These tender, moist gingerbread muffins will have your house smelling warm and cozy in just 30 minutes. A perfect breakfast on a cold winter morning or as a sweet bite with afternoon coffee, these glazed muffins will get you in the holiday spirit.
Why I Love This Recipe
These gingerbread muffins are a quick and easy take on my mom's gingerbread cake, full of warming spices like cinnamon, ginger and cloves. Molasses and the secret ingredient, sour cream, adds rich color and flavor and ensures they are tender and moist. Enjoy gingerbread for breakfast, school lunch and afternoon coffee!
Want some more muffin ideas? Strawberry Rhubarb Oatmeal Muffins are the most popular muffin on this site, followed by Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins, Banana Rhubarb Muffins and Zucchini Muffins.
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Recipe Ingredients
I love recipes that use ingredients I already have in the cupboard and gingerbread muffins tick that box. Check out these simple ingredients!
- Molasses - Molasses is a key ingredient in gingerbread. There are many kinds of molasses. I choose to use blackstrap molasses (dark molasses) which is rich in flavor and nutritious. You can use an equal amount of other types of molasses if you prefer. The color and flavor is directly reflected by the style of molasses you use.
- Spices - For these yummy gingerbread spiced muffins, I've used ginger, cloves and cinnamon.
- Sour Cream - Using sour cream adds moisture, acidity and a subtle extra richness. The acidity works with the baking soda, making bubbles that keep this muffin batter light. A full fat, plain yogurt can be substituted if you prefer.
See recipe card for quantities.
How To Video
Let me walk you through this easy recipe!
Step-by-Step Instructions
Moist and tender gingerbread muffins are an easy recipe. Whip these up in just half an hour and enjoy the delicious fall scent. These muffins are pure cold-weather comfort.
Top Tip: If time allows, take eggs, milk and sour cream out of the fridge and allow them to come to room temperature ahead of time.
Step 1. Preheat oven to 350º. Grab a medium bowl and add the all purpose flour, baking soda, salt, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, and cloves.
Step 2. Mix these dry ingredients together well and set aside.
Step 3. In a large mixing bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer), beat oil, molasses, and brown sugar together until smooth.
Step 4. Add eggs and sour cream and beat again until well mixed.
Step 5. Add half the flour mixture into the large bowl of wet ingredients and stir just until mixed.
Step 6. Pour in half the milk, stir again.
Step 7. Repeat with remaining dry ingredients and milk.
Step 8. Mix gently just until combined. A few small remaining lumps are fine. The less you mix, the more tender and fluffy your muffins will turn out.
Step 9. Prepare a 12 cup muffin tin with muffin liners. Divide the batter between 12 paper-lined, or greased muffin cups.
Bake muffins for 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center the muffins comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool 10 minutes in tin, then remove and cool on wire rack.
Step 10. If using glaze, drizzle it over the muffins after they've cooled 15 minutes or longer. Serve right away or store fully cooled gingerbread muffins in an airtight container.
If you want to freeze the muffins, wrap them well in plastic wrap before storing in a freezer bag or sealed container in the freezer. Thaw at room temperature and then warm in the oven or microwave if desired.
Make The Cinnamon Sugar Glaze
Step 1. In a small bowl, combine powdered sugar and cinnamon.
Step 2. Whisk it together well.
Step 3. Pour in milk.
Step 4. Whisk again, until smooth and drizzle over baked muffins.
Expert Tips
- For a slightly crunchy top, sprinkle coarse sugar or turbinado sugar over the tops before baking. 2-3 tablespoons is enough to sprinkle over all 12 muffins.
- For chocolate lovers, add in 1 cup of chocolate chips to the batter before baking.
- Enjoy these with a hot cup of coffee or a refreshing glass of milk.
Recipe FAQs
There is a lot of science involved in baking. These muffins are made light and fluffy with the combination of baking soda and acid (the sour cream). These react together then the heat from the oven expands the air bubbles and bakes them into place.
Two more tips for the tall muffin tops are to start with room temperature ingredients and to avoid overmixing the batter.
Yes! This batter works well made ahead. Be sure to cover it well to prevent losing moisture and keep it refrigerated. Take the batter out and fill paper-lined muffin tin and bake as usual.
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Cheers friends! Sabrina
Recipe
Easy Gingerbread Muffins With Cinnamon Sugar Glaze
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups Flour
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons Cinnamon
- 1 ¼ teaspoons Ginger
- ½ teaspoon Cloves
- ½ cup Vegetable Oil
- ½ cup Blackstrap Molasses
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- ½ cup Brown Sugar
- 2 Eggs size large
- ⅓ cup Sour Cream
- ½ cup Milk
Glaze
- ¾ cup Powdered Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
- 2 Tablespoons Milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350º.
- Mix flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves together in a small mixing bowl and set aside.
- In a larger mixing bowl, beat oil, molasses, and brown sugar together until smooth. Then add eggs and sour cream and beat again.
- Stir in half the dry ingredients until just mixed, then add half the milk. Repeat with remaining dry ingredients and milk, stirring just until combined.
- Divide batter between 12 paper-lined, or greased muffin cups.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool 10 minutes in tin, then remove and cool on wire rack.
- While muffins cool, combine glaze ingredients until smooth, then drizzle over muffins and serve.
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