Eggnog Muffins

Wrapping up this holiday season, I just couldn’t resist offering you one more eggnog treat. These are quick to put together and they would be good for brunch. I know many people are so busy during this season that get togethers sometimes happen after the holidays. These are fancy enough to serve to guest and easy enough to make for any day.

The base of these muffins is very plain; the only thing that is different is the use of eggnog for the liquid in the batter. The original recipe also says that you can use half and half in place of eggnog, but that would just make them nutmeg muffins rather than eggnog ones. The difference here is the crumb topping. Simple, but it makes all the difference. You do want the topping crumbly, so don’t mix too much. I also used a little less than 3 tablespoons of butter, which helped the topping from becoming too solid.

You fill the cups of these muffins really full, and they rise a lot, so they are very impressive when you take them out of the oven. I served these warm, just a couple of minutes from the oven, and they were great. The muffin is very light and the topping is nice and crunchy. Do make sure that you spray the muffin cups with nonstick cooking spray. I could tell where I had missed spraying the liner as the muffin baked up really tough and stuck in those places. 

Eggnog Muffins

1/4 cup butter, room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 1/2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/4 cups eggnog

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

3 tablespoons butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a muffin tin with paper liners and spray the liners with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large mixer bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs, beating for several minutes and scraping the bowl, till the mixture is smooth and light colored. Beat in the baking powder, nutmeg, salt, and vanilla.

Stir the flour into the butter mixture alternately with the eggnog, beginning and ending with the flour and making sure everything is thoroughly combined. Scoop the batter into the muffin cups, filling nearly full.

Stir together the ½ cup sugar and flour, ½ teaspoon nutmeg and melted butter, just until crumbly. Do not over mix. Sprinkle the topping over the muffins.

Bake the muffins for 20 minutes, until they are pale golden brown. Serve warm or cool to room temperature.

Recipe from King Arthur Flour