Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies with Eggnog Buttercream

It's finally socially acceptable to put up all my Christmas decorations and listen to Christmas music all day. I absolutely love this time of year for so many reasons, but mostly for all the baked goods and abundance of food. Bryan and I have this tradition of chopping down our tree every year, which sounds like more fun than it actually is. Probably because I am the most indecisive person on this planet and being at a tree farm with thousands of trees where I can only pick one is like a real life nightmare. It always starts out super exciting and then 30 minutes into it, Bryan is dragging his feet behind me as I nitpick at every tree. I will say that I am getting better every year! It's all about the progress, right?! :)

My mom and I always do a big cookie swap with the rest of the neighborhood during the holidays so I feel like I'm a master in the art of the holiday cookies. I've gotten pretty creative over the years, but I still love all the classic cookies. This cookie is a twist on the classic gingerbread cookie. I'm not that into crunchy cookies, so I made this one chewy and then decided to sandwich it between some eggnog buttercream. If Christmas were a flavor, this would be it. 

INGREDIENTS

COOKIE

• 3/4 cup butter, softened to room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 1 egg
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

BUTTERCREAM

• 1 cup butter at room temperature
• 3 tablespoon eggnog
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 5-7 cups powdered sugar

DIRECTIONS

1. In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, and salt. Set aside.
2. In your stand mixer bowl, beat together butter and sugar on medium speed for 3 minutes until fluffy. Add in the egg and molasses, and beat on medium speed until combined
3. add in the dry ingredients and beat until combined
4. Cover and refrigerate dough for 1 hour or until it's chilled
5. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees
6. Fill a small bowl with some sugar
7. Roll the dough into small balls about 1 inch in diameter and roll each ball in the sugar until it's completely coated. 
8. Place on cookie sheet at least 1 inch apart and cook for 8-10 minutes or until the cookies begin to slightly crack on top
9. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire racks to cool completely 
10. While cookies are cooling, make the buttercream 
11. In your stand mixer bowl with your paddle attachment, beat the butter until it is fluffy on medium speed. About 3 minutes.
12. Add in vanilla, nutmeg, and powdered sugar. Mix until everything is combined.
13. On low-medium speed, add in the eggnog. The buttercream should be a bit on the thicker side.
14. Pour your buttercream in a piping bag or a gallon size ziploc bag with the corner cut off and pipe about a tablespoon of buttercream over half of the cooled cookies, then top with remaining cookies. Alternately, you can spread the buttercream with a knife.