Eggnog Cupcakes

This cupcake recipe is easy to make and the results are light and fluffy cupcakes that are full of flavor. Complete you holiday dessert table with these delicious Christmas flavored Eggnog Cupcakes.

It is amazing how easy it is to turn a vanilla cake mix into a moist eggnog flavor dessert. Top the cupcake with a delicious buttercream eggnog frosting and serve to your friends and family.

Christmas Cupcake Recipes is my favorite dessert recipe to make for the holidays. The perfect dessert to serve to a crowd.

What is Eggnog?

Eggnog is a delicious holiday drink that is usually served during the Christmas season. It is a milk based drink and mixed with pasteurized eggs, cream, sugar, and nutmeg. It can also contain alcohol.

Eggnog is delicious mixed with the cake mix ingredients and makes the best cupcakes. If you love eggnog, you might also like Eggnog Fudge Recipe or Eggnog Milkshake.

Why We Love these Eggnog Cupcakes

• Flavorful Cupcake Base – The cupcakes are rich, decadent and a hint of spice because of the added Eggnog flavor.
• Delicious Frosting – We love that the eggnog is also added to the frosting to complete this cupcake.
• Simple Ingredients – Because we start with a vanilla cake mix is cuts down on the ingredients. This helps to keep this holiday cupcake budget friendly.
• Easy to Decorate – We like to add sprinkle of nutmeg on the top of the cupcakes once they are frosted. But you can add some granulated sugar or leave them plain.

Ingredients

• Yellow Cake Mix 15.25 oz – You can also use a White Cake Mix
• Eggnog – Find out your local grocery store
• Large Eggs – Use room temperature eggs
• Butter – We like to use unsalted butter

For the full list of ingredients and recipes, scroll to the bottom for the recipe card.

Step by Step Instructions:

• Step 1 – Prepare oven and cupcake pan – Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a cupcake pan with liners.

Step 2 – Beat together the cake mix, eggnog, eggs, melted butter. Then mix in nutmeg and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl with a hand held mixer until combined.

Step 3 – Then beat for 2-3 minutes to make sure that the cupcakes are light and fluffy.

Step 4 – Pour the batter into the muffin tins. Pour until they are approximately 2/3 of the way full.

Step 5 – Bake for 12-14 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Move the cupcakes to a wire rack to cool completely.

Step 6 – In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and shortening until well combined.

Step 7 – Add in half of the powdered sugar and mix until well combined.

Step 8 – Then mix in the eggnog, vanilla extract and nutmeg and mix until smooth.

Step 9 – Next, add in the remaining powdered sugar until combined and the frosting is smooth. Then frost cupcakes with buttercream frosting topped with nutmeg.

Expert Tips

• Softened Butter – When creaming together ingredients we recommend to mix with softened butter. It results in creamier batter.
• Mixing Ingredients – For the best texture cupcakes, do not overmix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Just combine ingredients until mixed together. We recommend using a stand mixer to combine the ingredients.
• Filling the Cupcake Liners – Because the cupcake batter will expand, only fill the cupcakes about 2/3 full of the batter.
• Decorating Cupcakes – Before decorating the cupcakes, make sure they have completely cooled. We like to use a piping bag to really make the frosting texture look full and pretty.
• Added Ingredients – For added flavor, you can easily add in some rum extract to the cupcake and frosting mixture.

Why Use Eggnog in your Recipes?

We love to serve eggnog during the holidays. This holiday drink taste amazing, but it is an easy swap for milk in your holiday desserts. This simple twist on your holiday desserts gives the cupcakes, cakes, or fudges a taste of the holiday season.

It really does something to the cupcake texture and flavor. It gives the vanilla cake mix a hint of rich spice but keeps it moist. These cupcakes are not overly sweet. So that is why we love to top the buttercream eggnog frosting to balance out the flavor.

How to Freeze

Freezing eggnog cupcakes are easy to do. You can even go ahead and frost the cupcakes. They are great to prepare ahead of time before all your holiday baking.

• Place the cupcakes on a baking sheet and place in the freeze for about an hour. This allows for the cupcakes to freeze individually.
• Then remove from the freezer and wrap with plastic wrap and foil individually. Place in an freezer safe air tight container and they will last about 3 months.
• When ready to serve, all the cupcakes to thaw in the fridge overnight and then serve them the next day.

What is the Secret to Moist Cupcakes?

The secret to creating the light and moist cupcakes is how the ingredients are mixed together. You want to create air bubbles in your batter as they will expand in the oven.

If you overmix the batter, those air bubbles collapse created a tougher texture cake. Always mix your cupcake batter at low speed when combining the ingredients.