Sweet, soft gingerbread cupcakes infused with the spices of fall and topped with a vanilla bean & cinnamon-speckled frosting. Make sure to scroll down to the end of the post to enter in a giveaway for some of my favorite Rodelle products!
I think we’ve all had enough of politics over these past few months, so today we’re sticking strictly to cupcakes. No matter which side you fall on, I have a feeling you can appreciate a good cupcake recipe.
I mentioned these cupcakes in my last post, in what I called “The Great Cupcake Fiasco”. TEN times I trialed this recipe trying to get it right. TEN! I melted butter, creamed butter, substituted oil, switched up the number of eggs, increased and decreased my leaveners and made just about every possible recipe change I could think of. My kitchen trash can has devoured dozens of cupcakes, some that were dry as sand (Zach took a giant “test bite” of one of those… big mistake!), dense as bricks, and many with sunken, deflated tops.
First they were too dry, then when I tried to make up for that they became too wet, oily, and saturating their wrappers and leaving a greasy film on everything they touched.
These cupcakes were a challenge.
But, guess what: finally, finally, finally everything came together.
Finally I get to share these cupcakes with you that are neither too dry nor too oily — they’re perfectly moist and tender. They’re not dense nor are they sunken, they’re soft, fluffy, and lightly textured with tops that don’t necessarily puff and round, but spring back to the touch.
The spices are carefully balanced, lots of ginger and cinnamon, a little nutmeg, a sprinkle of allspice and ground cloves. Tastes like Fall.
This is gingerbread without the crunch of a cookie or the density of a loaf-pan — gingerbread in the form of pure cupcake perfection.
To frost these temperamental little cupcakes, I first played with a white chocolate buttercream but decided that it made things much too sweet. So cream cheese it was.
I feel like I’m always throwing cream cheese based frostings at you, but I can’t help it, they’re my favorite! Not too sweet, and not overpowering in flavor, and perfectly complementary to these spiced gingerbread cupcakes.
I added a little bit of brown sugar and a sprinkle of cinnamon to this frosting for a little extra flavor. Top with cinnamon sticks if desired (mostly just for decorative purposes!).
Recently I’ve been a little obsessed with using vanilla paste, and those are half of the specks you see in the above frosting (the rest are cinnamon flecks). While I love using real vanilla beans when I can, I’ve been using Rodelle’s vanilla bean paste, which I’m absolutely in love with — it has a rich vanilla flavor without the hassle of scraping a (expensive) vanilla bean.
And those vanilla flecks are just everything to me <3.
Speaking of Rodelle, I have to mention that I’m very proud to officially be a brand ambassador for them!
I know I’ve mentioned their products before, and my pantry is always fully stocked with plenty of Rodelle vanilla, so I’m very happy to be working with them.
I don’t know if you’ve ever used their products before, but I wanted to give you the chance to do so, and so we’re running a giveaway for a bundle of their products. Make sure to enter the giveaway just before the recipe below!
To enter, all you have to do is subscribe to my mailing list (which you can do here) and then fill out the form below! (if you are already getting my e-mails then you’re already covered, just fill out the form below!)
Enjoy!
I’m happy to have partnered with Rodelle as a Brand Ambassador to host this giveaway, thank you for supporting the brands that support Sugar Spun Run! As always, all opinions & content are my own.
The giveaway has ended — Congratulations Theresa!
Gingerbread Cupcakes & A Giveaway!
Ingredients
- 8 Tablespoon unsalted butter (113g) softened to room temperature
- ½ cup light brown sugar (100g) tightly packed
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 ½ teaspoons Rodelle vanilla extract*
- ½ cup unsulphered molasses (118ml)
- ½ cup buttermilk (118ml) room temperature
- 1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour (160g)
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon allspice
- ¼ teaspoon cloves
Frosting
- 10 Tablespoons butter (113g) softened
- 6 Tablespoons cream cheese (85.2g) softened
- 2 Tablespoons brown sugar tightly packed
- 1 ½ teaspoons Rodelle vanilla paste** (can substitute 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract)
- 3 ½ cups powdered sugar (466g)
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F (177C) and line a 12-cavity cupcake tin with paper liners.
