Eggnog Chocolate Chunk Cookies
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Tender cookies with crunchy edges spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, and actual eggnog. Chocolate chips or chunks add the perfect complement to the spice!
Welcome to another installment of the 12 Days of Christmas Cookies! Are you having a blasty blast? I know I am!
Sharing nothing but cookies with you has been sweet. And snappy. And the cherry on top has been that a lot of the cookies I’m sharing with you can go beyond the holiday season.
Although Christmas is usually all about the cookies, there really is no bad time at all for a cookie. Don’t you agree?
Of course you do. You all love my cookie recipes (especially this compost one — and I love ya right back for it)!
This cookie. Ohhhhh, but this cookie. This cookie is special for Christmas time.
Although, if you’re smart like my MIL and have eggnog on hand all year round because you freeze it so you can make out-of-this-world French toast whenever you want to, then… Have at these eggnog chocolate chunk cookies whenever you feel like it.
Personally, I like to save the eggnog for December. It tastes like Christmas in a glass and I can basically hear bells jingling and Santa “HO HO HO”ing when I drink it.
Yeah. Listen carefully next time you sit down with a glass.
I discovered this recipe from my Michelle of Brown Eyed Baker manyyyy years ago and made them for the cookie exchange my work girlfriends and I do annually. They were very good, but I thought they were missing deep eggnog flavor.
I like my tastes super flavorful, not “hmm, is it there?”
Don’t get me wrong, Michelle did a wonderful job with this recipe– I just wanted a bit more pizzaz! So I added some extra spices to kick it up a notch.
Speaking of, this cookie might look pretty plain and boring but let me tell you, it is nothing short of amazing.
Don’t let its not-so-interesting look and flatter appearance deter you– these cookies are absolutely packed with cinnamon and nutmeg flavor.
And the chocolate chunks (or chips!) add the perfect complement to all that spice.
Semi-sweet and creamy chocolate + bitter cinnamon + fragrant nutmeg = the perfect combination for the sweetness of the cookie’s base. Unsuspecting food is usually the best kind.
And of course, these cookies wouldn’t truly be eggnog cookies without actual eggnog, so there is plenty of that to go around here.
I have used traditional, spiced, and vanilla. All are supremely tasty, so use whatever you can find or whatever you prefer.
What I really love about this cookie is its uncomplicated nature.
One bowl for the butter, sugar, eggnog, egg yolk, and vanilla extract, and another for the flour, leavener, salt, and spices.
Throw it all together, add in those chocolate chunks, and chill, only for about 30 minutes. Then, roll them into balls, and bake them for 20 minutes.
Easy peasy.
These cookies will spread quite a bit. Nothing puffy and fluffy here. But even as a hearty cookie lover, I am absolutely head-over-heels in love with the texture of these cookies.
They are crispy on the edges, and since the cookies are so flat, the edges just absolutely melt in your mouth. The centers of the cookies are super soft and dense, jam packed with tons of flavor.
Meanwhile, there is a bit of chocolate mixed into every bite, so there are all kinds of flavors going on that meld so well together– it is really hard to eat just one of these guys! They’re bascially an eggnog chocolate chip cookie.
Oh, and just a tip– I like to coarsely chop my semi-sweet chunks so that there are small bits of “shavings” throughout each cookie. This would also work nicely with semi-sweet or dark bar chocolate.
You may certainly use chips if you can’t find chunks, or you can just leave the chunks whole, but I like to find those teeny little melty pockets of chocolate in my slightly warm cookies that I can’t wait to let completely cool.
Yes. Irresistible, I tell ya.
If you don’t like eggnog because of its texture, I get it. Actually, I don’t. Because I personally loveeee eggnog, but I know that texture can be an issue for some folks.
That said, if you like the taste and flavors that make up eggnog, this cookie is the perfect way to enjoy the seasonal flavor without getting mouth full of thick, eggy milk. Now that I type that, it sounds really gross.
But hey… Edible beverages are kind of my thing.
