1 cup powdered sugar

Heat the oven to 350 F with a rack in the middle position. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with muffin liners.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fit with a paddle attachment (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter on medium-high speed until creamy, scraping down the sides as needed. Add the sugar and beat until light, fluffy, and creamy, again scraping down the sides as needed. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until the batter is smooth.

Remove the mixing bowl from the mixer and use a stiff spatula for these next steps. Add a quarter of the flour mixture to the bowl and mix until just barely combined. Mix in 1/3 of the eggnog until the batter smooths out again. Continue adding the flour mixture and the eggnog alternately, ending with the last quarter of the flour mixture. At this point, the batter will be fairly thick -- somewhere between a liquidy batter and a stiff bread dough. Try not to overmix, but make sure all the ingredients are fully incorporated.

Divide the batter between the muffin tins, filling each one almost to the top. Bake until the muffins have puffed up, are starting to brown around the edges, and a cake tester comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer the muffins to a wire cooling rack.

When the muffins are cool enough to handle but still warm, melt the butter in a microwave-safe dish (or on the stovetop) and use a pastry brush to paint the tops of the muffins with butter. (Alternatively, you can dip the tops in the butter if you don't have a brush; I find it less messy to use a brush.)

Place the powdered sugar in a bowl and dip the tops of each muffin in the sugar. When done, dip each muffin in the powdered sugar a second time. If desired, you can unwrap the muffins, paint the bottom and sides with butter, and dip those in the powdered sugar as well.

Muffins are best when fresh from the oven, but are still very -- addictively -- good over the next day or two.

Make-ahead tip: The batter can be prepared ahead of time, covered, and refrigerated overnight for easy-peasy muffins in the morning.

(Emma Christensen a former editor forTheKitchn.com, a nationally known blog for people who love food and home cooking. Submit any comments or questions to editorial@thekitchn.com.)