At any Christmas party you can usually segregate people into two categories: Those who like eggnog and those who don’t. The eggnoggers stand smugly around the table, sipping the rich concoction and flaunting their affinity for their preferred concentration (“No cutting it with milk for me! I like to chew mine.”) while the non-eggnoggers chatter amongst themselves on the sidelines, staring and pointing at the freaks who are actually consuming that vile stuff.
Unless you’re at a ward party, in which the entire situation is moot because I have never seen eggnog at a ward party. Firstly, it’s much too costly (who has room in the budget for such an extravagance?) and secondly, we must always avoid the appearance of evil and real nog is rumored to contain, dare we say it, alcohol.
Well, now we have a friendly solution for all: Eggnog Mini Muffins. Because everyone loves muffins, a treat that noggers and non-noggers alike can adore. The flavor is just eggnoggy enough for the former and not quite so strong for the latter, which will make everyone at your party happy, a Christmas miracle. I made these muffins for my ward party with nary a sideward glance. They were just doughnut-like enough to fit right in.
This recipe comes to us through Two Peas and Their Pod.
EGGNOG MINI MUFFINS
ingredients:
1/4 cup butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 2/3 cups all-Purpose Flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoons ground nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup eggnog
For the Glaze:
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1/2 cup eggnog
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease muffin pans. This makes about 48 mini muffins, or 12 regular sized muffins if you prefer.
Using a mixer, cream together butter, oil and sugars until smooth. Add eggs and vanilla and beat together.
In a separate bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg and salt.
Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture alternately with the eggnog until thoroughly combined.
Spoon dough into prepared tins, filling cups about 2/3 full. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until muffins are a light golden color or a toothpick inserted into middle of cupcake comes out clean.
To make the glaze, combine butter, sugar, eggnog, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg in a medium-sized bowl. I recommend sifting the dry ingredients to make the glaze as smooth as possible (you can see I did not do this). Whisk until smooth. Dip tops of muffins into the glaze and let cool on wire rack until the glaze sets up.
