If you’re looking for new or unique Christmas cookies to bring to the party – might I introduce you to the eggnog latte cookie! This slice-and-baked eggnog cookie is soft in the middle, crispy at the edges, filled with sweet nutmeg flavor and perfect for making ahead of time. If you’re going to a cookie exchange, or if you want a dough that’s perfect to freeze-then-bake, this cookie is it.
This eggnog latte cookie is also uniquely cozy. I feel like during this time of year all I want to think about is hot drinks and cozy traditions and this cookie fully encapsulates that for me. If you are a fan of eggnog, this is the best cookie recipe you can make this season.
Table of contents
- What is eggnog made of?
- The ingredients you will need for these eggnog latte cookies
- How to make the espresso white chocolate “chips”
- Instructions for these eggnog latte cookies
- Tips & tricks on how to store and bake the eggnog cookie dough
- FAQ
- Why do I offer measurements in grams for this eggnog cookie recipe?
- Looking for other cookies this holiday season?
What is eggnog made of?
Eggnog is traditionally made of milk, cream, egg yolks, whipped egg whites, sugar, brandy, with a heavy dose of nutmeg and cinnamon in the mix. Of course, like any popular recipe, the ingredients and the method tend to ebb and flow based on region, family recipes, personal preference etc. But the key thing about eggnog is it is delicious, and it deserves to be made into an eggnog latte cookie.
To play off of the traditional recipe, I lean on cinnamon and nutmeg for flavor, a heavy dose of sugar for the sweetness, and butter as the source of rich-chewy-goodness. It’s not going to taste like drinking a bourbon-spiked eggnog cocktail, but people will definitely know what it is the moment they taste it!
The ingredients you will need for these eggnog latte cookies
If you are an eggnog lover, get ready to see all the sugar, eggnog and nutmeg of your dreams in this recipe. These eggnog cookies are nutmeg heavy, so if you are sensitive to that spice, feel free to dial it down as you see fit!
- 2 & 1/3 cups all-purpose flour, 330 grams
- 1 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt, use 1/2 tsp if using Morton’s
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp each of ground cinnamon, espresso grounds
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 2 sticks 16 tbsp salted butter, 226 grams
- 1/2 cup brown sugar lightly packed, 95 grams
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 110 grams
- 1/3 cup eggnog, 80mL
For the espresso white chocolate
- 1 & 1/2 cups white chocolate chips, 250 grams
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp espresso grounds
For sprinkling
- 2 tsp smoked flakey salt
How to make the espresso white chocolate “chips”
This is my favorite part of this recipe, because I think it adds so much “latte” to these eggnog latte cookies. Since this chocolate chip mixture takes a bit of time to harden, you want to start this process first.
In a heat-safe bowl, add the chocolate chips, the nutmeg and espresso powder. Bring a pot of water to a simmer and place the bowl on top, stirring constantly to melt the chocolate. You can also skip this and microwave the bowl in 30 second increments until the chocolate is melted.
Spread the espresso white chocolate mixture on a parchment lined baking sheet. Spread it out (it doesn’t have to be perfect) and refrigerate while you begin the rest of the recipe!
Instructions for these eggnog latte cookies
The trickiest part of this recipe truly is the white chocolate chips, after that it’s and easy eggnog latte cookie recipe that yields amazing results. Here’s a step-by-step on how to make them:
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, espresso grounds and baking powder.
- Using a stand mixer or a hand mixer, add the butter and sugars to a separate bowl and cream together until light and fluffy.
- Keeping the mixer on, gradually stream the eggnog into the butter/sugar mixture. Beat the mixture on medium until it looks smooth and fluffy like whipped cream.
- Add in the dry ingredients in two installments. Mix to combine.
- Remove the white chocolate from the fridge and chop it into small pieces, about half the size of chocolate chips. Add this into the dough and combine.
- Drop the dough in the middle of a piece of parchment paper. Stretch it out into a circular log about 2″ in diameter. Roll it up into the parchment paper and freeze for 2 hours up to overnight.
- When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375°F. Take the roll out of the freezer and cut it into 16 pieces, each about 3/4″ thick.
