By Late February. Mama is on the 3-to-11 closing shift at the Dollar General most of this week. Cody made it to Sunday dinner last weekend like he had said he would — first time he had been at our kitchen table in fourteen months — and Mama and I had spent most of Monday in the kitchen processing what the dinner had been and what it had meant. The dinner had been good. Cody had been thin and quiet but present. He had eaten three plates of the cashew chicken leftovers I had pulled out of the freezer. He had stayed for two hours. He had hugged Mama at the door without saying much.
I made holiday eggnog snickerdoodles Tuesday night because Mama had been on the closing shift and would not be home until eleven-thirty and I had wanted there to be something on the counter for her when she came in. The cookies are snickerdoodles with a half-cup of eggnog folded into the batter, rolled in cinnamon-sugar, baked at three-fifty for ten minutes. Soft chewy centers with crispy cinnamon-sugar exteriors. The eggnog is the small twist that turns a standard snickerdoodle into a holiday-cookie variant.
Mama came home at eleven-forty Tuesday night. She walked into the kitchen, saw the four dozen snickerdoodles on the cooling rack, sat down at the kitchen table without taking her coat off, and ate three with a glass of cold milk. She said: baby, you do not have to do this. I said: I know, Mama. I wanted to.
Holiday Eggnog Snickerdoodles
Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 12 minutes | Total Time: 32 minutes (plus 30 minutes chilling) | Servings: 36 cookies
Ingredients
- 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1/3 cup eggnog
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- For the rolling sugar:
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Instructions
- Whisk dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.
- Cream butter and sugar. In a large bowl, beat the softened butter and granulated sugar together with a hand mixer or stand mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- Add wet ingredients. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then mix in the eggnog and vanilla extract until fully combined.
- Combine. Reduce mixer speed to low and gradually add the flour mixture, mixing just until no dry streaks remain. Do not overmix.
- Chill the dough. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. This keeps the cookies from spreading too thin and deepens the flavor.
- Preheat oven. When ready to bake, preheat your oven to 375°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Make rolling sugar. In a small bowl, stir together the 3 tablespoons sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg for rolling.
- Shape and coat. Scoop the dough into 1 1/2-tablespoon portions and roll each into a smooth ball. Roll each ball thoroughly in the cinnamon-nutmeg sugar until fully coated.
- Bake. Place dough balls 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake for 10–12 minutes, until the edges are just set and the tops are crinkled but the centers still look slightly underdone. They will firm up as they cool.
- Cool. Let cookies rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container or layer into tins with parchment between each layer.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 118 | Protein: 1g | Fat: 5g | Carbs: 17g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 62mg