Eggnog Cupcakes with Eggnog Cream Cheese Frosting

I don't like eggnog. At all. It's just not something my family ever got into. I think I could drink an eggnog latte but otherwise the real thing is just way too thick for my taste. I guess we were always the boring hot chocolate kind of people because hot apple cider wasn't our thing either. For some reason though, I just couldn't pass up the idea of eggnog cupcakes. It just sounded so good to me. With cream cheese frosting? Well all of my cupcakes basically have cream cheese involved somehow, but it seemed like it would pair perfectly with the eggnog by toning down the usually overwhelming eggy taste.

I did a lot of reasearch and I found the perfect recipe on one of my favorite food blogs, Annie's Eats. The cupcakes were amaazinngg. The texture was a little different than the average cupcake, probably because the recipe called for vegetable oil instead of butter, but they were so moist and delicious. They were slightly spongier than the normal cakey cake but not in a bad way. I'm considering making these every year now because they were honestly that good. I also invented my own frosting recipe to go with her cupcakes and not to toot my own horn or anything, but that was pretty killer as well. While eggnog is still in stores, I definitely suggest giving these a try.

Eggnog Cupcakes with Eggnog Cream Cheese Frosting 

The cupcake recipe is taken from a blog called Annie’s Eats (no adaptions or alterations. I just didn’t add the rum). The cream cheese icing is completely my own (icings are kinda my thing).

Eggnog Cupcakes

(recipe may be double)  

Ingredients

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
¼ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. ground nutmeg
1 cup eggnog
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup sugar

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°.

Start by mixing together the eggnog, oil, vinegar, vanilla and sugar

In a separate bowl, combined the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg

Add the dry ingredients to the wet in 2 increments making sure not to over mix.

Fill each cupcake liner until about ¾ full and bake for 24 minutes. (Don’t bake much longer even if a toothpick doesn’t come out completely dry. Any more baking and they will come out spongy.)

Eggnog Cream Cheese Frosting

(makes enough for 2 dozen cupcakes)

Ingredients

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature

I package of cream cheese, room temperature 

3 ½ cups confectioners’ sugar

pinch of salt

¼ cup eggnog

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

Cream together the unsalted butter, eggnog and cream cheese. Then add the confectioners’ sugar, salt and nutmeg.