Waste Not

Someone in my house, that would be me, purchased too much egg nog.  I have 2 options:
1.  Admit to Mr. G that we really didn't need ALL of the egg nog that insisted we needed
2.  Make up a bunch of recipes that use egg nog to make option #1 not happen

Want to take a guess as to what I chose?  Yes, all of you are, as they say in Boston, wicked smart, I chose #2...with my own little twist.

Since I started a high protein diet yesterday to shock my system, I am making up the batters for most of these and freezing them.  And before a lot of you leave comments on crazy diets, this is NOT one, I talked to my nutritionist about this.  I have fitness and endurance goals this year and over the past 6 months I have let too many carbs sneak into my diet so this is a reset week.

I LOVE some egg nog.  My drink of choice for the past month has been Starbucks holiday blend that I add light egg nog to when I get home.  Well the red cups are now gone and I am left with a jug so here is what you can find in my freezer after tonight!

NOTE:  I am including the websites that these recipes were posted on when I clicked through from Pinterest.  I try to give credit as I think I use a recipe from Pinterest at least once a week.

Egg Nog Cookies

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp allspice (my addition, because I heart allspice)
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup salted butter, room temp (hahaha, room temperature butter… I took the butter out of the freezer and nuked it on half power for 30 seconds, then another 30 seconds. And then it did this, but the cookies are still tasty.)
• 1/2 cup eggnog
• 1 tsp vanilla (plus a bit, because I spilled into the bowl)
• 2 egg yolks

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 300.
2. Mix flour, baking soda, and spices in a bowl; set aside. (The recipe says use a wire whisk, but I hate getting out and dirtying extra utensils, so I always use one of the measuring spoons.)
3. Cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer.
4. Add eggnog, vanilla, and egg yolks. Mix on medium until smooth.
5. Slowly add dry ingredients. (I like to use a measuring cup, so I'm not holding the big bowl above the moving mixer and hoping that my kitchen doesn't explode.)
6. You know the drill for drop cookies. Rounded teaspoonful, inch apart, etc. I bake my cookies on a layer of tinfoil so I don't have to clean cookie sheets.
7. Bake for 21-24 minutes, or until the bottom edges are golden brown. I don't know if it's my oven, my altitude, or the tinfoil, but I ended up baking each batch for over 30 minutes.

Egg Nog Blondies

EGG NOG BLONDIES slightly adapted from Mother Thyme

Makes an 8×8″ pan

• 1 cup all-purpose flour (I used unbleached flour)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup egg nog, light or regular (I used light)
• 1/3 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/3 cup white chocolate chips (or vanilla baking chips)
• 1/3 cup dark chocolate chips (or you can substitute semi-sweet chocolate chips)