These eggnog cupcakes have lots of old-school Christmas flavour in cute cupcake form! They’re a great festive treat for snacking or gifting.

Photography by Kelly Neil
These sweet eggnog cupcakes are filled with festive Christmas flavour! The recipe is adapted from our best vanilla cupcakes and easy vanilla frosting recipes. I used real eggnog in the cupcakes and the buttercream, and added warm winter flavours of cinnamon, nutmeg, and rum. The result is a rich, alcohol-free Christmas treat with decadent creamy notes that’s great for sharing or gifting.
I included the eggnog buttercream frosting recipe in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post. If you need tips for decorating with the buttercream visit this easy vanilla frosting post.
Use the JUMP TO RECIPE button at the top, or scroll to the bottom of the post to see the printable recipe card with full ingredient measurements and complete instructions.
Ingredients
Method
Add the dry ingredients to a bowl. Whisk to combine.
Use a mixer to cream the butter and sugar.
Add the eggs and vanilla and mix.
Next, add the eggnog and mix.
Sift the flour into the bowl. Dump in any larger bits of nutmeg and/or salt.
Switch to mixing by hand. Fold until the flour is just combined.
Divide the batter evenly in a muffin tin. Cool completely before decorating.
Tips & Notes
If your eggs are still a bit cool or even cold from the fridge, it can make your butter mixture look curdled. Don’t be alarmed if this happens.
If you don’t want to use a full cup of sugar, reduce the amount to ¾ cup (150 g).
Double the frosting recipe if you like a lot of frosting on your cupcakes.
Substitutions
You can use rum extract in the cupcakes instead of vanilla if you want.
If you don’t like buttercream, try this cream cheese frosting.
More Christmas Baking Recipes
Grinch Cupcakes
Snowflake Sugar Cookies
Mincemeat Pie
Stamped Brown Sugar Shortbread Cookies
Honey Roasted Almonds
Recipe
Eggnog Cupcakes With Eggnog Buttercream Frosting
Description
Equipment
- Muffin tin
- 12 muffin cups
- 2 Mixing bowls
- Hand mixer or stand mixer
- Fine mesh sieve
- Rubber spatula or wooden spoon
- Wire mesh
- Measuring cups and spoons or a digital kitchen scale
Ingredients
For The Eggnog Cupcakes
- 1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup butter, room temperature to soft
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ cup eggnog
For The Eggnog Buttercream Frosting
- ½ cup butter
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon rum extract
- Eggnog to taste
Instructions
- Make The Eggnog Cupcakes—Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Lightly grease a standard 12-cup muffin tin with melted butter and line each cavity with a paper muffin wrapper. Set aside.
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt together in a mixing bowl until well combined. Set aside.
- Place the butter and sugar in a second mixing bowl. Use a hand or stand mixer to cream the two together until light and fluffy, about 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well on medium-high speed to combine. Add the eggnog to the bowl and again, mix well.
- Use a fine mesh sieve to sift the flour into the butter-eggnog mixture. Once the flour has been sifted, there may be some bits of nutmeg and salt that didn’t pass through the sieve. Dump them into the bowl.
- Switch to a rubber spatula or wooden spoon. Gently fold and stir the cupcake batter together until the flour is just mixed in. Divide the batter evenly between the 12 muffin cups in the prepared tin and bake for 20 to 22 minutes, or until the edges of the cupcakes are pale gold and the tops spring back when pressed gently with a fingertip. Transfer the muffin tin to a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from the tin and set on the rack to cool completely before frosting.
- Make The Eggnog Buttercream Frosting—Place the butter in a mixing bowl. Use a hand or stand mixer to cream the butter until light and fluffy, about 1 to 2 minutes.
- Use a fine mesh sieve to sift the powdered sugar into the bowl. Mix on low speed to combine.
- Add the rum extract and continue to mix.
- Add eggnog by the teaspoon, mixing in between each addition, until you reach your desired consistency. You will want the frosting to be a bit stiff if you intend on piping the frosting. Once you are happy with the frosting, use it to decorate the fully cooled eggnog cupcakes.
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