Gingerbread Cupcakes with Eggnog Buttercream Icing

I’m bringing my two favourite Christmas flavours together with this dessert that is perfect for holiday entertaining. You don’t always need to host a formal sit-down dinner over the holidays, so having a bunch of appetizers and easy to eat desserts while standing & mingling is key. Don’t forget to buy muffin liners before you start baking!

Gingerbread Cupcakes with Eggnog Buttercream Icing

Prep time: 40 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Total time: 1 hour
Yield: 12 cupcakes

INGREDIENTS

For the Gingerbread Cupcakes

• ½ cup unsalted butter, softened

• ½ cup granulated sugar

• 1 large egg, plus 1 egg yolk

• ½ cup water, room temperature

• ½ cup molasses

• 1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

• ½ tsp. baking soda

• ½ tsp. baking powder

• ½ tsp. ground ginger

• ½ tsp. cinnamon

• ½ tsp. ground nutmeg

• ½ tsp. salt

• ¼ tsp. ground cloves

For Eggnog Buttercream Icing

• ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened

• 3 cups icing sugar (powdered sugar)

• 2-3 tbsp. eggnog

• ¼ tsp. ground nutmeg

• ¼ tsp. rum extract

• Pinch of salt

• Cinnamon sticks for garnish

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350F and line a muffin tin with 12 liners. In a large bowl or in the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter and sugar and beat until light and fluffy, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add in egg and egg yolk and beat until combined. Mix in water and molasses and continue to beat until incorporated. In a separate bowl, sift together all dry ingredients. Add them to the wet ingredients and mix on low speed to start, slowly increasing to medium speed for 1-2 minutes once the batter starts to come together. Be sure to stop intermittently to scrape down the sides of the bowl.  

Fill the muffin liners ¾ of the way full with batter, and bake in the preheated oven for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of a cupcake comes out clean. Let cool for 15 minutes, remove and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

While the cupcakes are cooling, it’s time to make the eggnog buttercream icing. Beat the butter with the whisk attachment on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the icing sugar, and beat on low to start, until incorporated. Increase the speed to medium, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add eggnog, nutmeg and rum extract, salt and continue to beat until smooth.  

To frost your cupcakes, you can use on offset spatula or a piping bag fitted with a large tip. If you don’t have a piping bag, you can always cut out the corner of a large Ziplock bag and use that instead. Decorate with a cinnamon stick or sprinkles, or even a dusting of additional nutmeg.

Cupcakes will last, covered and refrigerated for approximately 1 week.