Moist gingerbread muffins are light and fluffy spiced ginger molasses muffins that are a perfect for Christmas morning breakfast. These tasty muffins can be made from scratch in about 30 minutes!
Out of all of the holiday foods, the one that I eat the most year-round is gingerbread. I just love the combination of the molasses and the spices in it.
So, I came up with this Gingerbread Muffin recipe as a way to enjoy those flavors at breakfast. These guys are like light and fluffy gingerbread cupcakes, except, unlike cupcakes for breakfast, these muffins aren’t terribly unhealthy.
They are really delicious, though, and they’re just the thing for a festive breakfast.
“I made these today and they are so yummy! Will definitely be making them again!” – Mary Jo
Ingredient notes and substitutions
- Flour: Be sure to either weigh the flour or aerate, spoon, and level it.
- Oil: I’ve used melted coconut oil, mild olive oil, and vegetable oil in this recipe.
- Brown sugar: You can use light brown sugar if you don’t have dark brown sugar.
- Molasses: Mild or robust molasses is ok. I don’t recommend blackstrap.
- Buttermilk: Regular or low-fat ok. You can also make a homemade buttermilk substitute.
How to make gingerbread muffins
Here you’ll find step-by-step photos showing how to make this recipe. The full recipe, including ingredients, is given below.
Step 1: Mix oil and sugar together.
Step 2: Whisk in molasses until combined.
Step 3: Whisk in the egg.
Step 4: Add the buttermilk, and whisk until combined.
Step 5: Stir in the flour mixture, and whisk in until just combined. Don’t overmix.
Step 6: Divide the batter in the muffin tins.
Step 7: Sprinkle the coarse sugar over the top of the batter.
Step 8: Bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until when a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Recipe Tips!
- Spices: If you like stronger spice flavor, I recommend doubling the spices.
- Freezing: The muffins freeze well. To freeze, let the baked muffins cool to room temperature. Wrap the muffins in plastic wrap and place in a freezer-safe container. Freeze for up to 1 month.
Storage
The muffins should be stored in an airtight container at room temperature. The muffins will keep for 3-4 days when properly stored.
More gingerbread recipes!
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Gingerbread Muffins
Equipment
- Muffin tin
Ingredients
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour properly measured
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup neutral oil
- 2/3 cup dark brown sugar packed
- 1/2 cup molasses
- 1 large egg
- 1 ⅓ cups buttermilk
- 2 tablespoons sparkling sugar optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners or grease with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In a separate large bowl, whisk together oil and brown sugar.
- Whisk in molasses.
- Add egg, and whisk to combine.
- Add buttermilk; whisk until well-combined.
- Add flour mixture, and whisk until just combined.
- Scoop into muffin cups. The cups will be full.
- Sprinkle the tops with coarse sugar, if using.
- Bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until when a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Video
Notes
- Flour: Be sure to either weigh the flour or aerate, spoon, and level it. You can find the weights for the ingredients by clicking on “metric” immediately above the ingredients.
- Oil: I’ve used melted coconut oil, mild olive oil, and vegetable oil in this recipe.
- Brown sugar: You can use light brown sugar if you don’t have dark brown sugar.
- Molasses: Mild or robust molasses is ok. I don’t recommend blackstrap.
- Buttermilk: Regular or low-fat ok. You can also make a homemade buttermilk substitute.
- Nutritional values are estimates.
Nutrition
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Originally published 12/4/13. This post is regularly updated.
Reader Interactions
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Comments & Reviews
Clara Smith says
These were delicious thank you for the recipe. I only added one thing and that was
1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves. Because cloves are in my gingerbread men cookies and I love the taste of these cookies.
These muffins flavorful, easy to make, and moist. Dryness is the biggest draw back of muffins to me.
So thankyou I will be making these a lot. God Bless
Kate says
Thank you! I’m so glad that you liked the muffins.
Deb says
I would cut back the ginger to 2 teaspoons and add raisins for a little more sweetness. Otherwise, delicious. I’ll make them again. I also used my homemade applesauce instead of oil.
Kate says
Thanks! I’m glad that you liked the muffins.
Steph says
Keeps 3-4 days in the fridge or at room temp?
Kate says
At room temperature.
Julie says
I’ve lost my favorite gingerbread muffin recipe. I was looking for one that contained buttermilk and found this! My lost recipe batter would keep up to 1 month. I’m guessing it’s the buttermilk that makes it last. Do you know if this batter will keep at all?
Kate says
Unfortunately, I haven’t tried to keep just the batter, so I’m not sure how long it will keep.
Jane says
Yum. I added flax seed and walnuts. Also a pinch of cayenne adds a bit of kick! Blackstrap molasses turned out fine. Thanks!
Kate says
How fun! Thank you for sharing your notes!
Johana F says
I loved this recipe so much. Very soft and chewy :)
Kate says
Thank you so much!!
Vivian Pierce says
Hi! Just a quick question- how strong is the molasses taste? Is it too overpowering? Thanks!!
Kate says
I don’t find it to be, but part of that will depend on the type of molasses that you use. If you’re looking for a milder molasses flavor, you can use a mild molasses (like Brer Rabbit Mild) to make it that much less noticeable.