Chewy Gingerbread Eggnog Sandwich Cookies

Ingredients

2-¼ cups flour
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp cloves
¼ tsp salt
⅔ cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar, divided
1 egg
⅓ cup molasses

Icing
½ cup butter, softened
½ tsp vanilla
½ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp salt
2-¼ cups icing sugar
¼ cup eggnog

Directions

Heat oven to 350F. Line 3 rimmed baking sheets with parchment and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, cloves and salt.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and ¾ cup sugar with a hand mixer until lightened in colour and well combined, about 2 minutes. Add egg and mix to combine, scraping down sides of bowl. Add molasses and mix until well blended. Add flour mixture in two additions and mix until fully combined.

Place remaining sugar in a small bowl. Roll dough into generous tablespoon-sized balls and roll in sugar. Place on prepared sheets 2-inches apart and bake in batches until puffy and cracked on top, about 13 to 15 minutes. Cool for 3 minutes on sheets before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

For filling, beat together butter, vanilla, nutmeg and salt in a large bowl with a hand mixer on medium until combined. Decrease mixer speed to low and add icing sugar gradually until well combined. Gradually add eggnog and increase speed to high until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

Spoon icing into a piping bag fitted with a large round tip. Place 16 cookies upside-down and fill with a generous tablespoon of icing. Top with remaining cookies, pressing down lightly to adhere.