Cranberry Eggnog Streusel Muffins are the PERFECT Christmas muffins recipe. With the nutty taste of delicious eggnog and bursts of tangy cranberries in every bite, these muffins can easily become a holiday tradition.
When you think of Christmas, a few things come to mind. Chocolate, a million types of cookies, gingerbread, eggnog, and cranberries. While there is obviously more to Christmas than just food, we have to admit that the holiday feast and goodies are a great way to keep the spirits up.
Plus, calories don't count during the holidays, or so I've heard. Ha.
My husband is a HUGE eggnog lover to the point where I have to have the milkman deliver it weekly from November 1st through Christmas. He doesn't always drink the quart before a new one comes, so I'm always on the lookout for leftover eggnog recipes.
I came across an eggnog streusel recipe on King Arthur's website and instantly thought to add cranberries. Best decision. I love the sweet, nutty, tangy bites of these eggnog cranberry muffins and everything from the smell to the bright colors has me feeling jolly.
🥘 Ingredients
For the Streusel Topping, you will need:
- Sugar
- Flour
- Nutmeg
- Rum Extract
- Butter
For the Muffins, you will need:
- Butter
- Sugar
- Eggs
- Flour
- Baking Powder
- Nutmeg
- Salt
- Rum Extract
- Eggnog
- Fresh Cranberries
🍽 Equipment Needed
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🔪 Instructions
Check out how to make cranberry eggnog streusel muffins with these simple step-by-step instructions:
Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F, line a muffin tray with paper liners, or spray with cooking grease.
In a bowl, combine all of the dry topping ingredients until well mixed. Add in the melted butter and mix just until crumbly. Set aside.
In a medium-sized mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until smooth.
Mix in the eggs until smooth.
It should look like this.
Mix in the baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and rum extract.
Add in the flour and the eggnog, alternatingly, until both have been combined.
Start and end with the flour.
Fold in the halved frozen fresh cranberries.
Stop once fully incorporated.
Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups. Add streusel, you will have some leftovers.
Bake in the oven at 425 degrees F for 20 minutes until light golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool.
🍴 Recipe Tips
Making the cranberry muffins with fresh cranberries is great. But if possible, freeze them beforehand.
Freeze your cranberries at least an hour before making these muffins so that they're easier to slice in half, and don't leave red streaks throughout the batter as you fold them in.
If you want to leave out the rum extract, just use double the amount of vanilla extract in its place. So instead of ¼ teaspoon of rum extract, you'd use ½ teaspoon, etc. Just note that the rum flavoring really helps to drive the eggnog flavor home, and they may not taste as strong.
If you don't have enough eggnog, you can fill in the remaining amount using half and half or milk. The flavor will be weakened, but they should still taste good.
💭 FAQs
This eggnog muffin recipe is good for 2 days. If kept in an airtight container at room temperature, your muffins can last about 2 days before becoming stale. For longer storage, freeze them.
Keep your leftover streusel topping in a sealed bag in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. When ready to use, grab what's needed and enjoy.
More great holiday recipes to try
- Christmas Pretzels
- Christmas Tree Pretzels
- 25 Christmas Breakfast Ideas
- Peppermint Shortbread Cookies
- White Chocolate Cranberry Cheesecake
- White Chocolate Peppermint Popcorn
- Hot Chocolate Pancakes
📖 Recipe
Cranberry Eggnog Streusel Muffins
Ingredients
Streusel Topping
- ½ cup sugar ($0.11)
- ½ cup flour ($0.04)
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg ($0.05)
- ⅛ teaspoon rum extract ($0.01)
- 2 ½ tablespoon butter, melted ($0.23)
Muffins
- 4 tablespoon butter, softened ($0.36)
- ¾ cup sugar ($0.17)
- 2 large eggs ($0.16)
- 2 ½ cups flour ($0.20)
- 2 teaspoon baking powder ($0.04)
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg ($0.02)
- ½ teaspoon salt ($0.01)
- ¼ teaspoon rum extract ($0.01)
- 1 ¼ cup eggnog ($1.50)
- 1 cup fresh cranberries, frozen and halved ($0.50)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F and line a muffin tray (or two) with liners. This recipe makes roughly 17 muffins.
Topping:
- In a bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients and then add in the melted butter, mixing just until crumbly. Set aside.
Muffins
- Beat together the butter and sugar in a medium sized mixing bowl until smooth.
- Add in both eggs and beat again for about a minute until light and fluffy, making sure to scrape down the sides as you go.
- Mix in the baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and rum extract.
- Alternate adding the flour and the eggnog to the mix, mixing well after each addition until both have been thoroughly combined.
- Fold in the frozen and halved cranberries. it helps to freeze cranberries for about an hour before making this recipe so they slice easier (and are less messy).
- Spoon the batter into the muffin cups filling them about ⅔rds of the way full.
- Sprinkle the tops with the streusel topping you made earlier. You WILL have some leftover (about enough to repeat the recipe 3 times).
- Bake in the oven for 20 minutes until a pale golden brown color.
- Remove from oven and let cool.
Notes
Recipe Tips
Freeze your cranberries at least an hour before making these muffins so that they're easier to slice in half and they don't leave red streaks throughout the batter as you're folding them in. If you want to leave out the rum extract, just use double the amount of vanilla extract in its place. So instead of ¼ teaspoon of rum extract, you'd use ½ teaspoon, etc. Just note that the rum flavoring really helps to drive the eggnog flavor home and they may not taste as strong. If you don't have enough eggnog, you can fill in the remaining amount using half and half or milk. The flavor will be weakened, but they should still taste good.Storage
This eggnog muffin recipe is good for 2 days. If kept in an airtight container at room temperature your muffins can last about 2 days before becoming stale. For longer storage, freeze them. Keep your leftover streusel topping in a sealed bag in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. When ready to use, grab what's needed and enjoy.Nutritional Information
Lightly Adapted from King Arthur Baking Easy Holiday Eggnog Muffins Recipe.
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