Fill your home with the cozy aromas of rich molasses and spices with this simple recipe for traditional homemade gingerbread muffins! Each muffin a cozy promise of comfort and warmth during the holidays and all winter long.
Want more gingerbread? Try my Old Fashioned Gingerbread Snack Cake and Overnight Crock Pot Gingerbread Oatmeal recipes!
Table of Contents
Serving These Muffins
Tender, moist with a sparkling sugar crunch, these muffins need you to pour your favorite cozy drink and take a moment just to enjoy. Add a pat of butter or nibble them warm from the oven, and you’ve found the perfect partner for Christmas breakfasts, brunches, quiet moments, to gift as gifts, even to take to winter parties!
If Home Had A Taste…
Gingerbread is one of The Engineer’s all-time favorites- not too sweet, but really loaded with flavor from thick molasses, spicy ginger, warm cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. He has wonderfully fond memories of countless holiday gingerbread men, rolled and cut from soft, aromatic dough, ready to be eaten by the handfuls.
Some years ginger boys and girls fill baking sheets and litter our countertops. But most years we quietly enjoy all the coziness gingerbread brings with these easy-to-make muffins.
What To Know Before Getting Started
I’ll walk through an overview of ingredients & steps in these next sections along with helpful tips!
Look for specifics at the end of the post in the recipe card.
- all purpose flour
- ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg & cloves
- baking powder & soda
- salt
- cooking oil
- applesauce
- buttermilk
- brown sugar
- molasses
- egg
- vanilla
You can also use this recipe to make mini loaves to gift to friends and neighbors.
How To Make Homemade Gingerbread Muffins
Prep. Read the recipe all the way through. Preheat oven to 425° F. Line 12 cup muffin tin with muffin papers or spray with non stick cooking spray.
Dry Ingredients. Measure out all dry ingredients (Flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, baking powder, soda & salt. Brown sugar is considered a wet ingredient.) and sift into a large mixing bowl. Set aside.
Wet Ingredients. Next, in a separate bowl, mix together all the wet ingredients (cooking oil, apple sauce, buttermilk, brown sugar, molasses, egg, vanilla)
Fill Muffin Cups. Combine the wet ingredients with the dry. Be careful not to overmix. When well combined, spoon batter into muffin cups. Sprinkle the tops with the sparkling sugar.
Bake. Bake for 5 minutes at 425° to create the cracked bakery style tops, then turn oven down to 350° and bake for another 15 minutes or just until centers of muffins spring back when touched. Remove and enjoy!
Overbaking will make the muffins dry and tough. This should be a very soft bread.
Pro Tips & Tricks
- Sifting the dry ingredients is important. It aerates the flour and helps to create a tender muffin. Also mixing the wet ingredients and dry ingredients separately then combing them also helps with tenderness. It makes it easy to combine all the ingredients without overworking the batter (which will always result in a tough texture).
- Molasses can be a sticky mess to work with! To make it easy, use the same measuring cup you used for your oil when measuring your molasses. The oil left in the cup will make sure the molasses slides right out of the measuring cup.
- Also, warming your molasses thins it just a little, making it easier to mix into your other wet ingredients.
Freezing and Storing
These muffins keep well. Store in your pantry or on the counter top in an airtight container for up to 4 (maybe 5) days. You don’t want them to dry out.
To freeze these muffins, make sure they are completely cooled. Wrap individually for easy snacking or store in an airtight container and freeze for up to 1 month.
I just know that you’re going to love this gingerbread muffin recipe. Over the years, it has become our favorite. It’s quick and easy, simple to share and make. So preheat the oven and put the coffee on. Muffins are in your future!
More Bread & Muffin Recipes to Love
The Best Homemade Gingerbread Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup canola oil
- ⅔ cup dark brown sugar
- ½ cup molasses
- ⅔ cup buttermilk
- ⅔ cup applesauce
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2-3 tablespoon coarse sparkling sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425° Fahrenheit. Line muffin tin with muffin papers or spray with non stick cooking spray.
- Measure out all dry ingredients (The first 8 ingredients. Brown sugar is not a dry ingredient.) and sift into a large mixing bowl. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, mix together all the wet ingredients (The next 7 ingredients. Not the sparkling sugar. This is a topping.).
- Combine the wet ingredients with the dry. Be careful not to overmix. When well combined, spoon batter into muffin cups. Sprinkle the tops with the sparkling sugar.
- Bake for 5 minutes at 425° to create the cracked bakery style tops, then turn oven down to 350° and bake for another 15 minutes or just until centers of muffins spring back when touched. Overbaking will make the muffins dry and tough.
Notes
- Sifting the dry ingredients is important. It aerates the flour and helps to create a tender muffin. Also mixing the wet ingredients and dry ingredients separately then combing them also helps with tenderness. It makes it easy to combine all the ingredients without overworking the batter (which will always result in a tough texture).
- Molasses can be a sticky mess to work with! To make it easy, use the same measuring cup you used for your oil when measuring your molasses. The oil left in the cup will make sure the molasses slides right out of the measuring cup.
- Also, warming your molasses thins it just a little, making it easier to mix into your other wet ingredients.
Nutrition
sheryl madsen
Question, not comment. Can I do these with fresh grated ginger?
Hi, Sheryl! I’ve not made these with fresh grated ginger. Many times, fresh ginger isn’t a good substitute in baked good or sweets because it is so sharp and bitter. I would stick with ground ginger if you could. Hope this helps!
Sandra
Made with gf flour . Added only 1/4 cup of applesauce.
Baked according to directions. Used red/ Christmas sugar.
Very happy with the results!
Hi, Sandra! Love to hear this! Merry Christmas!
Jan
These look super yummy!
Hi, Jan! Thanks so much! I hope you love them. Merry Christmas!