Rum flavored Eggnog Snickerdoodles are rolled in a nutmeg and cinnamon mixture. They are the perfect holiday cookie!
Eggnog is one of my favorite holiday flavors. These Eggnog Snickerdoodles along with Eggnog Cookies, Eggnog French Toast, and Eggnog Bread are among some of our favorite festive treats.
A holiday twist on a classic
When it comes to holiday baking, I definitely think that eggnog is an underrated flavor. Everyone goes for peppermint and gingerbread, but eggnog is one of my favorites!
These eggnog snickerdoodles are soft and tender, just slightly crisp around the edges, and full of delicious eggnog flavor. They’re simple to make, and perfect for holiday parties or serving with a big cup of hot cocoa!
The cookies are made with eggnog in the dough and a splash of rum extract to give them that perfect eggnog flavor. One of the fun things that makes these cookies unique is that instead of rolling them in a cinnamon sugar mixture, like a regular snickerdoodle, they’re rolled in a nutmeg and sugar mixture.
They are topped with a delicious eggnog glaze. You can pipe the glaze into snowflakes, or just drizzle it over the cookies. Either way, they’re totally delicious!
How to make eggnog snickerdoodles
PREP. Preheat the oven to 350. Line two large baking sheets with parchment or spray with cooking spray.
COMBINE. In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together butter and 1 cup sugar, until light and fluffy. Add the egg, rum extract, and eggnog, and mix to combine. Add the flour, salt, baking soda, and nutmeg, and mix until a soft dough forms.
DIP. In a small bowl, whisk together the ½ cup sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Scoop the dough into one inch balls and roll in the sugar mixture. Place on the prepared baking sheets.
BAKE. Bake 10-12 minutes, or until lightly browned on the bottom. Let cool on pan for 5 minutes, then move to a cooling rack.
DECORATE. While the cookies are cooling, whisk together the powdered sugar and enough eggnog to make an icing that is easy to drizzle but not too runny. Pipe snowflakes onto the cooled cookies, or drizzle with the icing.
Recipe Tips
- Chilling: If you find the dough to be a bit sticky to roll into balls, chill it for 30 minutes first.
- Don’t over bake. Remove cookies right as they are about to be finished. They’ll continue to bake to perfection while cooling on the cookie sheet.
- Piping Hack: If you don’t have a piping set, then use a Ziploc bag with a small piece of the tip cut off.
- Cream of Tartar: Cream of tartar is not listed as an ingredient. Some of you may be of the opinion that you cannot have a snickerdoodle without it. If you would like to substitute the ½ tsp baking soda with 1 tsp of cream of tartar you can. It may produce a slightly different cookie, but it will be close enough.
- Rum Extract: The rum extract has the rum flavor but not the alcohol content.
Storing Info
Like many other cookies these store well in both baked and dough form.
STORE baked cookies in an airtight container on the counter for up to a week. Be sure the frosting has set before stacking. Place a piece of white bread in the container to help keep the cookies soft.
Freezer: Separate layers with parchment paper and store in an airtight freezer safe container for about a month.
Dough: The dough can be frozen for 1-2 months before rolling in the nutmeg/sugar mixture and baked.
- Roll dough into balls and place them on a cookie sheet.
- Freeze them for about an hour, once they are frozen place them all in a freezer safe Ziploc bag.
- Label the bag and include bake temperature and time.
- Thaw on the cookie sheet before baking.
- Bake time may need to be adjusted so watch carefully.
Some more holiday cookie recipes, check out:
- Peppermint Cheesecake Cookies
- Chocolate Chip Christmas Cookies
- Black and White Chocolate Peppermint M&M Cookies
- Cream Cheese Cookies
- No Roll Sugar Cookies
Eggnog Snickerdoodles Recipe
Ingredients
Dough
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp rum extract
- 1/2 cup eggnog
- 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
Sugar Mixture for rolling
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 T cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
Icing
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1-2 tbsp eggnog
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350. Line two large baking sheets with parchment or spray with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together butter and 1 cup sugar, until light and fluffy. Add the egg, rum extract, and eggnog, and mix to combine. Add the flour, salt, baking soda, and nutmeg, and mix until a soft dough forms.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the ½ cup sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Scoop the dough into one inch balls and roll in the sugar mixture. Place on the prepared baking sheets.
- Bake 10-12 minutes, or until lightly browned on the bottom. Let cool on pan for 5 minutes, then move to a cooling rack.
- While the cookies are cooling, whisk together the powdered sugar and enough eggnog to make an icing that is easy to drizzle but not too runny. Pipe snowflakes onto the cooled cookies, or drizzle with the icing.