Give these eggnog chocolate chunk cookies a try, and I think they might be your new favorite Christmas cookie! I’m betting Santa would probably like them a lot too.
And, if you’re feeling daring… Maybe try a little rum in there instead of vanilla extract?
Or use spiked eggnog?
No judgment here.
In fact, if you do try them with a little somethinsomethin in there… Can I come try??
Eggnog Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup + 2 Tablespoons (135g) all-purpose flour be sure to measure properly
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons (85g) unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- ½ cup + 2 Tablespoons (175g) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (60mL) eggnog
- 1 large egg yolk
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup (80g) semi-sweet or dark chocolate chunks coarsely chopped*
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl with a handheld mixer or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, approximately 2-3 minutes. Add the eggnog, egg yolk, and vanilla extract, and beat again on medium speed until completely combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Reduce the mixer speed to low, and slowly add the dry ingredients. Mix until just combined. Fold in chocolate chunks/chips. Chill dough in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 days.
- When you are ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 300ºF (149ªC). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat and set aside.
- Using a cookie scoop (I use this #50 cookie scoop for all of my standard size cookies), roll dough into approximately 1" balls and place them on the prepared baking sheets, spacing them at least 2" apart. Cookies will spread significantly (see my Instagram reel for how to make cookies prettier after they come out of the oven). I like to bake 4 rows of 2 dough balls.
- Bake cookies 20 minutes, or until the edges are set. The middle of the cookies will still look underdone. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Cookies stay fresh stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week. Cookies freeze well, up to 2 months. Frozen cookie dough balls freeze well, up to 2 months. Bake frozen and add 1-2 minutes to baking time.
Notes
Nutrition Disclosure
All nutritional values are approximate and provided to the reader as a courtesy. Changing ingredients and/or quantities will alter the estimated nutritional calculations.
OMG these cookies are screaming my name! I definitely fall into the category of liking eggnog flavor, but not able to palate the thick texture. So these cookies are PERFECT! My mom is an eggnog fanatic, so I know she’ll go crazy over these too. Yet another FAF addition to my Christmas baking list 🙂
Well, we found our tastebud non-match. But maybe it still counts because you at least like it, just don’t like the texture?! Haha. I hope your mom likes them! Eggnong fans need these cookies FOR SURE!
These look amazing, Lynn! I’m not really an eggnog girl. Yeah, I know. 🙁 The texture is way too thick for my liking, but I do like the flavour. So these are great for me! Plus they have chocolate which makes them even more perfect! 😉
I (sort of) get it, Naomi! I think that you’d like these cookies then. And then you could make some French toast or a ton more cookies so you don’t have any leftover but you have lots of sweet treats 🙂
I am ALL over the eggnog things at the moment! These cookies are pure magic! What a brilliant idea Lynn!
Thanks, Jess! I love eggnog too right now– it’s just the perfect treat! Sometimes I add a little milk to make it go farther but without all the extra sugar and calories! 😉
Lynn these look and sound fabulous. I’m totally obsessed with eggnog right now!
Thanks so much! If you like eggnog, you’ll LOVEEEE these cookies!
Do you have a weight measurement for the flour and sugar? I need 9 dozen for my cookie exchange so a weight is easier to multiply! 🙂
Yes! 135g of flour and 125g of sugar! Enjoy!
MY cookies definitely came out fluffy, instead of flat and crispy. Any ideas what might have gone wrong?
Hi Gwendolyn– did you measure your flour properly? It’s possible if you didn’t that you added too much flour and the cookies are now puffier than they should be. Here’s a tutorial I have on the correct way to measure flour if you’d like to try them again: https://freshaprilflours.com/2014/06/16/the-importance-of-measuring-ingredients/
Thank you!!
Don’t like eggnog. What can I substitute for that?
Hi, Annie– is it the texture or the flavor you don’t like? If it’s the texture, you won’t be able to detect the texture of eggnog itself in the cookie. If it’s the taste you don’t like, then I would not make this cookie and just opt for another cookie recipe. Hope that helps!