- Place these on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove them when they look like the right shape, but are still slightly underdone in the center. The residual heat from the pan will continue to “cook” them, and this will give you a chewy cookie even after a few days!
- Sprinkle smoked flakey salt on top of each cookie while they are still warm, and then enjoy!
Tips & tricks on how to store and bake the eggnog cookie dough
These cookies are meant for freezing, storing, then slicing and baking! That’s why I call them the perfect slice-and-bake Christmas cookie. You definitely have options on how to bake these though, just in case you don’t want to form them into a shape, or if you don’t have time to kill!
I recommend shaping the eggnog latte cookies into a long cylinder, about 2″ in diameter, and then rolling up the dough in parchment paper. Freeze the dough until it is firm all the way through, this usually takes about 2 hours. You can also leave the dough frozen for up to 2 weeks and it will still be perfect for easy slice-and-baking.
If you are in a pinch, you don’t have to roll or chill this dough at all. You can treat these like drop cookies and just lower the baking time by 2 minutes. Portion out the dough to 16 equal sized cookies, bout 2.5 oz each, and bake!
FAQ
I like storing these at room temperature if you are going to eat them within 5 days. A tupperware container or reusable plastic bag will help lock in the richness of the cookie and keep them delicious in your pantry! You can also keep them in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks, and they freeze well for up to 5 months.
Absolutely! I love the King Arthur Flour Gluten Free 1:1 Blend.
If you are caffeine-sensitive, you absolutely do not have to add espresso grounds to these cookies. You’ll lose a bit of the latte aspect, but the eggnog flavor will still come through!
Why do I offer measurements in grams for this eggnog cookie recipe?
Baking is a very finicky and exact science. The only way to ensure complete accuracy is through measuring by weight, and not volume. As much as I wish I could give you multiple ways to measure ingredients, in this recipe measuring by cups might cause some volatility and miss-matched results. I want to ensure you get the best results with this recipe (and I want to keep this recipe fool-proof!) so I highly recommend getting a small affordable kitchen scale if you want to move forward with this cookie recipe in the best way!
Looking for other cookies this holiday season?
Here are a few that I love recommending!
And that’s it for this eggnog latte cookie!
If you make it, please tag me on Pinterest or Instagram so I can see! It’s my favorite thing to scroll through stories and see what you all are making.
And of course feel free to leave any questions, comments or reviews! This is the best place to reach me, and I’d love to hear from you.
Eggnog Latte Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 & 1/3 cups all-purpose flour 330 grams, see notes
- 1 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt use 1/2 tsp if using Morton's
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp each of ground cinnamon, espresso grounds
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 16 tbsp salted butter 226 grams
- 1/2 cup brown sugar lightly packed, 95 grams
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar 110 grams
- 1/3 cup eggnog 80mL
For the espresso white chocolate
- 1 & 1/2 cups white chocolate chips 250 grams
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp espresso grounds
For topping
- 2 tsp smoked flakey salt
Instructions
- Begin by making the espresso white chocolate chips. In a heat-safe bowl, add the chocolate chips, the nutmeg and espresso powder. Bring a pot of water to a simmer and place the bowl on top, stirring constantly to melt the chocolate. You can also skip this and microwave the bowl in 30 second increments until the chocolate is melted.
- Spread the espresso white chocolate mixture on a parchment lined baking sheet. Spread it out, it doesn't have to be perfect, and refrigerate while you begin the rest of the recipe.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, espresso grounds and baking powder.
- Using a stand mixer or a hand mixer, add the butter and sugars to a separate bowl and cream together until light and fluffy.
- Keeping the mixer on, gradually stream the eggnog into the butter/sugar mixture. Beat the mixture on medium until it looks smooth and fluffy like whipped cream.
- Add in the dry ingredients in two installments. Mix to combine.
- Remove the white chocolate from the fridge and chop it into small pieces, about half the size of chocolate chips. Add this into the dough and combine.
- Drop the dough in the middle of a piece of parchment paper. Stretch it out into a circular log about 2" in diameter. Roll it up into the parchment paper and freeze for 2 hours up to overnight.
