A New Cookie for Christmas - White Chocolate Eggnog Bars

Besides the traditional sugar cookies, are you tired of making the same things year after year? Well, I found a different cookie you can make for the Christmas season and refresh your bored taste buds.

White Chocolate Eggnog Bars
This is kind of rich, but not with a high eggnog flavor, it's more defined by the nutmeg, or alcoholic beverage you choose to ad to it. The crust is a cinnamon graham crust. To make it you'd need 2 cups of cinnamon graham cracker crumbs, melted butter(unsalted) about 9 tablespoons. The filling consists of a package of softened cream cheese, 2/3 cup of sugar, 2 teaspoons of cornstarch, 1 very large egg, 2 large egg yolks, 1/3 cup of heavy cream, 3 tablespoons of dark rum or brandy, 1 ½ teaspoons of vanilla and ¼ teaspoon of nutmeg.

The topping consists of ½ cup of heavy cream, 5 oz. of chopped white chocolate of the best quality. To garnish the bars, just sprinkle nutmeg. To make the Eggnog Bars, you start with making the crust first. Use a pan lined with aluminum foil that is greased. Make sure the foil extends outside of the pan for easy lifting. When you prepare the cinnamon graham cracker crust you have to bake it in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for about 8 minutes, then you set it to cool on a wire rack.

To make the filling, just combine all the ingredients leaving the heavy cream, vanilla, nutmeg and brandy or rum to add in last. Put the filling inside the crust and bake for 15 to 20 minutes. When it is done, leave to cool on the wire rack for half an hour. Put in the refrigerator for an hour, or until it is chilled. To create the topping, you have to bring the heavy cream to a boil in a saucepan, take off the fire and add in the white chocolate and mix together. When it is smooth, cool it. You have to keep stirring it on and off for 15 minutes or until it becomes thickened.

Put the topping on the bars with a metal spatula, and put back in the refrigerator for a couple of hours. Lift the Eggnog Bars from the pan using the aluminum foil. After the foil is removed, cut into 24 bars. You can serve them chilled with fresh grated nutmeg on top.

This is sure to lift your spirits and sweeten your dreams The night before Christmas!