Cranberry Egg Nog Muffins

It’s that time again…time for another Improv Cooking Challenge hosted by Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker. This month’s ingredients were egg nog and cranberries. In all honesty, I absolutely hate egg nog. My husband loves the stuff and was so excited when I brought it home for this recipe challenge.

In choosing what recipe to try, the name of the game quickly became “How can I incorporate egg nog into a recipe so that I won’t be able to taste it and will actually enjoy the finished result?” Mission accomplished.

A quick search for a cranberry egg nog muffin recipe led me to an older post from one of my favorite food bloggers, Annie’s Eats. This was our first attempt at muffins and they turned out amazingly well. I think the slightly crunchy streusel topping really adds to the flavor of these muffins. These would be perfect holiday breakfast. Give them a try!

Ingredients:

For the Muffins:

• 2¼ Cups All-Purpose Flour
• 1 tbsp. Baking Powder
• ¼ tsp. Salt
• 1 Cup Sugar
• 2 Large Eggs
• ¾ Cup Egg Nog
• 5 1/3 tbsp. Unsalted Butter (melted)
• 1 tsp. Almond Extract
• 1½ Cups Coarsely Chopped Cranberries

For the Topping:

• ½ Cup Sugar
• ½ Cup All-Purpose Flour
• ½ tsp. Ground Cinnamon
• 4 tbsp. Unsalted Butter (slightly softened)

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 400° F.
• Line 14-16 muffin cups with paper liners.
• In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Stir to combine.
• In another mixing bowl, combine 1 cup of the sugar, eggs, eggnog, melted butter and almond extract.  Stir until well blended.
• Mix in the dry ingredients.
• Toss the chopped cranberries in and fold into the batter.
• Divide the batter evenly between the prepared muffin liners, filling them about two thirds of the way full. (I like to use an ice cream scoop for portioning)
• To make the streusel topping, combine the sugar, flour, cinnamon and butter.  Mix the butter into the dry ingredients until a coarse, crumbly mixture forms.
• Sprinkle the mixture evenly on top of the muffin batter.
• Bake for about 18-22 minutes, or a until they pass the toothpick test.
• Bon Appetit!