Eggnog French Toast

Yup that's right Eggnog French Toast....I can hear your tummy grumbling already just from reading the title of this post.  How could it be anything but tasty and wonderful?  If you have a carton of eggnog sitting around needing to be used up try this recipe, or the Eggnog Cupcakes I made a week.  Either way you can't go wrong.

Eggnog French Toast

Ingredients
4 large eggs
3/4 cup eggnog
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg (optional*)
8 slices thick Texas toast or other thick bread
butter, softened
powered sugar

Directions
1. Break eggs into a shallow dish and beat lightly.  Add eggnog and ground nutmeg to eggs, mix well.
2.  Heat griddle to medium heat.  Dip bread into egg batter, allow the bread to soak up the mixture for a few seconds.  Cook about 4-5 minutes per side or until golden brown.
3.  Serve toast topped with butter and a light dusting of powdered sugar.
* note:  most eggnog mixtures you get from the store will be loaded with lots of yummy holiday spices already but I LOVE nutmeg so I always add extra.  If you aren't a huge fan or don't want extra you can omit the extra amount of ground nutmeg in the recipe.

Eggnog Cupcakes

Growing up we never had eggnog in our house, maybe my parents didn't grow up with it or maybe they just didn't like it, but whatever the reason I had never tried it until I was in my twenties.  Even after trying it I wasn't crazy about it.  It's funny, I have read so many blogs and people say that you either love it or hate it. For me I didn't love it but I didn't hate it either, it was just ok.  My husband, however, likes it so he bought a carton of it the other day and then left for North Dakota without drinking any of it.  So I have a carton of eggnog, which I won't drink and had to figure something to use it for.  What better way to use it then to make CUPCAKES!  Yum!  And to make them even better....top them with Swiss Meringue Buttercream!

Eggnog Cupcakes

slightly adapted from  Martha Stewart's Yellow Buttermilk Cupcakes

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups cake flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup plus 1 Tablespoon butter, room temperature
1 cup plus 3 Tablespoons sugar
3 wholes
1 egg yolk
1 cup eggnog
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 Tablespoon bourbon
Nutmeg Cinnamon Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line standard muffin tins with paper liners.  Sift together both flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt and nutmeg.  In a large measuring cup, add eggnog, vanilla and bourbon.
2. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.  Reduce speed to medium.  Add whole eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of  bowl as needed.  Add yolk and beat until thoroughly combined.  Reduce speed to low.  Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of eggnog mixture, and beating until combined after each.
3. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full.  Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until cupcakes spring back when lightly touched and cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes.  Transfer tins to wire racks to cool 10 minutes, turn out cupcakes onto racks and let cool completely.