- In stand mixer, beat together butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add egg and beat until well-combined.
- Stir in Rodelle vanilla extract.
- Combine buttermilk and molasses in a large measuring cup and stir with a fork until combined.
- With mixer on low-speed, gradually add buttermilk/molasses mixture until combined (you may notice some separation, this is fine), pausing occasionally to scrape down sides and bottom of bowl.
- In a separate, medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spices.
- Gradually stir dry ingredients into wet until completely combined (take care not to over-mix).
- Portion batter evenly into prepared cupcake tin, filling each cup ⅔ full (take care not to overfill or your cupcakes will sink in the middle when they're finished baking)
- Bake on 350F (177C) for 18-20 minutes or until tops spring back to the touch.
- Allow to cool completely before frosting.
Frosting
- In a stand mixer (or in a large bowl using an electric mixer), beat together butter, cream cheese, and brown sugar until well-creamed.
- Stir in vanilla paste.
- Gradually add powdered sugar until completely combined. Pause occasionally to scrape down sides of the bowl.
- Stir in ground cinnamon, if desired.
- Spread or pipe frosting over cooled cupcakes (I used a Wilton 1M tip to decorate these).
- If desired, top with Rodelle Cinnamon sticks***, as in picture.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
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This is unbelievably good — the perfect amount of spice, super moist and flavorful and light. Only change I made was reducing the vanilla extract a bit in the frosting and adding a touch of maple extract. I also added the tiniest pinch of red and white peppermint sugar on top for a little extra bit of holiday cheer and a bit of crunch. This is going in the permanent rotation. Thank you so much for getting this recipe to be absolutely perfect!
Tony
Delicious, can I prepare them in advance, can I put the icing the same day, thank you very much.
Sam
Hi Tony! They can be made in advance, but due to the cream cheese in the frosting I would recommend keeping them refrigerated. They should be good for several days in an air tight container. 🙂
Melissa
I made these muffins and they keep sinking in the middle. Any ideas why? I’ve tested gingerbread many times and I get same result😩. Please help
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Melissa! We’re so sorry this is happening. It sounds like you may be overfilling your cupcake liners 😞
Dawna
I made this recipe but with a gluten free all-purpose blend I created and they turned out AMAZING. I am so thrilled with this recipe. It is by far the best gingerbread cupcake I have ever made.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Dawna! Thanks for the feedback using gluten free flour. 🙂
Kim
These were amazingly delicious! We used the Nordic ware boy/girl gingerbread mold instead of the traditional cupcakes. The recipe was just enough to fill all 6 molds. I cooked them for 23 minutes at 350 in a convection oven. The iciing is perfect! Basically, we kept eating it and eating it and then ate more! Make it and you’ll understand! Thanks for your sweat equity on this recipe. My family will be making this one for years to come!!!!
Sugar Spun Run
That is wonderful, Kim! I am so glad that you enjoyed the gingerbread and that the batter worked perfectly in your adorable molds. Thanks again for trying my recipe and for the 5-star review. 🙂
Leslie
I made the batter exactly as directed, but baked it in an 8×8 square pan. This is the best gingerbread I have ever had! o often it is bitter from too much baking soda or he wrong molasses. Not this recipe. I will be making this many times. Thank you for sharing it with us.
Sugar Spun Run
That is wonderful, Leslie! Thank you so much for your comment. I am so glad that you enjoyed the recipe. 🙂
Sam
Hi, when you say cloves are you talking about whole or ground? Also what would a good replacement for molasses i live in the UK and we have golden syrup or treacle and not sure if they are similar. Recipe sounds fabulous, hoping to make some festive treats for children’s teachers.
