Eggnog Snickerdoodles

Slightly adapted from Vaughn Vreeland’s recipe, these Eggnog Snickerdoodles are festive and oh-so-delicious.

It’s cookie time again! We are making our list (and checking it twice!) of cookies that sound festive and yummy enough to make it into our 2022 gifting rotation. 

First on our list: the adorable Vaughn Vreeland’s Eggnog Snickerdoodles. If you don’t know Vaughn, Google his NYT Cooking videos. He’s the producer of them, including a bunch of videos starring him. Vaughn says this Eggnog Snickerdoodle recipe is an update of a favorite family recipe, and it’s obvious why this one is a favorite. It tastes of eggnog (thank you freshly grated nutmeg and rum extract), has a bit of sugary crunch on the surface, and its interior texture is, as Vaughn describes it, “custardy.” What about that does not say yum?

This is Vaughn’s recipe mostly verbatim. I made a couple of additions: I just barely flattened the rolled balls of cookie dough with the back of a drinking glass so that my cookies had a tiny bit more spread. I also added some silvery dragées to the cookie tops before baking. Festive and fun! And oh so yummy for your Christmas cookie box.

Eggnog Snickerdoodles
from Vaughn Vreeland for NYTCooking

3 ½ cups flour
1 ½ teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg, plus 2 teaspoons for rolling
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), at room temperature
1 ¾ cups sugar, plus ¼ cup for rolling
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 large egg plus 2 yolks, at room temperature
1 tablespoon rum extract
Dragées for decorating (optional)

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and ½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg. Set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter, 1 ¾ cups sugar, and the salt on medium-high until very smooth and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl, return the mixer to medium speed, and add the egg and egg yolks, incorporating each before adding the next. Add the rum extract. Scrape down the sides of the bowl again and continue beating for another minute or two.

Add the flour mixture and beat on low speed until combined. (You may want to start by “pulsing” the flour, so that it doesn’t go everywhere.) Set the dough aside to hydrate for about 10 minutes while you prepare to bake.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Make the nutmeg-sugar mixture to roll the cookies in by combining the remaining ¼ cup sugar and 2 teaspoons nutmeg in a small bowl.

Roll the dough into golf ball-sized balls, the roll each dough ball in the nutmeg-sugar. Transfer the balls to the baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Barely flatten the balls to about ¾-inch thick with the back of a drinking glass. If using, gently press the dragées into the tops of the cookies. Bake 10 to 13 minutes, rotating pans and switching racks halfway through, until slightly puffed and just set.

Let the cookies cool slightly on the baking sheet before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. These cookies are even better the day after they’re made.