Every winter break, my high school marching band boarded five big charter buses and drove south for a trip. One year we participated in the Rose Parade; another two, we competed in the Fiesta Bowl marching band competition held the day before the football game.
On the way home from those big events, we always stopped at Disneyland. Our band director arranged for us to march down Main Street and weave around the rides, playing holiday tunes for all of the theme park guests to enjoy.
Before and after the parade, we ran around the park, standing in lines for Pirates of the Caribbean, screaming on the Matterhorn, and spinning wilding in circles on the Tea Cups.
We really worked up an appetite dashing between rides to fit in as many as we possibly could, so Disneyland kindly gave us each a $10 meal voucher in exchange for the parade. Most years, we spent it on the world’s best pizza from Pizza Port (that crust… ohmygosh it’s the softest and chewiest you’ll ever eat!), while a few kids branched out and bought turkey legs bigger than my head.
One year, we craved sugar and spent our entire vouchers at the Blue Ribbon Bakery and Candy Palace on Main Street. We watched the workers slicing fudge and dipping caramel apples, then browsed through the various lollipops and chocolates. But my favorites were always the brownies and cookies from the bakery, especially the snickerdoodles. They were incredibly soft and chewy… And bigger than my entire hand. I never shared!
When those memories resurfaced this past week while watching a commercial for Disneyland on TV, a fierce craving for snickerdoodles hit. As I pulled out the butter from the fridge and spotted the eggnog carton, I decided to make my own holiday variation and created these Eggnog Snickerdoodles instead!
They’re cookie #2 of Cookie Week on Amy’s Healthy Baking! We made rainbow chocolate chip cookies before—the butteriest healthy cookies you’ll ever try—and still to come are minty, spiced, and classic treats. Stay tuned!
My #1 Tip for these Eggnog Snickerdoodles is to make sure you measure the flour correctly. Use one of two options: a light hand with the spoon-and-level method or a kitchen scale. I highly recommend the latter! This is the inexpensive kitchen scale that I own, and I use it to make every recipe on this blog. It’s worth its weight in gold because it ensures that your baked goods turn out with the perfect taste and texture every time!
In these cookies, I completely replaced the eggs with eggnog. And then added a little bit more. I wanted to make sure you really tasted the festive drink! I actually tested these with Silk’s holiday nog, which is completely vegan friendly. If you go that route and replace the butter with Earth Balance Buttery Spread, these cookies are entirely vegan too. (And perfect for my brother who’s allergic to eggs!)
With ¼ cup of eggnog, the cookie dough is very wet, so chilling is mandatory. I’ve tried chilling for 30 minutes and for up to 2 hours. Either way, the cookie dough never fully stiffens, so rolling it is going to be a somewhat sticky affair.
My best advice? Use a spoon and spatula (or a cookie scoop!) to drop a rounded mound of cookie dough directly into the spiced sugar. Turn the cookie dough around until it’s covered; then roll it between your palms to shape it into a ball. That thin layer of sugar on the outside mostly prevents it from sticking to your hands.
Because I just love cinnamon and nutmeg, I dropped mine back into the sugar to roll again. Seriously you guys… Do the double roll! It creates a cute glittery coating on the cookies, and it adds a tiny crunchy touch, which beautifully complements the extra chewy insides.
I brought two dozen of these Eggnog Snickerdoodles to my guy’s family’s Thanksgiving dinner. As soon as I set them down, one of his uncles immediately grabbed three from the plate to much on while we waited for the turkey to rest.
I’m not the only one with no self-control around these… They’re that good!
And when you make your own, remember to snap a picture and share it on Instagram using #amyshealthybaking and tagging @amyshealthybaking IN the photo itself! (That guarantees I’ll see your picture! ?) I’d love to see your snickerdoodles and feature them in my Sunday Spotlight series!
| Eggnog Snickerdoodles | | Print |
- for the cookies
- 1 cup (120g) all-purpose flour (measured correctly)
- ¾ tsp cornstarch
- ¾ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- ⅛ tsp salt
- 2 tbsp (28) unsalted butter, melted
- ¼ cup (60mL) light or dairy-free eggnog, warmed to room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ cup (48g) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (52g) light brown sugar
- for the coating
- 3 tbsp (36g) granulated sugar
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- ⅛ tsp ground nutmeg
- To prepare the cookies, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the butter, eggnog, and vanilla. Stir in the granulated and brown sugars. Add in the flour mixture, stirring until barely incorporated. Chill the cookie dough for at least 30 minutes, or up to 3 hours. (If chilling longer than 3 hours, cover the cookie dough with plastic wrap to avoid letting it dry out.)
