Muffin Wednesday: Eggnog Cranberry

Faced with a little eggnog and fresh cranberries left over from the weekend, I searched the Internet for an appropriate Muffin Wednesday recipe. How about Eggnog Cranberry Muffins from Annie's Eats?? Perfect.

Clarke, finally in center on Wednesdays, assisted with the chopping and topping:
Muffins:
2 1/4 c flour
1 T baking powder
1/4 t salt
1 c plus 2 T sugar, divided
2 eggs
3/4 c eggnog
5 1/3 T butter, melted
1 t almond extract (Didn't have it... left it out)
1 1/2 c coarsely chopped cranberries

Topping:
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c flour
1/2 t cinnamon
4 t butter, slightly softened
1/2 c chopped pecans (optional - didn't have any... left it out)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line muffin cups with paper liners (mine made 23 muffins).

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt.

In a large mixing bowl, combine 1 cup of the sugar, eggs, eggnog, melted butter and almond extract. Stir until well combined.

Mix in the dry ingredients just until incorporated. Toss the chopped cranberries with the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar (**I read the wrong line and accidentally dumped in 1/2 c of sugar instead of 2T - OOPS!), and fold into the batter. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared muffin liners, filling them about two-thirds full.

To make the streusel topping, combine the sugar, flour, cinnamon and butter. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients until a coarse, crumbly mixture forms. Stir in the pecans if using. Sprinkle the mixture evenly on top of the muffin batter.

Bake for about 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.
These were really good! The tart cranberries against the really sweet muffin were nice. I enjoyed them thoroughly, as did my students and staff friends.
The streusel topping got really crunchy and glued itself to the paper and muffin tin, but it was still really good - you just have to get past the crust to the moistness underneath.

So after Thanksgiving, if you're looking for a way to use up those extras, give this one a try!

Also, I made this eggnog muffin last year and it was AMAZING. Try it :)