Gingerbread Muffins

Soft and spiced gingerbread muffins are the perfect Christmas morning treat! My version makes tall, sugar-sparkled muffins with moist interiors.

Course Bread, Breakfast, muffins

Cuisine American

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 16

Total Time 31

Servings muffins

Calories 226kcal

Author Sam Merritt

Equipment

Ingredients

1 ½ cups (190 g) all-purpose flour
¾ cup (150 g) light brown sugar firmly packed
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon table salt
1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter melted
½ cup (120 g) sour cream
¼ cup unsulphured molasses
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Baking sugar for sprinkling (see note)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425F (218C) and line a 12 count muffin tin with paper liners. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves.
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, ¾ cup light brown sugar, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ¼ teaspoon baking soda, ¾ teaspoon table salt, 1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger, 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon ground allspice, ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
In a separate, medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together melted butter, sour cream, molasses, egg, and vanilla extract until well combined.
½ cup unsalted butter, ½ cup sour cream, ¼ cup unsulphured molasses, 1 large egg, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and use a spatula to gently fold together until ingredients are just combined, be careful not to overmix.
(see note for larger muffins) Evenly divide batter into prepared muffin tin. Sprinkle muffin tops with baking sugar. Bake in the center rack of your preheated 425F (218C) oven for 8 minutes, then without opening the oven door, reduce your oven temperature to 350F (175C) and continue to bake for another 7-8 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
Baking sugar
Allow muffins to cool in their pan for 5-10 minutes before carefully removing to a cooling rack to cool completely (removing the muffins helps keep the bottoms from becoming wet/soggy/greasy).

Notes

Baking sugar

I love using this baking sugar (affiliate) for topping my muffins, its coarse and sparkly. If you don’t have any, regular granulated sugar or turbinado sugar will work instead. Alternatively, skip the sugar and drizzle vanilla glaze over the muffins after they’ve cooled.

Larger muffins

You can make larger muffins by dividing the muffins into just 9 or 10 muffin liners instead of all 12. They sometimes need a minute or two longer in the oven (on the lower temperature) when baked this way.

Storing

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Muffins may also be tightly wrapped and frozen for up to a month.

Nutrition