DECEMBER 3RD: COOKIES!

Christmas cookies and happy hearts, this is how the holiday starts!
~unknown~

Every year I announce that I am not going to bake so many cookies this Christmas.  With a doctor's appointment looming at the beginning of the new year,  I'm always mentally tabulating calories in my head throughout the month of December.  But then my husband says, "Well just the favorites" and then I spot something irresistible on a website or blog and the next thing you know, I'm buying more tins to store all those cookies.  This year I drew the line at two pounds of butter, when it's gone,that is it for  baking.  Do you know that there are a lot of cookies that don't require butter? Ha! Oh well!  There's always next year!

One cookie that is always on our menu is Eggnog Logs.  I've been baking them for over thirty years, they've become a tradition.. 

Eggnog Logs

3 C. flour
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 C, butter
3/4 C. sugar
1 egg
2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. rum extract
rum frosting  (recipe follows)

Combine flour and nutmeg. Set aside.
Beat together butter and sugar. Beat in egg and flavorings.  Add flour mixture and combine well.
Shape dough into 3 -inch logs 1/2-inch wide.  Place on ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Cool.

Rum Frosting
3 tbsp. butter
1/2 tsp. rum extract
1/2 tsp. vanilla
approximately 2C. confectioners' sugar
2 - 3 tbsp. milk

Beat together to make a thick frosting
Spread frosting over top of cookies. Mark frosting with tines of fork to resemble bark.  Sprinkle with additional nutmeg to resemble birch bark. (I use green sprinkles, thus ruining the effect, but I'm not that crazy about nutmeg)

See those pretty little pink cookies on the bottom left hand side?  They are a new-to-me recipe for this year and can be found here. Peppermint Meltaways are destined to be a tradition!