I am the queen of saving so many recipes, and I know with certainty I’ll never be able to try them all.  Many of them get pushed aside because they seem out of season, or because I don’t have a good reason to make them, and eventually slip my mind when I’m in the process of meal planning.  But some I just need to make right away, as was the case with these muffins.  They’re seasonal, I had all the ingredients on hand, and I had to work on a Saturday morning so I knew I would have some hungry coworkers to help taste test them.  Not surprisingly, these are a wonderful treat, and perfect for this time of year (you know, eggnog and cranberry time.)  I thought the almond flavor, though delicious, slightly overpowered the taste of the eggnog so next time I may reduce that a bit.  Otherwise, these were great and received two thumbs up from everyone who tried them.

  • Yield about 14-16 muffins

Ingredients

For the muffins:
2¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
1 cup plus 2 tbsp. granulated sugar, divided
2 large eggs
¾ cup eggnog
5 1/3 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp. almond extract
1½ cups coarsely chopped cranberries

For the topping:
½ cup sugar
½ cup all-purpose flour
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, slightly softened
½ cup chopped pecans (optional)

Directions

  • 01

    Preheat the oven to 400° F.  Line 14-16 muffin cups with paper liners.  In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt; stir to combine.  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, and fold into the batter.  Divide the batter evenly between the prepared muffin liners, filling them about two thirds of the way full.

  • 02

    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.

  • 03

    Bake for about 18-22 minutes, or a 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.

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