If you’ve never made an eggnog bread, I highly recommend you give this a try before the eggnog is gone. It’s a great holiday treat. Don’t be intimidated by the 2 teaspoons of rum extract. You’ll miss it if it isn’t there. This is adapted from a recipe at The Recipe Critic – https://therecipecritic.com/eggnog-quickbread-eggnog-glaze/ If you want a recipe that uses regular flour and sugar, follow the link.
Ingredients
2 eggs plus 1 egg white
¾ cups maple syrup
1 stick of butter, melted
2 teaspoons rum extract
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 ¼ cups of Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 baking mix, or 2 cups white rice flour with 2 tablespoons tapioca flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon cinnamon
Optional glaze: 1 cup sifted powdered sugar well mixed with 3 tablespoons eggnog
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Grease and flour a loaf pan, or spray with cooking spray and create a parchment sling.
Cut the butter into tablespoons and melt in a microwave proof mug or bowl on 50% power, approximately 1 minute. (If there are chunks, stir so they dissolve instead of microwaving more to keep the butter at lower temp.)
In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs.
Whisk in the maple syrup, eggnog, rum extract, and vanilla.
Add the melted butter in a thin stream, whisking continuously.
Stir in the baking mix, baking powder, nutmeg, and cinnamon just until combined.
Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
Allow to cool ten minutes before removing from pan.
Cool completely before glazing, if using glaze.
This bread is best served cut into thin slices to get the full effect of the flavors. I cut the slices in half so they can be easily picked up, particularly when serving with other Christmas cookies.
*This year I had made vanilla buttercream frosting for molasses cookies so I just heated a half cup in the microwave for 45 seconds and poured it over the top of the second half of the loaf on Christmas Day. It worked great.
Okay, I admit it, these are based on Betty Crocker’s Russian Teacakes that my mom always makes for Christmas. Main differences are — one, I used Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 Gluten Free Baking flour, two, I rolled and sliced, and three, I dusted with powdered sugar instead of rolling in it. Christmas simplified. I’ll be making more on Christmas Eve.
Ingredients
½ cup unsalted butter, softened
¼ cup powdered sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons gluten free flour blend
6 tablespoons finely chopped pecans
1/8 teaspoon salt
Powdered sugar
Directions
Cream the butter and sugar together.
Add the vanilla and salt
Mix in the chopped pecans
Stir in the flour
Shape into a 1 ½ to 2-inch diameter log.
Wrap log in plastic wrap and chill for an hour.
Heat oven to 400
Slice the log into 12 equal pieces by slicing in the center first, then slicing the two halves in half, then slicing each section into 3 slices. (This doesn’t have to be perfect.)
Place on a prepared baking tin. (I like to use parchment paper these days, makes clean up WAY easier.)
I wanted to try making this recipe with gluten free flour and maple syrup this year. When it came time, I thought I either had apples or applesauce in the freezer. Turns out I had only a couple apples, so I pulled out some peaches and made peach applesauce. It turned out just fine.
Simple Fruitcake
Ingredients
1 ½ cups applesauce
3/4 cup maple syrup
½ cup butter (light tasting olive oil or coconut oil should work fine for vegan)
2 ¼ cup flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 Baking Blend)
2 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon nutmeg
1 ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
8 ounces dark raisins
8 ounces broken pecans
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
Pick over pecans to remove any shell pieces in grooves and break up into 6 or 8 pieces each.
Boil together applesauce and maple syrup for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Stir in the butter, pecans, and vanilla then set aside to cool.
Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
Prepare a 12 cup Bundt pan, or two loaf pans, or a mini Bundt pan tin.
In a large bowl, blend together flour, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt.
Add raisins to flour mixture.
Stir the liquid ingredients in thoroughly.
Pour into prepared tins and bake, about 40 minutes for the smaller ones or up to 2 hours for the large cake, or until a thin knife inserted in center comes out mostly clean.
This cake is best aged a bit, at least a few days.
For the adults – I decided to try soaking and aging a half of the mini fruitcakes with blackberry brandy this year. The directions I found say to simply poke holes all over with a toothpick then brush with the alcohol and wrap. Reapply alcohol each week. We’ll see what happens.
delicious eggnog cocktail on round wooden boards near spruce branches and cinnamon sticks on blue textured background
Homemade Eggnog
My mom always made the best eggnog at Christmas – thick, creamy, and rich. To me, it was similar to melted vanilla ice cream. It’s kind of amazing no one ever seemed to get sick from salmonella even though we were using raw eggs. However, after a bout of salmonella this summer when I made an ice cream recipe that called for raw eggs, I started thinking about how one could pasteurize a homemade eggnog recipe. I realized that the recipes for eggnog and vanilla ice cream were very similar so why not heat it the same way to kill the bacteria? Hence this recipe.
Ingredients
2 cups whole milk
1 cup heavy or “whipping” cream
1/3 cup maple syrup (or 6 tablespoons light brown sugar)
4 egg yolks
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt
Optional: rum flavoring or nutmeg
Directions
In a saucepot over medium heat, bring milk to a simmer (steaming and little bubbles around the edge) then remove from heat.
Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, whisk egg yolks and maple syrup or brown sugar.
Whisk a quarter cup of the hot mixture into the egg yolk mixture, pouring it in slowly as you whisk continuously.
Do that 2 more times, to temper the egg yolks.
Now stir the egg yolk mixture into the saucepot.
Heat over medium heat until the custard mixture steams again, stirring constantly. Do not boil.
Remove from heat and chill thoroughly.
When ready to serve, blend in the cream, salt, and vanilla. Using a blender is a great way to give it an extra froth. You can also whip the cream before stirring in the chilled custard.
Melora Johnson's Muse 