These brown butter eggnog cookies topped with creamy eggnog frosting are a fun, easy Christmas cookie! They're soft, buttery, and perfectly spiced! They're easy to make, easy to decorate, and perfect big mug of hot chocolate (or eggnog of course)!
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Why You'll Love These Cookies!
Eggnog is a classic Christmas drink that's made with cream, eggs, and nutmeg and usually a bit of alcohol! It's slightly sweet, creamy, and full of wintery spices. Eggnog is usually served cold but is also delicious warm. Most of the eggnog sold in stores is alcohol free so you can add your own bourbon or rum if desired!
These frosted eggnog cookies are a simple, but adorable Christmas dessert! They're perfect for serving at any wintery holiday party!
- Super easy to make and decorate!
- They're light, buttery, and not too sweet.
- The perfect Christmas cookies for a holiday party, cookie exchange, or to leave out for Santa!
You might also like these eggnog cupcakes or these snowflake Christmas cookies!
Ingredient Notes
You only need a few ingredients to make these frosted eggnog cookies!
Brown Butter - My favorite ingredient of all time is brown butter!! Brown butter is just unsalted butter that has been melted and gently cooked to bring out a toasty, nutty flavor. Best of all, brown butter pairs beautifully with the warming spices in the eggnog. If you've never made brown butter before, you can check out this post with all my tips for how to make brown butter!
Almond Flour - I like substituting a portion of the all purpose flour with almond flour in all my cookies! It yields a more tender cookie with just that slight almond flavor. But you can leave it out if desired!
Eggnog - You can use your favorite store-bought eggnog or make your own!
Spices - Nutmeg and cinnamon add extra wintery spice to the cookies.
Rum Extract - This is optional, but I love adding a bit of rum extract in both the cookies and the frosting for a more classic eggnog flavor!
Egg Yolk - Instead of egg in these cookies, we're using 1 egg yolk and then eggnog in place of the whites. It helps bind the cookies and add more eggnog flavor. I also love using yolks because I always have leftovers from making macarons.
The complete list of ingredients and amounts is located in the recipe card below.
How to Make Cutout Cookies
Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the room temperature brown butter and powdered sugar until fully combined.
Then add in the egg yolk, eggnog, vanilla, and rum extract and mix until fully combined and fluffy.
In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, almond flour, baking powder, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt.
Gently fold in the dry ingredients until the dough comes together into a ball. It should be very soft, but not sticky.
Divide in half and press the dough into discs. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight (or a minimum of at least 2 hours).
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to about ¼ inch thick then cut out the cookies into your desired shapes. (For crispier cookies you can roll the dough thinner. For chewier cookies roll to about ½ inch instead.)
I like to use round cookie cutters (between 2 or 3 inches) but you can use any fun shape you want!
Place the eggnog cookies 2 inches apart on your lined baking sheet. Place the baking sheet in the fridge or freezer for a minimum of 20 minutes before baking. This ensures the cookies keep their shape.
While the cookies are chilling, preheat your oven to 350°F.
Bake for 8-12 minutes or until the edges are set. Bake on the middle rack of the oven and rotate the pan halfway through baking for the best results.
Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 2-3 minutes, then remove and let them finish cooling on a cooling rack. Let the cookies cool completely before frosting.
Dollop about 1 tablespoon of eggnog frosting on top of the cookies and spread evenly with an offset spatula. Then garnish with sprinkles if desired!
Tips for Perfect Cookies
Measure your flour correctly! It's most accurate to use a kitchen scale, but if you're measuring by volume you want to spoon and level! Fluff up the flour a bit with a spoon, and then spoon flour into the measuring cup. Once it's overflowing, use the back of a knife to level it off. Don't ever pack flour into the measuring cup or you'll end up with way too much! Improperly measured flour can lead to dry, crumbly cookies that don't spread.
Make sure your oven is the proper temperature! Use an oven thermometer to make sure your oven is exactly 350°F. If the oven is too cold, the cookies will spread too much and if it's too hot they centers won't bake all the way through. For example, my oven is about 20 degrees off. So I have to set the oven to 370°F in order to get it to bake at 350°F.
Use a lightweight, light colored baking sheet for best results! Believe it or not, a lighter pan makes the cookies bake more slowly than a dark pan, which helps keep them from spreading too much. My favorite pans for baking cookies are:
You also want to use either parchment paper or silicone mats on your cookie sheet to help keep the cookies from spreading.
