Gingerbread Muffins

Nothing is better than the aroma of the beautiful fall spices permeating your home. The smell of ginger, clove, nutmeg, and allspice. It makes your home smell absolutely amazing. If it is not for the comfort of the fall weather that gets you then it is the smell of fall. My Gingerbread Muffins are fall in muffin. They are so delicious, soft, and slightly sweet. I absolutely love them.

I also love making these as gifts as well. I usually make a whole bunch of goodies for my friends and family for the holidays especially around Thanksgiving and Christmas. They always ask me if I am giving “goodie gift baskets” for the holidays. I always include these in my goodie basket. They are packed with the delicious flavor of the gingerbread cookie but in muffin form and they are so soft and delightful. Make them for your family or friends. They are sure to love them.

Let’s get to it!

INGREDIENTS:

2 1/3 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/8 tsp fine salt
1 stick unsalted butter – melted and cooled
3/4 cup molasses
3/4 cup buttermilk – room temp
2 eggs – slightly beaten

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat your oven to 350*. In a bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, and salt. Mix well. Set aside.
2. In another bowl combine the butter, buttermilk, egg, and molasses. Mix really well to incorporate the sticky molasses with the other ingredients. If your buttermilk is slightly cold it will make the butter solidify. That is ok. It will melt when baking. No worries.
   Combine the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients and mix well. You may need to use a rubber spatula as the batter will be thick. Do not over mix the batter as this well result in a tough muffin. Mix the batter until just combined.
3. Line a muffin tin with parchment liners, silicone liner or grease and flour really well to prevent sticking. Using an Ice cream scoop ( I used a 3 tbsp scoop measure ) and scoop the batter into the liners. Leave somewhat of a border at the top to leave room for the muffins to rise.
4. Bake at 350* for 25 to 30 minutes. I would check at 25 minutes to make sure not to over bake the muffins. If you insert a toothpick it should come out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool 10 minutes in the liners and then remove from the liners to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container or a cake plate.

You can also frost these with cream cheese icing and make them into cupcakes. I do this sometimes as well. They are good with frosting as well. You can also add white chocolate chips or chocolate chips to the batter for a different texture and chocolate surprise. I love adding different things to this batter just to switch it up sometimes. You are going to love these.

Also, If you want to use less molasses you can add 1/2 cup instead of 3/4 cup and then add in an additional 1/4 cup sugar. I love the molasses flavor so I use only the molasses. It gives it sweetness with out being over powering.