To me, life and its experiences have always been intrinsically tied to the food we create and consume together. Food has a way of wrapping around our hearts, stirring up magic, and unlocking memories. And have you noticed how everyone’s favorite recipe has a story? I always feel like it’s such a privilege to hear these stories from a dear friend or beloved family member while they’re cooking or serving the dish. So as a special holiday treat, I asked a few of the Behaviorists to share their own holiday stories along with a favorite recipe.
This week Courtney shares a few of her family’s favorite holiday traditions, including their Christmas-morning treat—nutmeg logs! Kick back and enjoy the nutmeg as we find out how to make these cute cookies.
Over the past few years, Christmas cuisine has really changed at my house. My dad mentioned that he was getting tired of eating the traditional turkey or ham so soon after Thanksgiving, so we decided to switch things up and make chicken enchiladas instead. Now, the enchiladas have become our tradition! Along with queso, salsa, guacamole, Spanish rice, and on occasion, tamales!
Despite the new menu, there’s one holiday food that we’ll never change—nutmeg logs.
We make these snack-size cookies on Christmas Eve because “Santa” brings everyone in our family a movie. The movies are the only presents we’re allowed to open on Christmas Eve. Once everyone has opened theirs, we pick which one we all want to watch the most ((last year it was Silver Linings Playbook) and cozy in with coffee and nutmeg logs.
Then on Christmas morning, we have nutmeg logs and coffee again while we open presents. It’s a great breakfast!
What really makes these logs so tasty is not the cookie itself, but the icing on top. The shortbread cookie combined with this rum-enhanced icing has me licking my fingers and the beaters and the spatula—basically anything that has the icing on it!—every time I make these treats.
If you’ve got a party to attend or you want to make a simple, but delicious treat for friends and family, you can’t go wrong with these babies. They’re super easy to make, and since one batch makes so many cookies, you can always do a little sampling along the way!
Here’s my recipe for nutmeg logs, a delicious holiday cookie.
- 3 cups flour
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 3 sticks butter
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1 tbsp rum (I use Myer’s Dark Rum)
For the Icing - 3 tbsp butter, softened
- ½ tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp rum (I used Sailor Jerry’s Spiced Rum because I ran out of the dark rum, and it was delicious!)
- 2 ½ cup sifted confectioner’s sugar
- 2-3 tbsp evaporated milk or cream
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Grease 2 large cookie sheets.
- Sift flour and nutmeg together, then set aside.
- Cream butter and sugar together.
- Mix in egg, vanilla, and rum.
- Gradually mix in flour and nutmeg until well-blended. Should have a cookie dough consistency.
- Roll dough into 1 ½-inch logs on a floured surface.
- Place logs 1 inch apart on cookie sheets.
- Bake 15-17 minutes until golden brown on the edges.
- Cool on a wire rack.
For the Icing - Cream butter, vanilla, and rum in a bowl.
- Beat in sifted sugar alternately with evaporated milk.
- Once it has the correct consistency, spread over the cookies and sprinkle with nutmeg.
Some people use a toothpick to carve bark-like designs into the icing, if you want to get a little more artsy with it.
Make sure you let the cookies cool completely before putting the icing on. Otherwise it will melt.
Happy Christmas, everyone! Enjoy these tasty nuggets, and please send pics if you decide to make them!
