Gingerbread Muffins

These gingerbread muffins have a robust holiday flavor with dark molasses spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. They’re easy to make and the most perfect way to send sweet smells of the holidays throughout the house.

My house is full of Christmas treats right now. I’ve got Ina Garten’s Ginger Cookies with chunky bits of ginger – yum! And of course, these Italian Almond Cookies are the quintessential Christmas cookies around here.

I’ll also have all of my appliances going, but I’m using one in particular for this Instant Pot Hot Chocolate! I bet your housing is bustling just the same.

These muffins are like a spiced gingerbread loaf, but easier to grab in the form of a muffin.

Ingredients:

• Butter or oil
• Light brown sugar or coconut sugar
• Large eggs 
• Vanilla extract
• Molasses
• All-purpose flour or whole wheat flour
• Ground cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves
• Baking soda
• Salt
• Milk

How to make them:

Making muffins is easier than other desserts and treats, and these are great for breakfast or a much-needed coffee break. All you do is:

• Prepare the batter.
• Fill muffin liners ¾ full with the batter.
• Sprinkle the tops with coarse sugar for extra crunch and sparkle.
• Bake and cool on a wire rack.

It takes 10 minutes to prep with 15 minutes to bake to make 12 glistening gingerbread muffins. To get the full recipe, check out the recipe box at the bottom of the page.

These muffins can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days at room temperature, so they’re perfect to make ahead.

I like serving these muffins with Christmas Morning Punch to get the holidays started. And if you need something vegan, check out these Vegan Gingerbread Pancakes!

Tips:

• Make sure you use room-temperature butter so that you don’t end up with lumps of butter in your batter.
• Molasses is a key ingredient, just like anything gingerbread-flavored. You can’t omit it.
• You can warm molasses and butter together in the microwave for about 1 minute. It adds an extra step but warming the molasses thins it a little to make it easier to combine with the other ingredients. Otherwise, it can be super thick. If you do this, make sure you let it cool slightly before adding the egg. And speaking of egg – if you’d like to add some protein to your breakfast, these Zucchini Egg Muffins are a much better choice than these gingerbread muffins. 😉
• When you fill the muffin liners with batter, just spoon it in. It’s easy because the batter is nice and not too thin.
• If you want uniform muffins, you can use a spring-handled ice cream scoop to spoon the batter into liners.
• If you don’t have paper liners, just grease the muffin pan.
• The easiest way to test if the muffins are done is to stick a toothpick into the center of the muffin. If it’s clean, it’s ready.
• Overbaking muffins will make them dry, so test them until they are just right.
• If you want to store them longer than 3 days, you can put them in the fridge for up to a week or even put them in the freezer for a couple of months.

Toppings

I love adding crunch and shimmering bits of raw sugar on top of these muffins. It’s so simple and adds a bit of finesse.

You can drizzle on a lemon glaze like in my lemon muffins or this great healthier cream cheese frosting.

Chocolate chips are also a win-win at my house, so you can add some to the batter if you like.

These muffins aren’t overly sweet, so adding a bit of sweetness on top isn’t over the top.

Can I freeze them?

Yes, you can! I just place them in a plastic bag or airtight container and freeze them for up to 3 months. By the way, these bran muffins also freeze great and are 100% whole grain.

When you’re ready to eat them, just thaw them overnight at room temperature or put them in the microwave for about 30 seconds at half-power to get them nice and warm.

Other muffins you might love:

• These Healthy Cinnamon Apple Muffins are made with whole wheat flour and olive oil. They’re less sweet than a typical muffin, but still moist and flavorful. They can also be made gluten-free or dairy-free.
• These Dinner Muffins, aren’t your ordinary breakfast muffin, but they are perfect for holiday and family meals. They’re yeast-free, whole wheat and they stay soft and fluffy for days. Dairy-free option.
• These Banana Carrot Muffins are quick and easy to make, and perfect for an on-the-go breakfast or snack. They freeze great, are naturally dairy-free and can be made 100% whole grain.
• These Spiced Applesauce Cupcakes are more like muffins than cupcakes. They’re topped with an amazing maple almond butter frosting and are grain-free, gluten-free, and dairy-free.

I hope you enjoy the holidays and these amazing Gingerbread Muffins. If you make them please leave a comment below and let me know what you think! You can even find this recipe and many others using #fooddoodlerecipes, so be sure to check us out on Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook. See you there!

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Gingerbread Muffins

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Servings 12 muffins

Print Recipe

Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Ingredients

  

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• 1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, softened or 7 1/2 tablespoons oil
• 1/2 cup (100 grams) light brown sugar lightly packed
• 2 large (50 grams each, out of shells) eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup dark molasses (like Grandma's Robust Molasses)
• 2 1/2 cups (313 grams) all-purpose flour or whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 3/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• ½ cup milk

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C) and line a muffin pan with 12 liners.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves.
• In a large mixing bowl using an electric hand mixer (or bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment), beat the butter and brown sugar together at medium until well combined. This will take about 2 minutes.
• Add the eggs and the vanilla and mix, scraping down the sides as needed, until just combined.
• Beat in the molasses until combined.
• With the mixer now on low, alternate between adding the dry mix and the milk. Do about ⅓ flour, ½ milk, ⅓ flour, remaining ½ milk, and then the remaining ⅓ flour.
• Mix just until combined. Do not overmix!
• Divide the batter between the muffin liners, filling each one about ¾ full. Sprinkle with coarse sugar, if desired.
• Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.
• Remove the muffins to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

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