With or without? These eggnog cupcakes are definitely WITH!

My favorite bookstore is the Bunch of Grapes bookstore on Martha's Vineyard and one of my favorite traditions of this bookstore is that they always serve their customers eggnog on christmas eve. The infamous (at least, it seems infamous to my family) question that you are asked upon entering the store is, 'with or without?'. I always answer, 'with', meaning that I like my eggnog to include alcohol.

Unlike my husband, I'm not a huge eggnog fan. I like the taste, sure, but it is way too rich for me and I can only drink it in small amounts. I am, however, a fan of spiked eggnog around the holidays. I am also a fan of cupcakes (duh!). This recipe is the best of both worlds - eggnog cupcakes with nutmeg, rum, and an eggnog/rum buttercream frosting. They are sweet, rich, and are a perfect holiday treat.

I found the recipe at the Loves To Eat blog.

Sadly, I'm out of practice with the whole blogging phenomenon (Sorry! It was much easier to maintain my blogging schedule when I was unemployed!) and forgot to take pictures of my progress.
However, these cupcakes are coming to work with me tomorrow so I'll have to remember to take photos of my colleagues enjoying their deliciousness... and post for all of the internet to enjoy.

Now, on to the recipe (with a few of my modifications).

Ingredients

Cupcakes:
¼ cup white rum
1 cup eggnog
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
¼ tsp. ground nutmeg <- I use whole nutmeg that I grind (instead of pre-ground stuff)
1 cup sugar
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
¼ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt

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

Cinnamon sticks

Directions

Cupcakes:- Preheat oven to 350° F. 

- Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners. 

- In a small bowl, mix together the rum, 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.

Frosting:

- Cream together the butter, eggnog, rum, 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. <- I broke the cinnamon sticks into smaller pieces to stick in the cupcakes

The end result are delicious, ridiculously sweet (maybe a little too sweet) eggnog cupcakes. With the cinnamon and cinnamon sticks on top, each cupcake looks like a little mug of eggnog.

Enjoy and Happy Holidays!!!