Thanks for sharing this eggnog snickerdoodle recipes with us Alicia!
For more amazing recipes by her, head over to The Baker Upstairs.
These sound amazing! I will definitely be trying them out to see if they will make it into my cookie rotation. I did notice that, though you mentioned that the cookies are rolled in a nutmeg and cinnamon mixture, the recipe doesn’t call for cinnamon. Did you add some anyway? And if so how much?
This is a contributors recipe, but I did see that it’s just sugar in the recipe. Sorry for the type-o. Let us know what you think!!
Hi! Would love to make these for an upcoming cookie exchange. Can they be frozen after they are made?
I don’t see why not, but this recipe is from Alicia from the Baker Upstairs, http://www.thebakerupstairs.com/. There is her info, if you’d like to ask her. Hope that helps!! Good luck!
I’m with you about eggnog being an underrated flavor! We have just enough to give these cookies a try and I’m excited to see how they taste! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks so much! Let me know what you think!!
The recipes says, “Add the flour, salt, baking soda, and nutmeg, and mix until a soft dough forms,” but no nutmeg is listed in the ingredients for the cookie portion. How much nutmeg do we need to add, if any?
Recipe is fixed – there is a 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg in the flour too. Thanks for the heads up!! ;D
Going to make these for cookie exchange how many cookies does this recipe make?
You could get 2-3 dozen. Just depends on how big you make them 🙂 Have fun!!
I made these today and they are amazing!
Glad you thought so!
These cookies are perfection! My family cant stop eating them! Thank you.
Love to hear that!! Thank you so much for letting me know!
You say to add cinnamOn but cant find out how much
Sorry about that. I added it. It would be 2 Tablespoons 🙂 Enjoy!
I see that these are alled eggnog “snickerdoodLes”. Most snickerdoode recipes have cream of tarTar. Is there a Reason that is not iNcluded In this recipe? Could it be added for a cheWy taste or should i not mess with the recipe!!
It was just not needed & I haven’t tried, but you totally can. I am not sure of the outcome, though.
I suck at making cookies but these turned out great! Amazing texture. The only thing i would change if I make these again is Add a tiny bit more eggnog into the cookie dough. They do HAVE a nice eggnog undertone but i personally want a LITTLE more of a kick.
You could definitely add more, but thank you for trying them!! Glad you liked them!
Made two batches of these last night and they are a hit at the office! the eggnog flavor is definitely subtle but I like it! Consistency of the cookie is perfect. I found the estimate of 3 dozen cookies per batch to be very accurate.
Yay, I am so happy they were a hit!! Thank you so much for sharing that & giving this recipe a try!
WILL THE ICING HARDEN ENOUGH TO BE STACKED? I AM PLANNING TO MAKE THESE TO PACKAGE UP AS GIFTS FOR SOME FRIENDS.
It does harden, but doesn’t get too hard. I have put them on goodie plates & they seem to do ok. Hope that helps!
just tried the recipe and my cookies did not spread at all. They stayed as little poofs, still tasty but they don’t really give that same spreading that normal snickerdoodles do. Any ideas what could have gone wrong? Mine also looked way darker with the 2 tbsp of cinnamon added for rolling.
I am sorry they didn’t spread. There are so many reasons that can affect the outcome of cookies, so it’s very hard to know & pin point. Did you add the other ingredients with the cinnamon for rolling?
Yes I added everything listed except i swapped the rum extract for vanilla. I was hoping for the spread that your regular snickerdoodle recipe does. They are super tasty and Everyone loves them though! =) They just give a more 2 bite cake look then a cookie.
These sound delicious – going to try today. Can I substitute ‘Rum’ for ‘rum extract’?
I personally have not tried, but I am sure you could.
Also my favorite kind of Christmas cookie
Excellent! Perfect texture. We are not rum fans so replaced the rum extract with vanilla extract.
I’m struggling. I’ve made these the last few years and they’ve been great, but now my dough is so sticky I cannot even touch it to roll in the sugar mixture. I kept adding small amounts of flour but no no avail. What am I doing wrong?
Sometimes if my cookie dough is sticky or hard to work with, I will chill the dough for a bit before rolling. Perhaps that will help?
How do these hold up in the freezer?
Great! If you freeze, just separate layers with parchment paper and store in an airtight freezer safe container for about a month. You can also freeze the dough balls before rolling in sugar/nutmeg.
Can these be frozen baked or unbaked? Thanks!
Either one! If you do freeze after baking, just make sure they have fully cooked before freezing. There are instructions in the post that explain a little more how you can freeze the cookies.