These cookies are dressed-up sugar cookies that drop jaws. I swear - I made these recently and doled some out to friends, and every person who ate them freaked out at how good they are. They're super soft, but with that perfect little crisp on the edges. Another great thing about this recipe is that if you're not super into eggnog/nutmeg, they're infinitely adaptable with other spices/flavors (see recommendations below)!
Happy Baking!
Adapted from Love From The Oven
Makes 12 cookies (and is easily doubled because you'll want 24)
INGREDIENTS/SUPPLIES
250g all-purpose flour (2 cups)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar*
1 teaspoon freshly-grated nutmeg**, and separately 1 teaspoon more for dough balls and glaze
1 stick unsalted butter (1/2 cup), room temperature
75g granulated sugar (1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons), and separately 3 Tablespoons for dough balls
100g light brown sugar (1/2 cup firmly packed)
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla (or rum) extract...or just straight rum, though it won't be as flavorful
2 Tablespoons Eggnog**, and separately 2 Tablespoons more for glaze
1 cup powdered sugar, for glaze
Stand mixer or hand mixer with beater blade(s)
Large mixing bowl (2 if you're using a hand mixer)
Small bowl
Hand whisk
Silicone spatula
Measuring cups/spoons
2" Cookie/ice cream scoop (to scoop 3TB worth of dough - you can use a TB spoon for this if you don't have a scoop)
1 rimmed cookie sheet that can fit in your freezer & wax paper (or parchment)
2 large cookie sheets & parchment paper
Cooling racks
Small whisk & spoon for glaze
*Cream of Tartar will make these cookies softer, but you can skip it if you don't have it and don't want to buy it. If you have light corn syrup on hand, squeeze a Tablespoon of that into your butter/sugar mixture instead.
**If you're not super into eggnog/nutmeg, these cookies are easily adaptable. Just substitute heavy cream for the eggnog in the cookie batter, and any other spice or spice mixture (like cardamom, pumpkin spice, cinnamon) for the nutmeg. For the glaze you can use any liquid instead of the eggnog (like black tea for cardamom, coffee or cream for pumpkin spice) or you can skip it (which I'd do for cinnamon).
DIRECTIONS
In the large mixing bowl, whisk all of your dry ingredients together: 250g all-purpose flour (2c), 1/2tsp baking soda, 1/2tsp cream of tartar, and 1tsp freshly-grated nutmeg.
In your stand mixer with the beater attachment, cream (beat on medium-high) 1 stick of room temperature butter, 75g granulated sugar (1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons), and 100g light brown sugar (1/2 cup firmly packed) until fully combined and a little fluffy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the mixer bowl. Mix again for 1 more minute, then scrape again.
Add 1 large egg, 1/2tsp vanilla extract, and 2TB eggnog. Beat on low until the wet ingredients are incorporated enough not to splash, then increase to medium-high for 4-5 minutes until the mixture gets light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the mixer bowl, then mix again on medium-high for 2 more minutes.
Add your dry ingredients and mix on low for 20-30 seconds. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the mixer bowl (this is especially important here so you don’t end up with a bunch of unmixed batter on the bottom!) Mix again on low for another 10-20 seconds.
In your small bowl, whisk together the additional 3TB sugar and 3/4tsp of the additional freshly-grated nutmeg.
In order to make the cookies look uniform, you need to scoop the batter either with a cookie scoop or by weight using a scale - I use a 2” (3TB) cookie scoop. Scoop the dough balls one at a time, dropping them into your sugar/nutmeg mixture and rolling them around until they're covered. Place onto a wax paper or parchment lined cookie sheet - it’s okay if they’re close together; you’re not going to bake them yet.
Put the cookie sheet in the freezer - you don’t need to cover it.
If you want to bake the cookies asap, you would ideally chill them for at least 2 hours. If you need them faster, minimum freezing time is 30 minutes, and you might then want to reduce the baking time by 1-2 minutes - keep an eye on them in the oven!
If you are going to bake the cookies later, after 1-2 hours you can transfer the dough balls to a freezer ziploc bag and store for up to a year! I swear!
When you’re ready to bake, heat your oven to 350.
Take out one tray’s worth (6 if regular half-sheet size, 8 if large cookie sheet) of cookies and arrange them a minimum of 3” apart on a parchment lined cookie sheet. If frozen, you can let them sit about 5-10 minutes if needed but no longer.
Bake for 9-10 minutes if the dough has been refrigerated, or 10-12 minutes if you’re baking them from frozen. Don’t overbake! You want the cookies to be just barely browning on the outside/edges, but still thick and chewy in the middle. Or…at least, I do.
Repeat steps the above steps for one sheet of cookies at a time (i.e. don’t take cookie dough balls out of the fridge/freezer until you’re ready to put them on the tray and into the oven.)
Cool the cookies completely on their baking sheets.
Once fully cooled, if you want to use the glaze, whisk together 1/4tsp freshly-grated nutmeg, 1 cup powdered sugar, and 2TB eggnog. It should be very thick, but still drizzle-able/pourable. Transfer cookies to a cooling rack with something beneath it to catch the drips (parchment, wax paper, aluminum, cutting board, etc.). Drizzle/spoon glaze over each cookie, and let fully dry (~15-30 min, depending on humidity/temperature).