These Eggnog Cupcakes are super moist, flavourful and festive! With my new and improved fluffy and moist eggnog cupcakes and the silky eggnog buttercream frosting, these sweet treats are the perfect addition to your holiday party!
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**This recipe was originally posted on December 17, 2018. The photos, recipe and post were updated on December 6th, 2021**
It’s the holiday season, and you know what that means? You can indulge in as much eggnog as your heart can take, whether you drink it or eat it!
So start off your day with some Eggnog French Toast or Eggnog Pancakes, or maybe even some Eggnog Cinnamon Rolls (highly recommended).
Then wrap up a million gifts while sipping on some Eggnog Hot Chocolate, and if you get tired, take a break and enjoy a little Eggnog Pudding as a snack. Then at the end of the day, treat yourself to a slice of Eggnog Cheesecake (big or small) for dessert!
Yeah, there’s plenty of eggnog recipes on the site...I may be a bit eggnog crazy.
Two Parts to These Cupcakes
As with most cupcake recipes, there are 2 key components:
- Cupcake
- Frosting
Cupcake: The first time I made this recipe, the cupcake base was simply my vanilla cupcake recipe with a few adjustments to make them eggnog flavoured. This was an easy recipe that just combined dry ingredients with wet ingredients.
This upgraded version, however? A little more complex since it’s butter-based, but still very, very EASY! While I love the old recipe, this new one is just soooo much better! The cupcake has a tighter crumb, softer texture, more moisture and just pairs so much better with the silky buttercream.
Frosting: while I changed the cupcake recipe, I kept the frosting the same. So fluffy and creamy and filled with the perfect amount of eggnog flavour.
Let’s break down how to make each part. Oh, and did I mention I do videos now? You can watch the full tutorial on how to make these cupcakes on my YouTube channel!
New & Improved Eggnog Cupcakes
This new delicious recipe for easy eggnog cupcakes will be your new favourite! I think this recipe made its first appearance in my White Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cupcakes recipe.
Since then, this perfect cupcake has been the base of many other cupcake recipes like these lemon meringue s’mores cupcakes, coconut cream pie cupcakes, Piña colada cupcakes and lemon poppy seed cupcakes!
TIPS for Success:
- Room Temperature Ingredients: make sure all of your ingredients are at room temperature before you start. This helps everything blend better and smoother, which will prevent the need to over mix.
- Cream butter and sugar: For the base, you’ll want to cream the butter and sugar on high speed until they’re light and fluffy. This is key to getting those tight crumbs!
- Alternate between wet and dry: as you’ll see in the video, after mixing the other ingredients, we alternate between the dry ingredients and the eggnog. Doing this helps keep the cupcake batter silky smooth!
- Scrape down the bowl: always scrape down the sides of your bowl after each step! This ensures absolutely everything is being mixed in properly.
- Fill the liners ⅔ way: don’t fill the cupcake liners all the way to the top or else you’ll end up with ugly, wide muffin tops. Filling them ⅔ way allows the cupcakes to rise just a little above the muffing cups.
Do I Have to Use Rum Extract?
Not exactly, though I highly recommend it. Although we’re using real eggnog to get the eggnog flavour in the cupcakes, the rum extract still adds a nice boost! If you can’t find any rum extract at your local grocery store, you can either order some here (like I had to), replace it with vanilla extract OR substitute with a tablespoon of dark rum.
Silky Eggnog Buttercream Frosting
To make the frosting, you’ll need some softened butter, powdered sugar, eggnog, rum extract (or rum), nutmeg and salt to cut back on some of that sweetness. Since this is just frosting, you can easily adjust the liquid to change up the flavour.
Now the amount of powdered sugar is important because not only do you want this frosting to be thick enough to pipe, you also want enough frosting to cover all of the cupcakes (especially if you use the wilton 6B and8B tips I usually use to pipe tall swirls).
However, the liquid can be switched up, as long as you use the same amount. If you’re using real rum instead of rum extract, you would need to use a tablespoon since it’s the equivalent of 1 teaspoon of imitation rum extract.
But if you’d rather have a rum flavoured frosting instead of eggnog flavoured, you can easily replace the eggnog with it. Though be careful, because ⅓ cup of rum could be a lot (unless that’s what you’re going for, then go ahead!). If you plan on serving this to kids, though, stick with the eggnog.
Decoration Ideas
When it comes to eggnog desserts, I HAVE to decorate with grated nutmeg! Just take a whole nutmeg and a hand grater and go to town on these cupcakes. Then for an extra festive decoration, push in a small stick of cinnamon. Such a simple, yet effective decoration idea!
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Let’s get baking!
Eggnog Cupcakes with Eggnog Buttercream
These Eggnog Cupcakes are super moist, flavourful and festive! With my new and improved fluffy and moist eggnog cupcakes and the silky eggnog buttercream frosting, these sweet treats are the perfect addition to your holiday party!
Ingredients
Eggnog Cupcakes:
- 1 and ½ cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup sour cream, room temperature
- 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon pure rum extract
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- ¾ cup Eggnog, room temperature
Eggnog Buttercream:
- 1 and ½ cups unsalted Butter, softened to room temperature
- 5-6 cups Powdered Sugar, sifted
- ⅓ cup Eggnog
- 1 teaspoon rum extract
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Additional:
- Cinnamon Sticks, for garnish (optional)
- Freshly grated nutmeg, for topping
Instructions
For the Eggnog Cupcakes:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C), and line a standard cupcake pan with paper liners. Line a second pan with 3 paper liners, this recipe makes about 15 cupcakes.
- In a large bowl, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg and whisk to combine. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl using a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
- Add the sour cream, vegetable oil and rum extract and mix until combined.
- Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Lower the speed to medium-low and mix in the eggs, one at a time, until just combined.
- Add ⅓ of the dry ingredients to batter and beat just until combined, then add ½ of the eggnog and mix until just combined. Continue mixing in ½ of the remaining dry ingredients, remaining eggnog, then remaining dry ingredients. Remember to mix each addition until just combined before adding the next.
- Scoop batter into cupcake liners, filling them ⅔ way full. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.
- Remove cupcakes from oven and allow to cool in pans for about 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
For the Eggnog Buttercream:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with a hand-held mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until light and fluffy (about 5-6 minutes).
- Turn the mixer to low, and gradually add half of the sugar one cup at a time. Once incorporated, add eggnog and rum extract and beat until combined.
- Add the remaining powdered sugar one cup at a time and mix on low until combined.
- Once the sugar is combined, add nutmeg and salt. Increase mixer speed to high and whip until light and fluffy, about 5-7 minutes.
- Transfer frosting to a piping bag fitted with a large star tip and pipe swirls onto cooled cupcakes.
- Garnish with freshly grated nutmeg and a cinnamon stick, if desired. Enjoy!
Notes
- Make Ahead: (1) Cupcakes can be made a day in advance. Store in an airtight container and keep in the refrigerator. (2) Frosting can be made a day ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator. Let it come to room temperature before re-whipping.
- Freezing: Both cupcakes and frosting can be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw them in the refrigerator overnight, then let them come to room temperature before serving.
- Tools I Used: Glass Mixing Bowl Set | Cordless Hand Mixer | Rubber Spatula | Measuring Cups | Cookie Scoop | Cupcake Pan | Cupcake Liners | Piping Bag |
Recommended Products
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 15 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 1083Total Fat: 16gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 70mgSodium: 183mgCarbohydrates: 238gFiber: 0gSugar: 230gProtein: 2g
BON APPÉTIT!
Love, Dedra
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