Eggnog Scones

Eggnog Scones

Eggnog is one of those holiday drinks that you either love or hate.  I personally love the stuff!   Now I can’t chug an entire gallon, but a nice sized cup once a day is a nice way to bring in the holidays.  Only my oldest agrees with me on this one.  It was pure torture for him the other week.  You see, I bought some eggnog and told him not to touch it until I was finished baking.  Then I promptly forgot about the eggnog for oh, let’s say about 5 days or so.   I say forgot very lightly, because you see my son would come home from school every day and ask if he could have some.  No, not yet, was the answer for those long 5 days.   I kept thinking maybe we needed some more eggnog muffins or maybe some eggnog cheeesecake brownies or even better eggnog latte cupcakes!    The only problem with those…I can’t bake the same thing twice.  At least not for myself that is.  So until inspiration hit, the cap was staying put on the eggnog.

And then one day I just decided that we needed some eggnog scones for breakfast the next day.  I usually bake on a whim every day.  My cupboards are packed with fun baking ingredients just waiting for the day when I get a lightbulb moment and decide to use that particular item.  Any one else bake like this?  I wish I could say I have a plan each day…but no, my kitchen is always very random.  I never know for sure what is going to happen each day.

Anyway, my son was a very happy camper when he got home and I handed him the eggnog container and told him the rest was his.   [Read more...]

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Eggnog Cheesecake Brownies

Did you know that making desserts for real people is stressful?
I mean seriously when I am at home during the week
baking for my internet peeps in my sweats…it is super easy.
I can just make what I want because you really aren’t there eating it
and judging me for all the sugar in my house.
Well you might be judging me, but I don’t know about it:-)
But when I have to make food for people that are living
breathing standing right in front of me, I freeze.
This weekend we were asked to be the dessert stop
for our youth group and their annual progressive dinner.
Should be easy enough…I am like a dessert queen around these parts.
I keep a running list of desserts that I want to try/make,
not a problem. Or so I thought…
The dessert list brought out the crazy neurotic part of me…
I seriously was sweating bullets trying to decide what to make.
And they are just teenagers who will eat anything I throw at them.
Why was it so hard to decide?
I blame it on having way too many options.
Now usually I am super fond of having a lot of options
for me to choose between.
Scrapbook stores…tons of paper to decide between.
Thrift store…tons of old clothes to go through.
Online stamp store…plethora of stamps to choose from.
But give me 25 teenagers and a list of 10 food items
and I shake like a fool!!!
Honestly I couldn’t decide what would be better to make for them.
I finally settled on blonde brownies…jazzed up for the holidays of course:-)
Should be easy…I make these ALL the time.
Finished up the batter and tossed it in the oven.
25 minutes later and it still looked like I could pour it out of the pan!!!
WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON????
I was still so stressed over baking that I totally messed up
and threw an extra stick of butter into the batter.
(Just so you know an extra 1/2 c. of butter will totally throw off your baking)
So that disaster went into the garbage can…
back to square one.
Finally I calmed my nerves enough to make
some fudge, cookies, cheesecake and cake trifles.
Enough of this real life people baking…
take me back to computer screen baking:-)
Eggnog Cheesecake Brownies
1 brownie mix
1 (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/4 c. eggnog
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 Tbsp. flour
1 tsp. rum extract
1 tsp. nutmeg
Preheat oven to 350*. Mix brownies according to 2 egg directions. Spread in greased 9×13 pan. In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, eggnog, and cornstarch until creamy. Add the milk, flour, egg, rum and nutmeg and beat until incorporated. Pour slowly over brownie batter. Bake 35-37 minutes. Let cool on wire rack. Finish cooling in refrigerator. Sprinkle with nutmeg before serving. Keep refrigerated!
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Eggnog Latte Cupcakes

A Few Things I Love About The Christmas Season:
* Seeing all the beautiful Christmas lights
* Baking and eating lots of cookies
* Buying presents for loved ones
* Wearing new jammies
* Reading the Christmas story
* Decorating our house/tree
* Wrapping presents
* Watching old favorites on tv…Hello, Mr. Grinch
* Making a card to mail out
* Drinking lots of Eggnog Latte’s
I look forward to eggnog latte’s each winter.
After having a few too many of them so far,
I realized that I wanted to recreate my favorite drink
into a cupcake form.
This cupcake is going on my must make list
for every Christmas season after.
It had a mild eggnog flavor paired
with a delicious light coffee frosting.
Just perfect for this coffee addict!!!
I am thinking about freezing some eggnog
just so that I can enjoy these year round:-)

(I say that but, in reality I won’t)

What do you love about this time of year?
Eggnog Latte Cupcakes

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 22 minutes

Yield: 24 cupcakes

Eggnog Latte Cupcakes

Vanilla cupcakes made with eggnog and topped with a coffee butter cream

Ingredients

For the Cupcakes
1 vanilla cake mix
3 eggs
1 c. eggnog
1/3 c. oil
1/4 c. sour cream
1 tsp. rum extract
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
For the Coffee Cream Butter Cream
1/2 c. butter, softened
1/4 c. shortening
2 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 Tbsp. hot water
2 Tbsp. instant coffee
1/2 tsp. rum extract
pinch of salt
4 c. powdered sugar
1 Tbsp. heavy whipping cream

Instructions

    For the Cupcakes
  1. Preheat oven to 350*. Line pan with cupcake liners. Beat all ingredients on low for 1 minute and then on medium for 2 minutes. Fill liners 2/3 of the way full. Bake 22 minutes. Cool on a wire rack completely before frosting with coffee buttercream. Dust with nutmeg. Keep cupcakes refrigerated.
  2. For the Butter Cream
  3. Dissolve the coffee in hot water and set aside. Beat butter, shortening and cream cheese until fluffy. Add coffee water, extract, and salt. Beat in sugar slowly. After all the sugar has been mixed in, beat in whipping cream to thin it slightly. Keep refrigerated.
http://insidebrucrewlife.com/2011/12/eggnog-latte-cupcakes/
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