Gingerbread cupcakes are moist, spiced gingerbread cupcakes that are topped with a rich cinnamon cream cheese frosting. They’re an easy 40-minute Christmas dessert that everyone loves!
These easy homemade gingerbread cupcakes are the perfect festive treat! They’re moist and tender with plenty of warm gingerbread flavor, thanks to molasses, brown sugar, and warm spices like cinnamon and ginger.
The cupcakes come together with simple pantry ingredients and bake up beautifully in minutes. And the cinnamon cream cheese frosting? It’s rich, tangy, and the perfect complement to the warm spices.
Whether you’re baking for a holiday party, gifting treats to neighbors, or just craving something cozy, these gingerbread cupcakes are a fast and foolproof recipe that tastes like Christmas.
Ingredient notes and substitutions
- Butter: You can use salted butter in the batter and reduce the salt to 1/4 teaspoon. You can also use salted butter in the frosting and omit the salt in that part.
- Brown sugar: Dark brown sugar will also work.
- Spices: Feel free to adjust the spices to your liking.
- Cream cheese: I recommend using full-fat cream cheese or 1/3-less fat cream cheese. Fat free doesn’t work well in this recipe.
How to make gingerbread cupcakes
Here you’ll find instructions and step-by-step photos showing how to make this recipe. The full recipe, including ingredients, is given below.
Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 F. Line muffin pans with 12-14 cupcake liners.
Step 2: In a large bowl, whisk together the butter and brown sugar until smooth and combined.
Step 3: Stir in the molasses and egg.
Step 4: In a medium bowl, add flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, and salt. Whisk to combine.
Step 5: Pour the dry ingredients into the wet mixture. Stir until just combined.
Step 6: Pour in the warm water. Mix again until just combined.
Step 7: Scoop batter evenly into each cupcake liner, filling each cavity until almost full.
Step 8: Bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cupcakes cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then remove to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
Step 9: Once cupcakes have cooled, make the frosting: Add butter and cream cheese to the bowl of your stand mixer. Beat for at least 2 minutes.
Step 10: Add powdered sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, and salt. Whisk again to combine.
Step 11: While beating, pour in the heavy cream. Beat until everything is combined, light, and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add more powdered sugar if you need a stiffer frosting for piping.
Step 12: Frost the cupcakes by piping frosting on top. Decorate with mini gingerbread or however you see fit.
Recipe Tips!
- Mixing: I recommend whisking the batter by hand. You can mix the the frosting with an electric mixer (hand mixer). Just be careful not to burn it out when adding the powdered sugar.
- Frosting: You can omit the cinnamon if you would prefer regular cream cheese frosting).
Storage
Store any leftover unfrosted cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature. The cupcakes will keep for about 3 days when properly stored.
I recommend storing the frosted cupcakes in an airtight container in the refrigerator. They will will keep for up to 4 days when properly stored in the fridge.
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Gingerbread Cupcakes
Equipment
- Muffin tin
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- ½ cup unsalted butter melted
- ⅔ cup light brown sugar
- 1 cup molasses not blackstrap
- 1 large egg
- 2 ¼ cups all purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon allspice
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup warm water
Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
- ½ cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- 8 ounce package plain cream cheese at room temperature
- 4-6 cups powdered sugar depending on desired consistency of frosting
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream
- Mini gingerbread or gingerbread sprinkles for decorating
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin pans with 12-14 cupcake liners.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the butter and brown sugar until smooth and combined.½ cup unsalted butter, ⅔ cup light brown sugar
- Stir in the molasses and egg.1 cup molasses, 1 large egg
- In a medium bowl, add flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, and salt. Whisk to combine.2 ¼ cups all purpose flour, 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda, 1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger, 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon ground cloves, ¼ teaspoon allspice, ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg, ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- Pour the dry ingredients into the wet mixture. Stir until just combined.
- Pour in the warm water. Mix again until just combined.1 cup warm water
- Scoop batter evenly into each cupcake liner, filling each cavity until almost full.
- Bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let cupcakes cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then remove to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
- Once cupcakes have cooled, make the frosting: Add butter and cream cheese to the bowl of your stand mixer. Beat for at least 2 minutes.½ cup unsalted butter, 8 ounce package plain cream cheese
- Add 4 cups powdered sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, and salt. Whisk again to combine.4-6 cups powdered sugar, ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- While beating, pour in the heavy cream. Beat until everything is combined, light, and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add more powdered sugar if you need a stiffer frosting for piping.1 tablespoon heavy cream
- Frost the cupcakes by piping frosting on top. Decorate with mini gingerbread or however you see fit.
Notes
- Butter: You can use salted butter in the batter and reduce the salt to 1/4 teaspoon. You can also use salted butter in the frosting and omit the salt in that part.
- Brown sugar: Dark brown sugar will also work.
- Spices: Feel free to adjust the spices to your liking.
- Cream cheese: I recommend using full-fat cream cheese or 1/3-less fat cream cheese. Fat free doesn’t work well in this recipe.
- Nutrition values are estimates.
Nutrition
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