Eggnog Cookies

'Tis the season of eggnog, and I love eggnog just a little bit too much for my own good.  I am SO happy to buy that first carton that shows up on the supermarket shelf, but after I have a glass or two I start getting that little annoying voice in my head that reminds me that eggnog is about one million calories a glassful, and that's before you start eating the Christmas cookies that go along with it.

This cookie is the answer to all of that.  It's a light and delicious little treat with just a hint of eggnog flavor in it (there is only 1/4 cup of eggnog in the whole batch), and those little brown flecks on the top of the cookie?  Yep, nutmeg.  It's like having a cup of eggnog AND a Christmas cookie, all in one scrumptious package.  Plus they are a snap to make.

AND, if you have any eggnog left over after all that, you can make this.

The end.

Except for the recipe, which I snagged from the always fabulous The Cooking Photographer's blog - LOVE her. 

Eggnog Cookies, from The Cooking Photographer

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 scant teaspoon mace or nutmeg
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup full fat eggnog
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 cups all-purpose flour

1. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Beat the butter, sugar, salt, mace and vanilla extract together until fluffy. Mix in the egg and eggnog. Mix in baking soda, and then beat in flour until just combined.

3. With a standard (size 50) cookie scoop, scoop the batter and place on sheets 2 inches apart. Sprinkle dough very lightly with mace and bake for 10 minutes, or until golden around the edges. Let rest for 2 minutes on sheets then move to cooling rack.

Makes 32 cookies.

Click here for printable recipe

Roasted Butternut Dip

It's October, and you know what that means, right?

(I can hear both my dad and my Southern husband yelling in unison, "IT'S FOOTBALL SEASON!!!!")

Well, yes it is. And with football season come football snacks. Because if you are going to hunker down at 1pm and not come up for air until 7pm, you need some sustenance to keep you going. I am certainly not beyond dumping the Family Size bag of nacho cheese Doritos into a bowl and calling it a day, but amid all the salty/cheesy/Day-Glo-colored stuff I do like to sneak in something modestly healthy every once in a while that can hold its own with the other snacks.

This delicious dip is one of those things, and I promise you, the hardest part of the whole thing is cutting open the dang butternut. Those things are tough, and it would be really convenient to have a linebacker on call to cut the squash in half for you, but maybe you can convince whomever is watching the football in your house to chop it open for you before kick-off. Unless that person is you, in which case...grab your most serious knife and go for it!

In my case, I totally lucked out this weekend because my beloved market, Fairway, had butternut squash already cut in half, seeded and peeled for me and packaged up in adorable half-butternut bundles. How great is that? The rest of the ingredients for this super-simple dip were already in my pantry -- onion, garlic, a little sour cream (okay, that was in the fridge, before you start worrying about me), nutmeg and red pepper. I picked up some Stacy's Pita Chips (LOVE those. Try them if you haven't already.) and I was ready to roll. An hour later: warm, spicy, creamy, delicious and actually HEALTHY football game snacking was going on in my family room.

Okay, sports fans and those who love them, over to you. And remember, it isn't whether you win or lose...oh, wait a minute.

ROASTED BUTTERNUT DIP

1 (2-pound) butternut squash

1 onion, peeled and cut into quarters

4 garlic cloves, unpeeled

1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil

3 tablespoons sour cream

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Cut squash in half lengthwise and scoop out seeds.

2. Brush cut sides of squash halves, cut sides of onion quarters, and garlic cloves with oil. Arrange squash halves, cut sides down, on a jelly-roll pan. Put onion quarters and garlic cloves on pan. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes or until tender. Cool slightly.

3. Scoop the cooked squash out of the peel and put in food processor with onions. Squeeze garlic cloves so that pulp goes into food processor and blend until smooth.

4. Add sour cream and remaining ingredients and pulse to combine. Serve warm with pita chips. Whatever you do, don't block the tv screen.

Click here for Printable Recipe