using a scoop or tablespoon, drop about 6 mounds of dough onto the floured surface. Form the mounds of dough into 5 inch logs. Cover one end of each log with a little of the egg white and shape the log into a circle and seal the ends together. Place on a baking sheet about 1 inch apart. Repeat the process again with 6 mounds, forming into circles.
Once the baking sheet is full of the shaped cookies, bake in oven for 9-12 minutes or until golden brown on the bottom. Let cool on sheet for 2-3 minutes and then transfer to rack to completely cool.
For the glaze, start by placing a sheet of parchment or wax paper on a flat surface. Using a 2 inch deep bowl (like a pasta bowl) stir together water, powdered sugar and whiskey. Dip the top of each cookie into the icing and let the excess drip off and place on paper. Top with holiday sprinkles and let set until topping is dry.
Tips and Notes:
1. You can eliminate the whiskey topping by replacing with water and adding nutmeg and cinnamon. How much spice is according to your personal preference.
2. The dough circles are very light and delicate, so they had to be reshaped a little when transferred to the baking sheet. To remedy this, you can form the cookies right on the parchment lined baking sheet, just take care not to "over flour" the surface of the parchment.
3. If you prefer not to ice these cookies, you can use a sugary spice mix (cinnamon/nutmeg/sugar blend) on top prior to baking. Mix in 1 tablespoon of water to the egg white and brush on top of each cookie. Sprinkle the spice mix on top of each cookie then bake as stated previously.
4. The flavor of these cookies does develop with time and are best eaten a day or two after baking.
5. The cookies (with the exception of the bottom) do not brown when baking. The surface appearance does not determine if they are done baking, it still remains white/ivory when done.
6. Due to the delicate nature of the cookies, do not attempt to place on cooling rack after dipping in icing. Once the icing has set up and dried, they may be too difficult to remove without breaking.
**LAST YEAR: Caramel Apple Blondie Cheesecake**