These festive Gingerbread Cupcakes have a wonderful ginger flavor. It is the perfect recipe for the holiday season if you love gingerbread! Sweet, with just a hint of the spices of the season, and a light and fluffy, creamy buttercream frosting all in one little treat!
Looking for more gingerbread recipes for your table this holiday season? Well, look no further than these beautiful, sweet little Copycat Starbucks Gingerbread Loaf or maybe our Warm Gingerbread Cake with Calvados Caramel Sauce. If you need some other cupcake recipes to fill your dessert table, why not check out these Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting, or how about these awesome Candy Cane Cupcakes!
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What Ingredients are in Gingerbread Cupcakes?
The ingredients in these gingerbread cupcakes are everyday ingredients. Nothing that you wouldn’t find in a relatively well-stocked pantry if you bake, that is.
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- Butter
- Brown sugar
- Honey
- Molasses
- Eggs
- Milk
- Vanilla extract
- AP flour
- Ground ginger
- Cinnamon
- Nutmeg
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Kosher salt
Again the frosting is made with ingredients you may already have on hand also! It is amazing to achieve such a wonderful holiday treat with items that are otherwise every day!
Buttercream Frosting
- Butter, softened to room temperature
- Powdered sugar (confectioners sugar)
- Vanilla extract
- Milk
- Ground ginger
- Cinnamon
- Caramel sauce (optional)
How To Make Gingerbread Cupcakes
These delightful cupcakes are easy to make from scratch, along with the gorgeous buttercream cinnamon-spiced frosting. Let us dive right into the recipe now.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with 12 cupcake liners and set aside.
In a medium saucepan, melt together the butter, brown sugar, honey, and molasses over low heat, stirring frequently until combined. Be careful not to let the mixture come to a boil. Remove from the heat once the butter has completely melted. Set aside to cool slightly.
Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, using a hand electric mixer or a stand mixer, whisk together the eggs, milk, and vanilla extract until frothy.
In a separate large bowl, whisk together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda, and Kosher salt.
Slowly pour the melted butter mixture into the bowl with the egg mixture and whisk while you are pouring. Continue to whisk until well combined.
Add the flour a bit at a time, or sieve the flour mixture into the wet ingredients. Fold the mixture together until just combined, do not over mix. A few small lumps are OK, don’t worry.
Spoon the cupcake batter into your prepared cupcake liners. Don’t fill them to the top; only fill them about 2/3 full. Remember, they will rise.
Place in your preheated oven and bake for 18-22 minutes. Test for doneness using a cake tester or toothpick inserted into the center that comes out clean.
Allow the cupcakes to cool in the muffin tin for about 10 minutes before moving them to a cooling rack. You will want your cupcakes to be completely cooled before you ice them.
Making The Frosting
In a large mixing bowl, add the butter and vanilla extract. Mix with an electric mixer or stand mixer until smooth. Gradually add the powdered sugar, ground ginger, and cinnamon while continuing to mix between additions. If the frosting is too thick, add about a Tbsp of milk at a time until it reaches a pipeable consistency.
Now it’s time to frost your cupcakes. Once the cupcakes have completed cooled, spread or pipe the frosting on the top of each cupcake. If you are using the caramel sauce, drizzle this over the icing in a zigzag pattern.
How to Store Gingerbread Cupcakes
Cupcakes can be made ahead of time and stored, but how should cupcakes be stored? For ultimate freshness, always keep them in an airtight container to prevent damage and to keep them from drying out. They can be kept at room temperature, but I usually tend to store them in the refrigerator to keep them even fresher.
If you want to use the caramel sauce, drizzle that on at the last moment before serving, or it can affect your icing and make a sticky mess of a container too.
Can you Freeze Gingerbread Cupcakes?
If you really want to make these cupcakes ahead of time, another great option is to freeze them. Leave the icing and caramel sauce off and store them in an airtight container. Don’t overcrowd or stack them onto each other.
For thawing, you can just keep them in their original package but make sure that if any frost has built up, that you just wipe it out and then let them defrost. They will be completely defrosted in a few hours.
Ice, drizzle with caramel sauce, and serve. Enjoy!!
Pin it HERE!!
Pin it HERE!!
Festive Gingerbread Cupcakes
Ingredients
For the cupcakes
- ½ cup butter
- ½ cup + 1 tbsp soft brown sugar
- 1/3 cup honey
- ¼ cup molasses
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp nutmeg
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
For the frosting
- 1 cup butter at room temperature
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2-3 tbsp milk
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ¼ cup caramel sauce for drizzling on top of the cupcakes optional
Instructions
- Make the cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350F/180C and line a cupcake pan with 12 cupcake liners.
- Melt together the butter, sugar, honey, and molasses in a saucepan over low-medium heat, stirring frequently. Don’t let the mixture boil and remove the pan from the heat once the butter has completely melted. Set aside to cool a little.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, and vanilla extract.
- In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Slowly pour the melted butter mixture into the bowl with the egg mixture, whisking as you go until fully combined.
- Sieve the flour mixture into the bowl with the wet ingredients and fold everything together until just combined. A few small lumps are ok.
- Transfer the mixture to your lined cupcake cases. Each should be about 2/3 of the way full.
- Bake for 18-22 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs.
- Leave the cupcakes in the pan for about 10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Make the frosting
- Add the butter and vanilla extract to a large mixing bowl. Mix with an electric hand whisk until smooth.
- Gradually sieve in the powdered sugar and spices a little at a time, mixing with the electric whisk after each addition.
- If the frosting becomes too thick, add milk 1 tbsp at a time until a smooth, pipeable consistency is reached.
- Once the cupcakes have completely cooled, spread or pipe swirls of frosting on top of each one.
- Drizzle a little caramel sauce over the top of each cupcake (optional).
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