Rummy Eggnog Cookies

The cookie baking season is upon is. Between the parties, cookie swaps and giving of homemade gifts, the opportunities to show off one’s cookie baking skills are ample. My own favorite Christmas

recipes include jam-filled Linzer cookies, snowy almond crescents, chocolate sandwiched butter cookies, and classic vanilla and chocolate checkerboard squares. And then there are my Rummy

Eggnog Cookies, which I consider to be the quintessential holiday treat. Nothing says the holidays like boozy eggnog, after all. These nutmeg-infused squares of shortbread are sandwiched together

with a creamy filling spike with dark rum (though they are equally delish flavored with brandy, Cognac or bourbon). They are a stellar addition to any cookie tray or assortment, and may just become a holiday tradition of your very own.

Carrot Cake Cookies

Just in time for the holiday baking season, several new cookie books have hit the cookbook scene. I received a review copy of one of these recently, Cookies at Home With The Culinary Institute of America by Todd Knaster (Wiley, 2011; $34.99). It’s the latest in 

the CIA’s ‘At Home’ series, which features recipes for the home cook. It’s a big, beautiful book, filled with lots of full-page color photos and almost 100 recipes. The recipes lean toward the home-spun – nothing too complex here – but many of the cookies feature 

intriguing flavor combination (i.e. Pistachio Orange Biscotti and Sweet Potato-Pecan Pie Bars). The book includes all the classics, and even has a savory cookie chapter, which includes recipes such as Parmsan Taralles and Jalapeno Cheddar Zaliti. After flipping 

through the book a few times, I kept coming back to one recipe, though: Carrot Cake Cookies. What a great idea! These oatmeal-based cookies are loaded with all the goodies that are found in carrot cake – grated carrots, walnuts, raisins and cinnamon. There’s 

even some coconut thrown in for good measure. The cookies are sandwiched together with a lush and glossy cream cheese frosting, the icing on the proverbial cake. Or cookie. These cookies are quite delish, and may just be the star in your holiday cookie assortment this year.