Adapted from a recipe in The Good Cookie (HMH, 2002) by Tish Boyle

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These shortbread sandwich cookies are among my favorite holiday treats, and I faithfully make them every year. Infused with nutmeg and enriched with lots of butter, the cookies are exceptionally tender, sandwiched with a rich American buttercream spiked with dark rum. The combination yields a cookie with a proper eggnog flavor, making it a festive addition to any holiday cookie assortment. The high proportion of butter in the dough makes the cookies a little fussy to roll out, but once you taste the finished product, you’ll realize the process is well worth the effort.

Makes about 30 sandwich cookies

Ingredients

Eggnog Dough:

16 tablespoons (226 grams) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
1 large (18 grams) egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 cups (260 grams) all-purpose flour
Coarse sugar, for sprinkling

Rum Cream Filling:

3 tablespoons (42 grams) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (129 grams) confectioners’ sugar
1 tablespoon dark rum (I like Myers’s)
1 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract

Garnish:

Freshly grated nutmeg

Instructions

Make the eggnog cookies:

In an electric mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar at medium speed until combined, about 1 minute. Add the egg yolk, vanilla extract, nutmeg, and salt and mix until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as necessary. Add the flour and mix at low speed until combined. Turn the dough out onto a work surface, shape it into 2 discs, and wrap each of the discs in plastic. Refrigerate the dough for 1 hour (or up to 3 days; if you do chill the dough for longer than an hour, leave it out for about 20 minutes to soften a bit before rolling it out).

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Place the chilled dough on a lightly floured work surface and sprinkle it lightly with flour. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out to a thickness of 1/8 inch. Using a 2-inch round plain or fluted cookie cutter, cut out as many cookies as possible from the dough. Cut out the center of half of the cookies with a 1/2-inch aspic cutter (of any shape) or the tip of a 1/2-inch plain pastry tip (these will be the tops). Carefully transfer the cookies to the prepared baking sheets (the dough is fragile at this point, so I use a small, offset spatula to do this), keeping the tops and bottoms on separate baking sheets (the tops will take a minute or so less to bake than the bottoms). Sprinkle the cookie tops (the ones with the holes) with coarse sugar. Bake the cookies for 10 to 14 minutes, or until just lightly browned. Transfer the cookies to wire racks and cool completely. Repeat the rolling, cutting, and baking procedure with the remaining dough and scraps.

Make the filling:

In the bowl of an electric mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat the butter at medium speed until creamy, about 30 seconds. Gradually add the confectioners’ sugar, rum and vanilla extract and beat until blended. Scrape down the sides of the bowl; increase the speed to high and beat until the buttercream is creamy, about 2 minutes.

Assemble the cookies:

Spread about a teaspoon of the filling onto the bottom of one of the whole cookies. Top with one of the cut-out cookies, with the bottom side against the filling, pressing the cookies lightly together. Repeat with the remaining cookies. Grate a bit of fresh nutmeg on top of each cookie. Serve the cookies at room temperature or chilled. Store in an airtight container at room temperature or refrigerated for up to a week.