Bake the cookies one sheet at a time, on the center rack. This will ensure all your cookies cook evenly and the bottoms don't burn. Then let the cookie sheet cool completely between batches. This ensures the cookies cook evenly and don't spread too much by being put on a hot pan.
Always under-bake the cookies! If you slightly under-bake the cookies (so the centers are still soft when you remove them from the oven), they'll stay soft and chewy for days!
Do the cookie scoot! In order to get perfectly round cookies, use a large cookie cutter to gently scoot them around as soon as they come out of the oven!
Cookie Decorating Tips
I am by no means an expert cookie decorator, so I like to keep things simple with these frosted eggnog cookies!
I just use an offset spatula (or the back of a spoon) to spread the eggnog buttercream on the cookies, then top with some fun wintery sprinkles! They only take a few minutes and look great!
But you could also just keep it extra simple and garnish with a sprinkle of nutmeg instead. Or go with more Christmasy red and green sprinkles.
Recipe FAQ's
Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.
Chilling the cookie dough allows the flour to hydrate a bit and ensures the butter is super cold. This keeps your cookies from spreading too much and completely flattening out. It also ensures the eggnog cookies keep their shape!
Yes! You can freeze either the dough or the baked cookies! To freeze the dough, wrap tightly and then place in a freezer safe bag for 2-3 months. Let thaw in the fridge overnight before using. Baked cookies [unfrosted] can be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months. Let thaw and then decorate as desired!
Tips for Success!
For best results I always recommend using weight measurements (especially when baking) because it's the most accurate. Kitchen scales are super affordable and also reduce the number of dishes you have to do! However, all my recipes also include US customary measurements for convince. Use this chart to convert measurements for common ingredients!
Substitutions: In all my recipes, I've included substitutions that I know will work, but I cannot guarantee results if you substitute ingredients that I have not recommended. [For example, granulated sugar and honey are indeed both sweeteners but they have very different properties so they can not always be swapped 1:1. Using honey in a cookie recipe that calls for granulated sugar will yield a giant mess.] In the recipe card you'll find links to the specific ingredients/brands that I use.
A note on salt: I almost exclusively use Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt because it's the best all-purpose salt for cooking and baking. If you're not using kosher salt, consult this handy guide for a conversion chart! When in doubt, if you're using table salt just reduce the amount by half for baked goods. When cooking, I prefer to under-salt because you can always add more! If you've over-salted, adding a little bit of acid (like lemon juice) can help.
More Christmas Cookies!
Recipe Card
Frosted Eggnog Cookies
Special Equipment
Ingredients
Cookies
- 1 cup unsalted brown butter, room temperature
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon rum extract, optional
- 1 large egg yolk
- 2 tablespoons eggnog
- 2 ¼ cups all purpose flour
- ½ cup almond flour, substitute all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
Eggnog Frosting
- ½ cup unsalted brown butter, room temperature
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2-4 tablespoons eggnog, as needed
- ½ teaspoon rum extract, optional
- wintery sprinkles
Instructions
Cookies
- Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the room temperature brown butter and powdered sugar until fully combined.
- Then add in the egg yolk, eggnog, vanilla, and rum extract and mix until fully combined and fluffy.
- In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, almond flour, baking powder, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt.
- Gently fold in the dry ingredients until the dough comes together into a ball. It should be very soft, but not sticky.
- Divide in half and press the dough into discs. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight (or a minimum of at least 2 hours).
- Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to about ¼ inch thick then cut out the cookies into your desired shapes. (For crispier cookies you can roll the dough thinner. For chewier cookies roll to about ½ inch instead.)
- Place the eggnog cookies 2 inches apart on your lined baking sheet. Place the baking sheet in the fridge or freezer for a minimum of 20 minutes before baking. This ensures the cookies keep their shape.
- While the cookies are chilling, preheat your oven to 350°F.
- Bake for 8-12 minutes or until the edges are set. Bake on the middle rack of the oven and rotate the pan halfway through baking for the best results.
- Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 2-3 minutes, then remove and let them finish cooling on a cooling rack. Let the cookies cool completely before frosting.
Eggnog Frosting
- In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the brown butter until smooth.
- Add in the powdered sugar ½ cup at a time until fully combined and smooth.
- Slowly drizzle in the eggnog until fully incorporated. Then add in the rum extract if desired. Beat on high for 3-4 minutes or until the buttercream is light and fluffy.
- Dollop about 1 tablespoon of eggnog frosting on top of the cookies and spread evenly with an offset spatula. Then garnish with sprinkles if desired!
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
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