As I was looking through my cutter collection a month or so ago, which grows rather frequently, I realized my Christmas assortment was rather small. In my defense, my cutters are used for fondant too, so they serve dual purpose, and I haven’t made any Christmas-themed cakes in which I needed anything other than what I had. So, with the Godfather’s blessing I started hunting around for some new toys to add and I found… The Leg Lamp.
To be honest, I haven’t seen the movie in its entirety, although my Dad and the Godfather both like it. I’m scared of possible violence from the BB gun? There is a BB gun right? Anyway, I’m going to try and watch it this year, promise. I may even get motivated to make another batch of these cookies just for the movie viewing… probably not. Sugar cookies are far from my favorite dessert. I enjoy making them because they help me practice my fine piping techniques for cake decorating, they ship well, and look cute, and my recipe is fan-tastic, but most others taste like sweet play-dough. When I chose to offer them at the bakery, I spent a long time perfecting my recipe so the dough actually tastes good and has a crumb I like. And no, I’m not ready to share it, so this is still not it. :-p
But it is a fantastic eggnog-inspired recipe you should totally make this year! It tastes great on its own, but it also holds its shape perfectly to make a good base for your preferred decorating frosting.
I had a question about the frosting recipe I use for making my decorated cookies. I really like, and have always used, the Sweetopia recipe for royal icing. Want to know why? I liked the illustrations. And it makes the perfect amount for a few dozen cookies, just right when I’m making a few batches. So I’m going to send you over there to see the pretty illustrations too. She’s a phenomenal cookie decorator and her website has loads of inspiration and tutorials, so it’s definitely worth bookmarking, I always learn something new. I do make one bitsy modification though and I add a little more flavoring. Meringue powder is blegh, so you need to flavor it with something. A clear flavoring is great – I’ve used lemon, almond, and coffee to add a light compliment to the cookie depending on dough flavor. Real vanilla extract only comes in color though, and that is my default, so when I use that, I add white gel coloring to bring me back to a nice white base.
If you don’t plan to make several dozen cookies and want a frosting recipe for a smaller quantity, I have one in my Halloween cookie tutorial. 😉 With either recipe you will get a nice hard frosting that will be completely dry in 6-8 hours so you can stack, ship, and share. Meringue powder can be found at craft stores and some grocery stores. I haven’t found a significant difference in flavor or function between brands, so whatever you find is good.
I do hope you’ll enjoy the tutorial! You’ll see in the video that I am using two different types of containers for my icing. I have two colors in my usual piping bags, and one color in a bottle. As part of The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap, I received a promotional gift from OXO, a set of two decorating bottles. I had tried bottles for decorating once before and I wasn’t happy with them, so I was hesitant when I saw these, but having several OXO brand items in my kitchen (including my new ridiculously efficient grater that I purchased), I decided to give them a try. I’m impressed. I didn’t really like the small decorating tip they had, so I used one of my own and it worked nicely with the bottle. My frosting didn’t dry out and I had no issues with flow, and the bottle is small enough that I can control it easily with my small hands. So I like them, and may pick up a few more since they’re reusable and flip inside out for really easy and thorough cleaning – which was one of my BIG issues with bottles before.
Here’s a link to the video, with the recipe for the eggnog sugar cookie dough below. If you have any questions, comment below, find me on Facebook, or send me an e-mail! I hope you enjoy the tutorial and recipe. Happy holiday baking! 🙂
Eggnog Sugar Cookies
Combining two traditional holiday treats into one sweet eat! 😉
Ingredients
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
- 2 egg yolks
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar, unpacked
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 2 1/4 c all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Cream together the butter and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer until just combined.
- Add the egg yolks and vanilla extract and mix. Scrape the sides of the bowl.
- In another bowl, mix together the salt, baking powder, nutmeg, and flour.
- Add the flour mixture in 3 batches to the butter and mix just until all the flour has been incorporated.
- Split the dough in two and roll each section to 1/4" thick between two sheets of plastic wrap. Refrigerate 30 minutes.
- Preheat your oven to 400F. Remove the cookie dough sheets one at a time from the refrigerator. Cut out your shapes and lay them on ungreased parchment paper lined baking sheets. Re-roll and refrigerate any remaining cookie dough.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes until the edges are a very light golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to set on the sheet for 5-10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Cookies must be completely cool before decorating.
Hillary
Wednesday 23rd of December 2015
I am so obsessed. And thank you for that link for royal icing. I can NEVER get it right!
The Godmother
Wednesday 23rd of December 2015
Thanks! That recipe has worked very well for me, and no matter what other meringue powder icings I try, I keep coming back to that one.
Whitney @ That Square Plate
Wednesday 23rd of December 2015
One of my fav Christmas movies!! These just made my day!! :)
Whitney
Friday 18th of December 2015
These are too stinkin cute!
The Godmother
Friday 18th of December 2015
Thank you!
Byron Thomas
Thursday 17th of December 2015
So cute! But, I'd much rather the trees over the leg lamp. :) The decorated tree cookies look awesome!
The Godmother
Friday 18th of December 2015
Thanks! I'm rather partial to them myself.
Marian (Sweetopia)
Wednesday 10th of December 2014
These are super cute! I watched the movie in my tweens and thought the part where the little brother is in the snow suit (I won't ruin it in case you haven't seen that part), was hilarious.
TheGodmother
Thursday 11th of December 2014
Thank you, and thank you for stopping by! I'll definitely be watching the movie soon. ;-)