Cranberry Eggnog Mini Muffins

When I was a kid, I would have the Pillsbury cranberry bread during the holidays.  I wasn't a huge fan of cranberries, back then, but I loved this bread.  Now that I really like cranberries, I wanted to have this taste again.  I took to Pinterest and found this recipe.  Knowing how much Catherine LOVES egg nog, I thought this would be a great addition to our Thanksgiving feast.  The recipe was for 4 mini loaves, but I thought mini muffins would be easier for people to pop in their mouths and enjoy, and considering they are all gone, I think I made the right choice.

• 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp. baking powder
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs 
• ¾ cup eggnog
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 1 tsp. almond extract
• 1 cup coarsely chopped frozen cranberries
• 2 Tbsp. granulated sugar

Streusel

• ¼ cup granulated sugar 
• ¼ cup all-purpose flour
• 2 Tbsp. butter, slightly softened

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.  Grease 2 mini muffin pans.
   (You can also use regular muffin tins, mini loaf pans or a regular loaf pan) 
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour and baking powder; set aside.
3. In a large bowl, mix eggs, sugar, eggnog, butter and almond extract.
4. Mix in dry ingredients just until combined.
5. Toss cranberries with 2 T. sugar and then stir into batter.
6. Prepare streusel topping by combining topping ingredients using a mixer, pastry cutter, or two knives until crumbly.
7. Fill prepared pans until about 1/2 – 2/3 of the way full (this batter rises a lot!).
   (For the mini muffin pans, I used the Pampered Chef small scoop for each muffin)
8. Top with streusel topping.
9. Bake 40-50 minutes, or until the breads test done with a toothpick inserted in the center coming out clean.

Adapted from The Nifty Food blog