eggnog cupcakes

Merry Christmas Eve! Just to let y’all know, this is my favorite holiday (in front of Easter and my birthday). The excitement of Christmas approaching, family getting together, and all of the festive parties. I never like going to a party empty handed, so when I was assigned to bring a dessert, my heart rejoiced! I immediately thought of my favorite–eggnog.I whipped up a batch of Eggnog Cupcakes! For those that love eggnog like me, they were yum-my! These were very moist cupcakes and I even made them lactose free (not like I had a choice, thanks digestive system)!

Ingredients

Cupcakes:

1 ¹/3 c all-purpose flour
¼ tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp freshly ground nutmeg (the one and only)
¼ c dark rum or bourbon (optional, but I used bourbon)
1 c lactose free eggnog (I used Silk Soynog)
¼ c unsweetened apple sauce
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup sugar (I subbed ¼ cup with Stevia)

Frosting:

10 tbsp butter
1 ¼ c confectioner’s sugar
pinch of salt
freshly grated nutmeg (my favorite spice)
1 ¼ tbsp lactose free eggnog
1 tbsp dark rum or bourbon (again, optional)

After I prepped my workspace and preheated the oven to 350ºF, I decided to make some eggnog to help me resist from tasting everything…

Line a muffin tin with festive cupcake liners.

Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, nutmeg and salt into a bowl and whisk it together.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine bourbon, eggnog, applesauce, vinegar and sugar.

Add the dry ingredients into the wet a third at a time, mixing in between additions.

Fill all 12 cupcake liners about ²/3 full.

Bake in the oven for 22-24 minutes.

Allow to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then cool completely on a wire rack.

For the frosting, beat the butter until creamy. Add in the sugar and combine well. Then, whisk in the eggnog until fluffy and add in the nutmeg.

Top the cooled cupcakes with frosting. *I don’t like the frosting to overpower the cupcake, but if you love frosting, feel free to double the frosting recipe.