- When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375°F. Take the roll out of the freezer and cut it into 16 pieces, each about 3/4" thick.
- Place these on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove them when they look like they are the right shape, but still slightly underdone in the center. The residual heat from the pan will continue to "cook" them, and this will give you a chewy cookie even after a few days!
- Sprinkle smoked flakey salt on top of each cookie while they are still warm, and then enjoy!
Is there a difference between the espresso powder described for the white chocolate, and the espresso grounds described for the dough recipe?
You can use the same for both if you are in a pinch!
This is my first time trying out one of your recipes. I have never had eggnog before, but when I saw your video, I could get the taste through it, and it definitely did not disappoint. My cookie log is chilling in the fridge, but just from tasting the dough, I can tell it’s amazing! Reminds me of one of the cookies I had in Italy!!! I am so excited to bake them tomorrow!! Thank you, Justine 🙂
Hi Justine!! Thank you for this wonderful recipe. I made theme last night and they are delicious!! However, they didn’t flatten :/ They kind of look like hockey pucks haha. Any advice?
Thank you!!
Hello! My first thought when cookies don’t spread is that the flour to sugar to butter ratio is a bit off. Did you measure everything by weight? Sometimes flour (in cups) can end up measuring too high, and that causes the cookies to keep their shape!
Mine also turned out this way and I measured with a scale. In my opinion I think the dough was too cold. I had extreme difficulty cutting the dough roll because it was so frozen. I may try and put the dough in the refrigerator instead of freezer and see if that makes a difference.
I might just scoop them with my scooper into balls and then put in fridge and then bake….
HI. Mine came out like yours as well and I weighed all my ingredients. They didn’t spread at all…….
UGH
Hey Justine!
I am really excited to make these, but because I’m dairy-free I’ll be using a coconut milk eggnog. I was wondering how significantly that will alter the recipe, if any, because of the lack of actual egg in the nog. I think I’m going to go for it anyway and I’ll check back in with results when I do.
Updating this comment.
I switched out everything that wasn’t dairy free/vegan in the recipe and the cookies came out perfect! I used Earth Balance, King David vegan white chocolate (amazon), and So Delicious Coconut Holiday Nog. I worried if I didn’t use a nog with egg it would ruin the cookies, but as far as I can tell there wasn’t any discernible change and they are just as delicious as the pictures made them look.
This is an amazing recipe and will now be a holiday staple for me.
Thank you Justine!
Updating this comment.
I switched out everything that wasn’t dairy free/vegan in the recipe and the cookies came out perfect! I used Earth Balance, King David vegan white chocolate (amazon), and So Delicious Coconut Holiday Nog. I worried if I didn’t use a nog with egg it would ruin the cookies, but as far as I can tell there wasn’t any discernible change and they are just as delicious as the pictures made them look.
This is an amazing recipe and will now be a holiday staple for me.
Thank you Justine!
Strong flavors, chewy, and delicious! It was a party hit 🙂 great recipe and I highly recommend making them! Thanks Justine!
I loved these cookies! Rolling the dough in a log, freezing, and cutting into thick slices gave me thick, soft, chewy cookies. I baked for 10 minutes then let them rest on the hot pan for about 20 minutes, which gave them the best texture. I used the oat milk eggnog from Trader Joe’s. I brought these to a holiday party and they were definitely the favorite!
Hi Justine,
Would these cookies loose alot of texture if I wanted to make them smaller? Thanks!!
They shouldn’t! How small do you plan on making them?
I was thinking of about a 1.75 to 2 ounce cookie? Would I make the log of dough about 11/2″ in diameter and then cut the dough in 1″ circles.
Hi Justine! Sorry, I know this is a long shot – I don’t usually have problems adapting recipes to be vegan, but I can’t find vegan white chocolate chips anywhere. Do you have any ideas of what I could use that would be similar, or just not affect the flavor profile too much? I truly appreciate any thoughts you might have!
Thank you!
