These moist, yet fluffy Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Eggnog Muffins are chock full of tart cranberries, white chocolate chips, and just the right amount of eggnog flavor. They are the perfect addition to that holiday breakfast table!
I find that people usually have pretty strong opinions when it comes to eggnog- they either love it or they hate it. There rarely seems to be a middle ground when it comes to this popular holiday flavor.
I think that maybe I do fall into that all too rare middle ground here. I wouldn't say I love it, but I also definitely don't hate it.
I mean on the one hand, I do like the flavor. But I can't go for the traditional stuff with the raw eggs and rum and all that. I also don't prefer to go all dairy since my lactose intolerance isn't too cool with that option.
The flavor of eggnog also happens to bring back a little holiday nostalgia for me. When I was a kid, we used to go to my grandparents' house every Christmas Eve for dinner and my grandma always set out a punch bowl of eggnog (non-alcoholic, of course).
Before I was aware of my slight lactose intolerance or that such a thing even existed, I used to ladle myself cups of it to drink all evening until I almost sick to my stomach. Oops.
But I do like the occasional glass of soy or coconut milk eggnog with a little splash of whiskey while I am wrapping gifts or baking cookies during the holiday season. I also love the flavor of eggnog in holiday baked goodies like these Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Eggnog Muffins I am sharing with you all today...
These muffins bake up perfectly moist, yet fluffy, and are chock full of tart cranberries, white chocolate chips, and just the right amount of eggnog flavor. They would make the perfect addition to that Christmas breakfast or brunch spread or an excellent homemade gift to drop off with a neighbor.
A few tips & tricks for making these muffins:
- If you are not a fan of dried cranberries, try dried cherries in these muffins instead.
- To add a little crunch to these muffins, feel free to mix in 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts or macadamia nuts when you fold in the cranberries and the white chocolate chips.
- I added a little ground cardamom to this recipe because I love doing a little something unexpected in my baked goodies, but you can leave it out and increase the cinnamon to 3/4 teaspoon if you do not care for it or can't find it. For those of you not familiar with cardamom, it is the predominant spice found in a chai spice blend.
- Want to freeze these muffins? Just place them in a freezer food storage bag and store in the freezer for up to one month. To enjoy these muffins in the morning, take them out of the freezer the night before to thaw.
Yield: 12 servings
Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Eggnog Muffins
Prep time: 20 min Cook time: 20 min Total time: 40 min
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/4 cups of your favorite eggnog (I used Silk CoconutMilk eggnog.)
- 1 tbsp. rum (can substitute vanilla extract instead)
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp. ground cardamom
- 1 cup white chocolate chips
- 1 cup dried cranberries
Instructions
- Line a 12-cup muffin pan with muffin liners. Set aside. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until smooth. Add in the eggs and continuing beating until incorporated. Now beat in the eggnog and rum. Set aside.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, and cardamom. Gradually add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients in the large bowl, beating on low until just combined.
- Fold in the white chocolate chips and dried cranberries.
- Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared muffin cups. Bake the muffins for 20 minutes or until they are slightly golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of one of the muffins comes out clean.
- Allow the muffins to cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then transfer the muffins to cooling rack. Allow the muffins to cool to warm before serving.
- Store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Enjoy!
