What a crazy past couple of weeks. I remember Halloween..then my son’s birthday and wham here we are just weeks away from Christmas. From frantic bake sale baking, long distance cookie swap baking to mom’s wine night & cookie exchange baking….I feel like I barely came out alive. Maybe I just take on too much every holiday season and need to rethink my strategy next year. To add to all the craziness was the onset of the sick in November. From colds, pneumonia, bronchitis, tonsillitis to ear infections..4 in our party of 5 got hit pretty hard and I was one of them. Seems the older you get the harder you fall and while I don’t usually get sick, I fell pretty hard this time. Which meant no wine for weeks. On the bright side we are all done with being sick and I refuse to let it back in the house any time soon. Bring on Christmas.
One of the cookie swaps I am involved with again this year is the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap 2014. It’s a world wide affair but you have to be a Food Blogger to participate. For a small submission fee (goes to Cookies for Kids’ Cancer), you get matched up with other Food Bloggers in your Country. You always hope you end up with delicious cookies but that is the chance you take when you participate in something like this. It annoys me to no end to hear people complain that their cookies were not that good. Then honestly don’t participate it’s that simple since it’s for charity and it’s fun. The only thing I wish more bloggers would do is get acquainted with the more popular social media channels!! This year I sent my cookie swap cookies to BC and Saskatchewan. A little closer for me and I was happy about that (less travel time).
I had wanted to do a shortbread cookie this year. And after testing out one recipe I totally changed my game plan as I had also been wanting to create an eggnog cookie. For like years. So with just days to spare I came up with I guess a cross between a blossom cookie and a sugar cookie. I say sugar as the ingredients closely resemble a sugar cookie recipe. Took me two tries to get the ingredients right, but I did and it’s pretty darn good. I ran out of chocolate kisses so improvised with chocolate balls. I like this idea so much, my next batch of blossom style cookies will have balls and not kisses.
The cookies I received from Bloggers are: World Peace Cookies from The Blenderist, Coffee Sugar Cookies from Oven Mitt Adventures, and just received is my prettiest package yet, Sour Cherry White Chocolate Chunk Cookies by Wanna Come With. A fun way to get to know other bloggers!
This recipe makes close to 30 cookies so I had lots leftover. So much so I made these Eggnog Sugar Cookies with Candy Cane Sprinkles for another cookie swap!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 3 tbsp eggnog
- 2 cups flour
- pinch of salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 cup sugar & 1 tbsp nutmeg for rolling
- 3 ;Lrge candy canes crushed up fine.
- 30 chocolate kisses or chocolate candy balls
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F.
- Beat your butter. Add in both sugars and mix until sugars mixed in and smooth. Add egg, vanilla and eggnog. Beat until combined.
- Sift in flour, pinch of salt, baking soda and grate your nutmeg in over a sifter.
- Your batter consistency should not be to sticky or to dry.
- Take pieces of the dough and roll into 1 inch balls. Set aside.
- Mix 1/2 cup sugar with 1 tbsp freshly grated nutmeg. Roll balls in nutmeg sugar.
- Place on parchment lined baking sheet leaving space between cookies.
- Bake for 6 minutes then rotate pans.
- Remove wrappers from all the chocolate kisses/balls.
- Bake for 4 minutes then pull pan out and sprinkle a little candy cane dust in the center of each cookie. It's ok if some of it falls to the side.
- Put pan back in oven for an addition 2 minutes and remove from oven.
- Press chocolate kisses or balls into centre of each cookie. You need to work quickly as the chocolate starts to melt a little.
- Remove to cooling rack. I put the cookies outside in the cold (on a table) or in the fridge to help the chocolate solidify again.
- This batch makes about 30 cookies.
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