Cranberry Eggnog Muffins
Bakery-style muffins with the subtle flavor of eggnog and filled with tart cranberries. These muffins have a cinnamon streusel topping adding to the holiday flavors. They are perfect for a grab and go breakfast or an afternoon snack with a cup of tea.
These tasty bakery-style muffins, with the flavor of spiced eggnog and juicy tart cranberries, are perfect for the holiday season. Quick and easy to make they are perfect with a cup of tea.
If you love the flavor of cranberry, you may also enjoy some flaky Cranberry Lemon Scones or quick and easy Air Fried Cranberry Hand Pies.
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These cranberry eggnog muffins with cinnamon streusel bring all the flavors we crave during the holiday season—rich eggnog, tangy cranberries, and a sweet, crunchy, spiced crumb topping.
Each bite is a perfect combination of creamy and tart, with a hint of spice from the cinnamon streusel that ties everything together.
Thanks to the eggnog, these muffins are light and moist, which adds richness without being too heavy. And the cranberries provide bursts of bright flavor, balancing the sweetness and adding a festive pop of color.
This muffin is great for a simple holiday breakfast or with other breakfast favorites like scrambled eggs, bacon or sausages, and fresh fruit,
They’re also a great option for Christmas morning for a quick snack while gathered around the tree.
We also love them as an afternoon pick-me-up paired with a cozy latte or spiced tea and they are ideal for holiday potluck or office party to share the festive cheer with others.
Ingredients & Substitutions
For a full list of ingredients and measurements, see the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.
All-purpose flour – This recipe calls for all-purpose flour, but you can use whole wheat flour or a blend of the two for a slightly heartier muffin. Using whole wheat flour may require adding a bit more eggnog.
Sugar – These muffins are sweetened with granulated sugar and it is also used for the streusel topping. Sugar adds moisture to the muffins, and also balances the tartness of the cranberries. You can use brown sugar instead of the granulated for the topping if you prefer.
Eggnog – Eggnog is what adds the creamy richness to these muffins and gives them their unique holiday flavor. If you do not like eggnog, it can be substituted with heavy cream.
Cranberries – You want to use whole cranberries for this recipe. Either fresh or frozen will work. You don’t need to worry about thawing frozen cranberries before adding them to the batter.
Cinnamon – Cinnamon adds to the warm holiday flavor. This is added to the batter and also used in the topping. You can add other spices, such as a pinch of nutmeg or ground clove if you like. Or substitute the cinnamon with a spice blend such as pumpkin pie spice, apple pie spice, or eggnog spice, if you can find it.
Vegetable oil – These muffins are made with vegetable oil, which keeps them light and moist. You can use a different neutral flavor oil such as avocado oil or coconut oil, if you prefer. Melted, unsalted butter can also be used.
Pro Tip – You can make this recipe using the standard paper liners, but my favorite is the taller parchment liners. These allow the muffins to rise a little more instead of spreading outward, giving a nicer top.
You can also bake these muffins without liners. Just be sure to grease the muffin tins before filling them with batter.
Storing Cranberry Muffins
Cranberry eggnog muffins will stay fresh in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days. After 3 days, you will notice the crumb topping softens, and the muffins will tend to dry.
If you’d like to extend their shelf life, place the container in the refrigerator, where they’ll stay fresh for about a week.
For longer storage, wrap each muffin individually in plastic wrap or aluminum foil, place them in a freezer-safe bag or container, and freeze for up to three months.
When ready to enjoy them, simply thaw them at room temperature or reheat them in the microwave for a warm, fresh-from-the-oven taste.
More Muffin and Scone Recipes
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Eggnog Cranberry Muffins
Ingredients
- 3 cups (370g) all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2/3 cup vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs
- 3/4 cup eggnog
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup whole cranberries fresh or frozen
Streusel Topping
- 6 tbsp granulated sugar
- 4 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 4 tbsp butter softened
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Mix the 3 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, baking powder, salt and 1 tsp cinnamon in a large bowl.
- In a small bowl, beat the eggs with the vegetable oil and stir in the eggnog and vanilla.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir just until combined.
- Fold in the cranberries and then scoop the batter into a lined muffin tin.
- In a small bowl mix the streusel ingredients with your fingers until well combined and crumbly.
- Place a large scoop of streusel on top of each muffin.
- Place in the oven and bake for 25-30 minunutes until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool for 10 minutes, then remove muffins from the tin and move to a cooling rack.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more.
Sadly, this recipe was a flop for me. I have read and reread the recipe to determine what I could have possibly done to have this result. First, the batter was so thick it was like cookie dough, so I added more eggnog so that I could scoop the mixture into the muffin tins. The resulting muffins didn’t brown before done and were not sweet. I had to double check to make sure I had added the appropriate amount of sugar. I have a home-economics degree and decades experience baking at home. I’m trying to decide if these are salvageable by making a bread pudding or something. Otherwise, they were a complete waste of time and ingredients because I won’t serve them and no one would want to eat them. There simply must have been a misprint in the recipe ingredient amounts is the only thing I can think of.
Thank you for taking the time to comment. I always appreciate it, even if the results are not what you hoped. I have made this recipe several times but waited to reply until I had time to make it again, using the measurements I’d written in my post to ensure I didn’t make an error. I made these again this past week, and mine came out exactly as they should. I can only guess that you may have made an error in measuring the dry ingredients. Did you weigh the flour? Scoop and level? As far as the sweetness, they are really not meant to be overly sweet. They are muffins, not cupcakes and we find with the streusel topping they are sweet enough, but you can always increase the sugar if you prefer sweet muffins. I’m sorry this recipe didn’t work for you, but thank you for taking the time to comment politely.