Hello! This is totally fair, I tend to use Pascha vegan chips but they are hard to find! You can use dark chocolate in the recipe, as long as you don’t mind dark chocolate mixed with nutmeg. And of course you can always omit the chocolate if you are ok with that!
Thank you so much!
So excited to make these tomorrow!
Am I able to use an Oat-Milk eggnog in place of the eggnog? I can’t use egg products for those Im sharing with, but I know regular eggnog has the yolks and extra fat that probably make the cookie bind better? Do you have any thoughts on this? Thank you so much!
Just curious… I read the recipe like 4 times over to make sure it wasn’t a typo but are you supposed to cut these cookies 1 1/2″ thick? My log was 2″ in diameter (I measured) and using a ruler I also measured the slices 1 1/2″ thick. I only got 10 cookies (as opposed to 16) and basically only the bottoms of the cookies spread out and the tops stuck out like pretty little towers. I know I am being super OCD about the directions and know they will taste delicious either way. I was just trying to understand if the mistake was mine or if it is a typo in the recipe.
No this is a great question! I develop recipes with a level of adjustment so that for the general public who maybe aren’t as precise, the instructions are more intuitive. I’ve found in recipe developing most people underestimate sizes, so the instructions were so that if people are eyeballing the dough, most people will still cut thick enough slices. You are correct that with a 2″ diameter log, the slices should be more along 1″, but I adjusted for general errors. But this is an easy edit, and thank you for the notes!
I cannot say enough good things about this recipe. I may have a new favorite cookie! Thank you!
Hi Justine! Can’t wait to try this recipe. For the salted butter, do you use at room temperature? I know this can make a big difference. Thanks so much!
Room temp is best! But don’t stress too much because it’ll work with cool butter too, just try for it not to be rock hard 🙂
Accidentally used bread flour and went a little rouge at the end and added a little more eggnog and flour so they didn’t spread but I just scooped and squished them down so they were cookie shaped. Also added a bit of cardamom and they’re amazing.
Hi. I left a comment above as well. I made these yesterday and I had the same issue as someone else here. The cookie didn’t spread, so coming out of the oven it kind of just held the shape as when it was sliced from the freezer. I made some dimples in it with my fingers and added the smoked sea salt. The texture and flavor was DELICIOUS but I’m just not sure why they didn’t spread. I’m a baker by trade, not that I don’t make mistakes but I was careful to weigh the ingredients. I wonder if there’s a difference in the butter you are using? I just used regular Trader Joe’s butter, and I used Ghirardelli white chocolate chips….. Any thoughts?
Thanks!
Laura
What brand of eggnog are you using? I’ve been highly concerned with this comment chain and have outsourced to a few recipe testers (as well as another round of tests myself) and we are truly stumped! Since you’re a baker you know this can’t be a freezer issue, so I’m now looking into the ratio of ingredients in the eggnog. My team is continuing to troubleshoot, and any specifics you can share is greatly appreciated!
Hi, thanks for getting back so quickly. I am trying the cookies again today, this time a gluten-free trial for my hubby. The eggnog I’m using is called: Clover Sonoma Organic Eggnog. I would take a pic of the label and attach it but I don’t think it’s possible….
Hi! When melting the white chocolate, how did you get it so thick looking before spreading? I used the stovetop method and it came out pretty thin and drizzly
Just a quick update on a gluten-free version. I tried the recipe using Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 Baking Flour. The flavor was still wonderful, but ugh, the texture was pretty horrible. Very grainy. I don’t have much experience with gluten-free baking. Maybe there’s a different approach I can try? Oh well. Happy Holidays!
So chewy and yummy! Won my holiday cookie exchange party 🙂
This may be a dumb question but I don’t have a stand or hand mixer just my good old arm muscles to do the job if I hand mix everything will it be okay? Or do I need to use the electrical devices?
Hello! The cookie texture results will vary slightly depending on if you use a mixer or your arm, and it will be much easier to stream in the eggnog with an electric mixer. But if you are in a pinch, I know some people have had success with just a wooden spoon and really soft butter! Just be sure to add the eggnog extremely slowly and only add more with the first addition is fully mixed!