Eggnog Cupcakes

This year at my office's Christmas party, they had a cookie exchange. Since I'm always looking for an excuse to bake, more specifically bake cupcakes, I thought this was the perfect opportunity to try out this recipe. This recipe is adapted from a recipe on Annie's Eats. The original recipe called for authentic rum in both the cake batter, and frosting. I don't drink, and I didn't want to go out and spend $20 on rum ( the alcohol will cook out of the batter, but not the frosting) just so my batter tasted like real eggnog. So I opted for the extract.
These were really really good, even if you're not an eggnog fan.

Ingredients:

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

For the frosting:

¼ cup butter, softened
3 tbsp. eggnog
1 tbsp. rum extract
generous pinch of nutmeg
2 (or more) cups confectioners’ sugar

For garnish (optional):
ground cinnamon
cinnamon sticks



Directions:

Preheat oven to 350° F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners. In a small bowl, mix together the rum extract, eggnog, vegetable oil, apple cider vinegar, and vanilla extract. In a large bowl, mix together the nutmeg, sugar, flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk until just combined. Divide evenly between prepared muffin wells.



Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the cakes spring back when lightly pressed. Cool in the pan 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.



To make the frosting, cream together the butter, eggnog, extract, nutmeg and confectioners’ sugar. Add in more confectioners’ sugar if needed to make the frosting stiff, but spreadable. Frost the cooled cupcakes. Sprinkle with cinnamon and garnish with a cinnamon stick.