Gingerbread Muffins

These gingerbread muffins are soft, tender, and flavored with Christmas spices. They’re easy to make and perfect for a holiday breakfast or brunch.

close-up shot of a muffin.

Yes, there are gingerbread cookies, but how about some gingerbread muffins? They’re the same, but different with a soft and tender crumb, delicious gingerbread spices, and a dusting of powdered sugar. They’re an excellent alternative if you’re over the holiday cookies and want something special to kick off Christmas morning. The Christmas cheer is baked right in.

ingredients for the muffins.

Ingredients

  • All-purpose flour
  • Brown sugar
  • Ground cinnamon
  • Ground ginger
  • Baking powder
  • Baking soda
  • Salt
  • Ground allspice or you can use ground cloves
  • Melted butter
  • Molasses
  • Canola or vegetable oil
  • Whole milk
  • Egg
  • Vanilla
  • Confectioners’ sugar

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners or lightly spray the muffin cups with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, whisk the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, ground ginger, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and allspice. Set the dry ingredients aside.

In a separate medium bowl, mix the melted butter, molasses, oil, milk, egg, and vanilla. 

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until combined. Do not over-mix. Fill the paper liners 3/4 full with the batter. 

photo collage showing a bowl of batter, the batter in the pan, and the baked muffins in the pan.

Bake the muffins for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, reduce the heat to 350°F and bake them for an additional 8-10 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean.

Remove the muffins from the oven and cool them on a wire rack. Once they are cool, dust the tops with powdered sugar.

Store them in an airtight container at room temperature or in the fridge. Or you can freeze them for up to two months. if you freeze them, wait to add the powdered sugar topping until they are thawed.

gingerbread muffins in the pan dusted with powdered sugar.

Variations

You can change up the topping – here are some ideas:

  • Drizzle a glaze over the top of the muffins. Just mix water or lemon juice with powdered sugar until smooth.
  • Sprinkle coarse sugar over the top of the muffins before you bake them for a lightly crunchy topping.
  • Or sprinkle brown sugar over the top before baking them.

You can’t beat the flavor of gingerbread during the holidays – these gingerbread muffins are a great way to get your fix first thing in the morning! I hope you love them.

Happy baking,

April
muffins on a plate.

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Gingerbread Muffins

gingerbread muffins on a plate.

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4.3 from 3 reviews

These gingerbread muffins are soft, tender, and flavored with Christmas spices. They’re easy to make and perfect for a holiday breakfast or brunch.

  • Author: April Anderson
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 20 minutes
  • Total Time: 35 minutes
  • Yield: 12 muffins 1x
  • Category: Breakfast
  • Method: Bake
  • Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
  • 1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
  • 1/4 cup molasses
  • 1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil
  • 1/3 cup whole milk, room temperature
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • Confectioners sugar for sprinkling

Instructions

  1. Set the oven temperature to 400°F. Line a muffin pan with paper liners or lightly spray the pan with cooking spray.
  2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, ground ginger, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and allspice. Set aside.
  3. In a separate medium bowl, combine the melted butter, molasses, vegetable oil, milk, egg, and vanilla.
  4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until well incorporated. Do not over-mix.
  5. Fill the cupcake liners ¾ full with the batter.
  6. Bake the muffins 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, reduce the heat to 350°F and bake for an additional 8 to 10 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean.
  7. Remove the muffins from the oven and let them cool on a cooling rack. Sprinkle with confectioners sugar and serve warm or at room temperature.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 muffin
  • Calories: 287
  • Sugar: 13.8g
  • Sodium: 165.4mg
  • Fat: 17.6g
  • Saturated Fat: 12.5g
  • Unsaturated Fat: 4.1g
  • Trans Fat: 0g
  • Carbohydrates: 30.5g
  • Fiber: 0.8g
  • Protein: 3g
  • Cholesterol: 36.5mg

Do you love this recipe? Don’t forget to leave a comment and your recipe star rating!

The nutrition is an estimate only. It was calculated using Nutrifox, an online nutrition calculator.

Post, photos, and recipe updated from the archives. First published in December 2015.

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7 Comments

  1. It’s hard to get in the spirit here too, April, because it has been in the 70’s as well. Boo. But, YAY to these muffins!! LOVE the maple gingerbread combo! And looove that these are super easy! Means I can whip up 10 dozen! 😉 Cheers, my dear!

    1. I am so sorry but there was a typo in the recipe – the amount of molasses should be 1/4 cup. Even with this amount, the muffins aren’t super sweet, but they are a lot less bitter.

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