Sam
The cloves are ground cloves. I am not totally sure. My best guess would be the treacle, I don’t think the golden syrup would have the right flavor. I have not tried using treacle so I can’t say for sure how it would turn out. ☺️
kari
not sure if you looked at the ingredients of the vanilla items you are buying but i did. these are not pure items at all , not even close to vanilla products i would say……………..sorry. take a look yourself at the vanilla bean . first item is sugar, that says it all. then the next one and so on. homemade vanilla takes two items. thats it and its PURE.
kari
Sam
Hi Kari, I think you are speaking specifically of the vanilla paste, which is made of different ingredients than their vanilla extract. I love the vanilla paste because of the great depth of flavor (and the vanilla specks!) it adds to anything that I add it to (and I’m not exactly shy of adding a few extra grams of sugar 😉 ), but please feel free to substitute the vanilla paste for regular vanilla extract or a scraped vanilla bean instead, if you would like!
Sandy B
There are certain flavors that are necessities at Christmas, peppermint and ginger topping the list. I wanted something gingerbread, but not cookies, so I looked for a gingerbread cupcake. I’m glad I decided on these because I just finished making them and they are amazing! I was afraid the amount of molasses would make the cupcakes heavy, but I love their texture and “just right” spicyness. The cinnamon cream cheese frosting is the perfect, not-too-sweet complement. This was my first time on this site but I will be visiting often.
Sam
I agree with you completely on the Christmas flavors! I’m so thrilled that these turned out so perfectly for you, Sandy! Thanks for coming back and letting me know how they turned out! 🙂
Betty Miller
This sounds like a perfect Thanksgiving and Holiday Dessert. Plan to put it on my try this year list. I use Pure vanilla from Mexico like the flavor better than what ours is. Haven’t tried the Vanilla Paste or any of there products. Hope I win would like to try them. Is Rodelle available in stores or just on internet?
Sam
Betty I’m so sorry I didn’t see this sooner, my spam folder caught a lot of messages it wasn’t supposed to last week! Rodelle is available in some stores, one of the three grocery stores in my area carries it. I believe you can go to their site to find if a store near you carries it, but I’ve found its the same price on Amazon as it is in the store, so if you have Prime/free shipping it’s not a bad deal to order it online!
Christine
I have a question, I want to make these to take to a dinner on thanksgiving day, (lovely recipe from the looks of it!) but it’s been years since I have made any gingerbread and I cannot recall ever seeing unsulphered molasses … if I cannot find that, is regular molasses an okay substitute? Will it change the taste of texture of these cupcakes?
Sam
Hi Christine! The molasses will say on it “unsulphured”, You have probably seen and bought “Grandma’s” brand molasses before, and that is unsulphured. I really consider unsulphured molasses to be “regular molasses”, I actually didn’t know it was made another way until I set out on this gingerbread project. I hope this helps, but please let me know if you have any other questions! 🙂
puja
These look amazing and so flavorful!
Roxanne
These look to die for! I can’t wait to try them out!
Joanne
I love these cupcakes, and never get tired of a good cream cheese frosting! Thank you for giveaway!
Sam
I’m glad you’re with me on the cream cheese frosting, Joanne! Thank you for commenting! 🙂
Medha
Nothing compares to the little vanilla flecks you get from the real deal 🙂 These cupcakes are gorgeous 🙂
Sam
Right though!? Thank you so much, Medha! 🙂
Mikaru86
I was already subscibed to the RSS feed to keep up with the posts, but I subscribed to the mailing list anyway. If I win (and you actually ship over here to Germany XD) I might finally get my hands on some vanilla extract instead of having to use vanilla sugar all the time as a substitute 😉
Sam
That’s right, I forgot you don’t have vanilla extract where you are! Thank you for subscribing, the giveaway ends in 2 weeks! 🙂
Mikaru86
Well, it’s not like it doesn’t exist over here, it’s just not common. We typically use vanilla sugar or vanilla beans for flavoring. If I were to look around some specialty shops, especially baking or import/international goods related ones I’m sure I could find some. But you average supermarket isn’t going to carry it, which is where I do basically all of my shopping XD