- Preheat the oven to 350°F, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- To prepare the coating, stir together the sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a small bowl.
- Using a spoon and spatula or a cookie scoop, drop one portion of cookie dough into rounded mounds in the bowl of spiced sugar. Rotate it until its fully coated; then roll it between your palms into a ball. Drop it back in the spiced sugar, coat again, and place on the prepared baking sheet. If the cookie dough was chilled longer than 1 hour, flatten the cookie dough balls slightly.
- Bake the cookies at 350°F for 9-12 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.
Make sure the eggnog is warmed to room temperature. Otherwise, it will quickly chill the melted butter and make it re-solidify. If this happens, microwave the mixture (in a microwave-safe bowl!) for 8-12 seconds, or until the butter re-melts.
For a vegan version, substitute Earth Balance Buttery Spread in place of the butter, and use holiday “nog” from Silk or So Delicious.
If the cookies did not spread while baking, there was too much flour in the dough. It's very important to measure the flour correctly using the spoon and level method or a kitchen scale. If the flour is scooped directly from the container using a measuring cup, you'll end up with 1.5 times as much flour in your cookie dough, which will make the cookies dry and cakey, as well as prevent the cookies from spreading.
If your cookie dough seems too dry in comparison the cookie dough in the video (in the blog post above the recipe), mix in additional eggnog 1 teaspoon at a time until your cookie dough resembles the texture of the cookie dough in the video after chilling. You can skip the chilling step and bake the cookies right away.
{vegan, low fat, low calorie}
More eggnog cookie recipes created by other food bloggers…
Soft and Chewy Eggnog Cookies by Life, Love & Sugar
Eggnog Cookies with Eggnog Glaze by Baked Bree
Eggnog Sugar Cookies by Crème de la Crumb
Melt-In-Your-Mouth Eggnog Cookies by Cooking Classy
Mine did not flatten at all! They stayed big pillowy balls and were very cake-like instead of how I wanted them, chewey with crisp edges. I followed the recipe exactly and was not thrilled with the outcome.
I’m sorry the cookies didn’t turn out how you expected them to Emily; that must have been very disappointing. If the cookies were cakey instead of chewy and didn’t flatten, that means that there were either too many dry ingredients or not enough wet. It’s very important that the flour is measured correctly using the spoon-and-level method or a kitchen scale. Generally, too much flour is usually the culprit for cakey/round cookies that don’t spread. Make sure ¼ cup of both granulated and brown sugars are added to the batter. Using less of either will also lead to cakey cookies. I hope your next batch turns out perfectly!
Hi, I finally got these to come out perfectly on the third try. I’m a newlywed and newlycook, so the problems with the consistency of the first two was all me! I could just tell from how the third one scooped that it was right. The batter always tasted delicious, but so exciting to have them come up as real snickerdoodles, not cake balls. Your baking tips page was Awesome!! 🙂
I’m so glad you enjoyed the cookies Cait! And I’m thrilled that you found the baking tips page so helpful. I’m sure your new partner really appreciated the effort you put into these cookies, too! 🙂
Hello Amy, I had a quick question, I’m having a cookie swap with some friends and family and I wanted to try this out. Have you ever frozen these? And we’re they just as good.
If you freeze the already baked cookies, that should be just fine Vicky! I prefer to thaw them on paper towels to help absorb any moisture. The cookie swap sounds wonderful — I hope you and your loved ones have fun!
These were HORRIBLE. The batter was so stiff. They didn’t expand at all, and taste simply of flour. Is there an ingredient missing???
