cheg nog cookies

I may not be a huge fan of eggnog, but something about a short half sweet reduced fat no water (with cinnamon dolce sprinkles) chai eggnog latte just hits the holiday spot! Why yes, that is quite the modified starbucks beverage, but once you try it you'll be hooked! Since my pal Alanna always seems to whip up amazing earl gray tea infused cookies I thought I'd do the next best xmas edition and try my hand at my own cookie version of the cheg (sbux terminology for chai eggnog latte). I may not be a master in the kitchen, but the reaction I got from my cheg loving coworkers made these cookies a success! They even look tasty don't you think?


On to the recipe!

Cheg Nog cookies (makes ~50 cookies)

-3/4 cup shortening
-1 cup sugar
-2 eggs
-1 tsp vanilla
-2 ground up chai tea bags (I used Tazo's Organic Chai and a mortar and pestle)
-a sprinkling of other chai spices (I used cinnamon, cloves, ginger, allspice, and nutmeg)
-2 tbsps eggnog
-2 1/2 cups flour
-1 tsp baking powder
-1 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 400 F. Mix together the shortening, sugar, eggs, and flavours. Blend. Mix in dry ingredients (flour, b.powder, salt). Cover and chill for 1 hr. I then rolled them into cookie sized balls and flattened them with a spoon onto my silicone baking sheets. Bake for ~10 min until bottoms are slightly golden brown. Then lay the cookies on racks and let cool. (Now it's time to make the most delicious nog icing!)

Eggnog Icing (I don't actually have measurements for this....and ended up making WAY too much...which I then ate and felt sick afterwards....)

Whisk together icing sugar and egg nog until you get a good thick icing consistency. I then added a dash of nutmeg and cinnamon for extra spice.

Then all you need to do (after avoiding the temptation of eating all the amazing nog icing) is grab a knife, slab on some icing, and voila! Cheg cookies!

Nummers! I am drooling just thinking about these babies and am most certainly keeping these on the holiday baking list for next year. The subtle chai spices in the cookies leave the house smelling amazing and festive while the eggnog icing adds a touch of sweetness making the perfect xmas treat! What do you think? Craving some of your own cheg nog cookies? I'd love to know how they turn out!

In other news - Happy 27th Bday Jim! Too bad you never read my blog to appreciate this note - but I will probably be bringing you your own tray of cookies to help celebrate how old we are! Yay!