Delicious Spiced Eggnog Muffins Recipe: Bakery-Style Treat

These bakery-style Spiced Eggnog Muffins are more than just a treat; they’re an experience. Imagine sinking your teeth into an oversized oat muffin, infused with a generous cup of real eggnog and crowned with a delightful, crunchy streusel topping. The experience is completed with an easy-to-make eggnog glaze that adds the perfect touch of sweetness and spice. These muffins are incredibly soft and tender, thanks to a special technique, and they’re warmly spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger – the quintessential holiday flavors. If you, like many, believe the best part of a muffin is the top, then these Spiced Eggnog Muffins are tailor-made for you!

The jumbo tops, boasting a buttery brown sugar crumble, are utterly irresistible. They offer a satisfying crunch that contrasts beautifully with the soft, spiced muffin base. Furthermore, these muffins freeze exceptionally well, making them ideal for preparing ahead of time, especially during the hectic holiday season. Imagine having a batch of these delightful muffins ready to go for a festive brunch, a quick breakfast, or a cozy afternoon snack. They’re a surefire way to impress your family and friends.

The Oatmeal Muffin Secret: Soaking Your Oats

I absolutely love adding oats to muffins. It gives them a wonderful hearty quality and makes them incredibly filling. However, it’s also true that sometimes oats can lead to a slightly dry texture in baked goods. Here’s where the secret comes in: the key to keeping your oatmeal muffins perfectly moist and tender lies in soaking your oats in milk (or, in this delightfully festive case, eggnog!) before incorporating them into the batter.

This simple step is a game-changer. Soaking the oats allows them to absorb moisture, which not only softens them but also prevents them from drawing moisture away from the other ingredients during baking. This technique is my go-to trick in almost all of my muffin recipes, even when using steel-cut oats, like in my orange cranberry oatmeal muffins with chocolate chips or my oatmeal banana nut muffins. I know it adds an extra step to the recipe, but I promise you, the resulting moist, tender muffins are absolutely worth the minimal effort!

Key Ingredients and Smart Substitutions

Let’s delve into the key ingredients that make these Spiced Eggnog Muffins so special. I’ll also provide some ingredient notes and recommendations for substitutions, just in case you need them. For the exact ingredient measurements and quantities, please refer to the recipe card located at the end of this post.

• Oats: I prefer to use large flake oats (also known as old-fashioned rolled oats) for their texture and heartiness. However, you can also substitute quick-cooking rolled oats if that’s what you have on hand. For a more rustic touch, you can even use steel-cut oats, but you’ll need to soak them overnight, or for at least 5-6 hours, to ensure they soften properly.
• Eggnog: For the most luxuriously soft and tender muffin, I highly recommend using full-fat eggnog. While you can certainly use light or plant-based eggnog for a lighter option, keep in mind that it may affect the final texture of the muffins, making them slightly less tender. The flavor will remain the same, though!
• Oil: Oil plays a crucial role in keeping these muffins moist and tender. I used vegetable oil in this particular recipe, but feel free to substitute canola oil, avocado oil, or even olive oil – all of these work well. The key is to use a neutral-flavored oil that won’t overpower the delicate spice notes of the eggnog.
• Spices: While eggnog is already spiced, I like to take it a step further and add some extra ground cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. This really amplifies the spiced flavor in the muffins, the streusel topping, and the glaze, creating a truly warming and festive treat. Don’t be shy with the spices – they’re what give these muffins their signature flavor!
• Brown Sugar: The rich, molasses-like flavor of brown sugar is a perfect complement to the eggnog and spices in this recipe. I use light brown sugar in both the batter and the streusel, but you can definitely use dark brown sugar if you prefer a more intense flavor. Just be aware that dark brown sugar will result in a slightly darker and more intensely flavored muffin.

Step-by-Step: Making Eggnog Muffins with Streusel and Glaze

Here’s a brief overview of the steps involved in making these delectable Spiced Eggnog Muffins, complete with helpful photos to guide you along the way. For more detailed instructions and precise measurements, please refer to the recipe card at the end of this post.

Tips for Measuring Ingredients Accurately

For your convenience, this recipe includes US cup measurements in the recipe card. However, for the most accurate results, I highly recommend using weight measurements (grams) or volume measurements (milliliters) whenever possible. If you see grams (g), use a kitchen scale to weigh the ingredient. If you see milliliters (ml), use a liquid measuring cup. For smaller quantities of ingredients, such as spices and extracts, teaspoons and tablespoons are perfectly acceptable.

Essential Tips for Recipe Success

• Muffins are not overly sweet: Keep in mind that the muffin batter itself isn’t excessively sweet, as it only contains 1/3 cup of brown sugar. The streusel topping and eggnog glaze add extra sweetness, so if you prefer a less sweet muffin, you can certainly omit them.
• No need for liners: I tested this recipe both with and without cupcake liners and found that I preferred the way the muffin tops looked when baked without them. The muffins develop a beautiful, slightly caramelized crust on the edges.
• Grease the muffin pan thoroughly: To ensure that the muffins release easily from the pan, I recommend using a non-stick cooking spray to generously coat the muffin cups. I also spray the area around the top of the pan where the streusel topping might spill out, as this helps prevent the muffin domes from sticking.
• Space out the muffins in the pan: This recipe is specifically designed to make 6 jumbo muffins. I like to use a standard 12-cup muffin pan but space the muffins out, filling only every other cup. This allows the muffin domes plenty of room to rise and spread, creating those desirable bakery-style tops.
• Use cold, cubed butter for the streusel topping: This is essential for achieving a crumbly texture in the streusel. The cold butter will create small pockets of fat that melt during baking, resulting in a tender yet crunchy topping. If the butter becomes too warm while you’re working with it, simply pop the streusel mixture into the refrigerator for 5-10 minutes to firm it up again.
• Don’t forget to reduce the oven temperature! This is a crucial step for achieving those perfectly domed muffin tops. Baking the muffins at a higher temperature (425°F/220°C) for the first 5 minutes gives them a quick initial burst of heat, which helps them to rise rapidly and create a beautiful dome. However, if you forget to reduce the temperature to 350°F (175°C) for the remainder of the baking time, the muffins will brown too quickly and may even burn.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Explore More Delicious Muffin Recipes

Looking for even more muffin inspiration? Here are a few of my other favorite muffin recipes:

• Banana Blackberry Oatmeal Muffins
• Partridgeberry White Chocolate Chip Muffins
• Spelt Flour Banana Muffins
• Air Fryer Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Muffins

If you try out this Spiced Eggnog Muffins recipe, I’d love to hear what you think! Please leave a comment below to share your thoughts and experiences.

HUNGRY FOR MORE? Follow Crumb Top Baking on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook!

Print