I’m sorry the cookies didn’t turn out for you Christy; that must have been disappointing. If the cookies tasted like flour and they didn’t spread while baking, then there was too much flour in the cookie dough. How did you measure the flour? I’ve found that when I scoop the flour directly from the container, I end up with 1.5 times as much as when I lightly spoon and level (I describe more about that method here) or use a kitchen scale. That extra flour would definitely cause the problems you describe! The cookie dough should be very wet and sticky when you first mix everything together, and after chilling, it should still be stiffer and just a tiny bit sticky. Hopefully your next batch turns out better! 🙂
I am so confused! I made these exactly to the instructions and weighed out everything with my scale. Yet they still turned out like little cake balls that didn’t spread out or cook! Is there maybe something off with the liquid on this recipe?!
I’m sorry the cookies didn’t turn out for you Sam; that must have been disappointing. I’d like to work together to figure out what happened so that your next batch turns out better! Usually when cookies don’t spread, it’s because there’s too much flour or not enough wet ingredients. If you measured the flour by weight and included the full amount of eggnog and both sugars, then it could be because the dough was chilled for too long. How long did you chill the cookie dough? The longer the dough is chilled, the less the cookies will spread. The cookie dough should be very wet and sticky when it’s first mixed up, but it should be just slightly sticky and much stiffer when it’s done chilling. Do you think this could’ve been the issue?
Your cookies recipe didn’t work the batter was crumblely and you had a typo that messed up the entire recipe.
I’m sorry the cookies didn’t turn out for you Kiersten; that must have been disappointing. There are no typos in the recipe, so I’d like to work together to figure out what happened so that your next batch turns out better! If the cookie dough was crubmly, it’s because there’s too much flour or not enough wet ingredients. How did you measure the flour? I’ve found that when I scoop the flour directly from the container with a measuring spoon, I end up with 1.5 times as much as when I lightly spoon and level or use a kitchen scale. This would cause the problems that you saw in your cookie dough. It’s also important to add the full amount of eggnog, granulated sugar, and brown sugar. Not enough of any of these would also cause the same problems. The cookie dough should be very wet and sticky when it’s first mixed up, but it should be just slightly sticky and much stiffer when it’s done chilling. Do you think any of these could’ve been the issue?
Can I freeze the dough and thaw to bake? Thanks!!
I’ve only tried freezing the cookies once they’ve been baked, and that works really well. I generally recommend that instead of freezing the dough because low-fat cookie dough usually doesn’t freeze as well as traditional recipes (it doesn’t always spread the way it’s supposed to while baking after freezing!). I hope you enjoy the cookies Anne Beth! 🙂
Hi-
These sound delish! Do you think I can substitute the all purpose flower with almond/coconut flour to make them gluten free?
Thanks Ayers! I don’t recommend substituting just almond and coconut flour, but the gluten-free flour blend I can guarantee will work is the following: ¼ cup (30g) millet flour, ¼ cup (30g) tapioca flour, 3 tablespoons (21g) coconut flour and ¾ teaspoon xanthan gum. (The xanthan gum imitates gluten’s structural properties, so I do not recommend omitting it.) I hope you enjoy the cookies if you try them!
Hi, I thought that these cookies would be an amazing addition to my Christmas cookies I make every year. I timesed the recipe by 8 and they came out crumbly there is not enough liquid in the recipe. I measured everything with a scale so I know I didn’t mess up. Should I add eggs or just keep adding butter and eggnog until late the batter gets stucky? I would really appreciate your help.
I’m sorry the cookies didn’t turn out for your Angel; that must have been disappointing. I highly recommend against scaling up a recipe by 8. Oftentimes when multiplying ingredient amounts by that much, the original recipe doesn’t work as well as it should, if at all. Instead, I’d suggest sticking to a single or double batch to start so you know what the cookie dough should look and feel like. I also recommend watching my video located above the recipe to compare what your cookie dough should look like for each step. The best thing to do with your cookie dough is add more eggnog until it comes together. I hope that helps and you enjoy the cookies!
I made about 6 batches of these for a cookie swap and each batch came out a little different. After reading the comments, I now see that you have to be extremely careful. These aren’t full proof cookies. The batches that came out good (more snicker doodle like and less cake like) are great. The others aren’t bad but could be better. Happy baking everyone!
I’m glad you had some batches that worked Danielle! Hopefully the video helped. 🙂 So sweet of you to make these for your cookie exchange — I hope you received some yummy treats in return, too!