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
Definitely going to try this. Looking for Xmas cookie recipes now and found this on a roundup post. Great video too. I like the 24 Easy Xmas treats post.
Thank you so much Anna! I’m really glad you enjoyed my Easy Christmas Treats round-up too. 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of these cookies!
Does the type of Eggnog matter? (For example, using Eggnog with dairy) . Recipe looks delicious!
Any eggnog will work! 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of the cookies Kayla!
Amy;
Hi,your eggnog snickerdoodle cookies look so good and tastey.I have all of the ingredients but I don’t have the eggnog,and at the end of this month after I do my first part of my Christmas shopping,wrap my gifts I am going to buy the full fat eggnog and make your cookies.I will let you know what my family,relatives think about your cookies and how much we love and enjoy eating your cookies.
Kim
Thank you so much for your kind comment Kim! I’m so excited to hear what you and your family think of these cookies! 🙂
Amy;
Hi,I have all of the ingredients in the kitchen to make your eggnog snickerdoodle cookies and I will make your cookies as soon as I can find a kitchen scale that I can see without asking my mom to help me out when I buy a scale to use on the kitchen counter to make your cookies.I am going to the cnib in the city I live in to see if the cnib store has a talking scale that will help me to measure out the proper ingredients to make your cookies.
We don’t have a kitchen scale at home and I can’t see the regular scales because I am partially sighted with limited vision.I have large print measuring cups and measuring spoons that I use to bake or cook your recipes.
I will let you know what these cookies taste like after I make and bake your cookies.
The cnib has talking bathroom scales that will tell me how much I weigh.which will be my new year resolution shortly after Jan.1 2018 when I start my goal of trying to lose weight and get better control of my blood sugar,it isn’t really bad but it is a challenge to keep it in the normal range on a regular basis,but I try hard to do the best that I can.
I do daily Nordic walking with my poles in the snow.
Kim
That’s wonderful Kim! Good for you! Such an amazing goal to have for 2018. With how dedicated you are, I’m sure you’ll succeed! 🙂 I hope you find a good kitchen scale soon. I can’t wait to hear what you think of these cookies!
Hi, Amy
Thanks for this great snickerdoodles. It looks so delicious to me. My sister is a vegan, she will definitely like this recipe.I’ll have to share the link to your recipe with her 🙂
You’re so sweet to think of your sister, Donna! I’d love to hear what she thinks if she tries these cookies! 🙂
These look so good! I love how easy they are to make – and, of course, that they are healthy!
Thanks so much!
Hi, your eggnog snickerdoodle cookies seem so great and tasty. I possess all the components but I really don’t possess the eggnog, and at the end of the month once I do my very first portion of my Christmas shopping, wrap my presents that I will purchase the complete fat eggnog and produce your biscuits.
Thanks
I can’t wait to hear what you think of these snickerdoodles! 🙂
Wow – these are amazing! I just made them with some pumpkin spice eggnog from our milkman. They came out chewy & delicious! Thanks for the recipe!!
I’m so glad you loved these cookies Rebecca! I love your idea of using pumpkin spice eggnog — I need to remember that! 😉
I really like this eggnog recipe, It’s looking so good.Thanks for sharing the quick video. It was really helpful.
I’m so happy to hear that Alan! I’d love to hear what you think if you try making these snickerdoodles! 🙂
Love these and made them last year! Wondering if you’ve had any luck freezing the dough (before the sugar step I imagine?) and baking them at a later date? I want to make for a cookie swap but only have time to do all the prep the week before. Interested to hear your thoughts.
Thank you!
I’m so glad you loved these cookies Jess! That means a lot to me that you want to make them again this holiday season! 🙂 I actually haven’t tried freezing the cookie dough before, so I’m honestly not sure and don’t want to lead you astray. If you decide to try, I’d love to hear how it turns out! (And you’re right, freezing before the rolling in sugar step would probably be best!)