Booze-Infused Holiday Goodies

Get your party on by whipping up sweets spiked with liquor.

These tipsy treats are the perfect things to bring to a holiday bash, and they also make a great, cheap DIY present—wrap them in a pretty tin, and give them to friends along with a bottle of the booze that’s in them. An even better gift? Include a copy of Lucy's fabulous book, The Boozy Baker: 75 Recipes for Spirited Sweets.

Dirty Girl Scout Cookies
Makes about 32 cookies

For the cookies:
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons instant espresso powder
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
32 Junior Mint candies

For the glaze:
1 1/4 to 1 3/4 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons Irish cream liqueur (like Bailey’s)
1 tablespoon coffee liqueur (such as Kahlua)
1 tablespoon crème de menthe (use white not green)

Preheat the oven to 325ºF. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat mats.

In a large bowl, cream the butter, sugar, and light brown sugar with an electric mixer until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, vanilla, and espresso powder. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, and beat to combine.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Gradually beat the dry ingredients into the butter mixture, stopping to scrape down the bowl as needed.

Drop the dough into rounded balls (about 3 tablespoons each) onto the cookie sheets, spacing them 2 inches apart. Bake until the cookies have flattened, about 15 minutes. (If you don’t have room on the baking sheets or in your oven to bake all the cookies at once, simply work in batches, refrigerating the extra dough.)

Cool on baking sheets for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Once cookies have cooled, make the glaze. In a medium bowl, combine the confectioners’ sugar with the liqueurs and stir with a whisk until smooth. Set the wire rack with the cookies on it over a row of paper towels. Using a spoon, drizzle about 1 teaspoon of glaze over each cookie, and gently press a Junior Mint into the center. Don’t worry if the glaze dribbles off the sides of the cookies a bit — it will firm up once it dries.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies with Orange Liqueur 
Makes about 32 cookies

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon orange liqueur, such as Grand Marnier
Finely grated zest of 1 large orange
11/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups old fashioned rolled oats
1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, beat the butter and both kinds of sugar together with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla, orange liqueur, and orange zest and beat until combined.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, beating to combine. Stir in the oatmeal and the chocolate chips.

Drop the dough by rounded tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart. Bake 10 to 12 minutes, until light golden in color and still somewhat soft in the center. Cool the cookies for 5 minutes on the sheets, then remove them and cool completely on a wire rack.