Big & Soft Gingerbread Muffins

This easy gingerbread muffin recipe yields amazing bakery-style results! They are quick and easy to make, perfect for your Christmas morning breakfast.

I love me a good holiday baking recipe, and I absolutely adore gingerbread. There’s just something about that spice mix that says Christmas to me – which is also why I love to give my homemade Gingerbread Spice Mix to friends and neighbors.

You can use the spice mix for these muffins. You can also use a store-bought mix, or just add the spices I recommend in the recipe below.

Either way, they come out big, soft and with those bakery-style domes – and with just the right amount of gingerbread spice to celebrate the season.

Please note: I changed this recipe on 12/12/2020. If you want the original recipe posted in 2014 (made healthier), print it here.

Ingredients you’ll need

Here is an overview of the ingredients in the recipe (great to use as a visual grocery list at the store!). Scroll down to the recipe at the bottom for quantities.

Ingredient notes

• Brown sugar: I use dark brown sugar in this recipe for the added depth of flavor. Feel free to use light brown if that’s all you have.
• Molasses: I go for dark unsulphured molasses here. You can use light molasses depending on your preference and availability, the taste will be a little different. Please do not use blackstrap molasses, they are bitter and not intended for this type of sweet baking.
• Gingerbread spices: Either use store-bought, homemade or use 1 ¼ teaspoons ground cinnamon, 1 ¼ teaspoons ground ginger, ¼ teaspoon ground allspice and ¼ teaspoon ground cloves.
• Crystallized ginger: I love adding this to the muffins, but it’s entirely optional. I usually make half the batch without for the kids, because the ginger is too peppery for them.
• Coarse sugar: I use this for sprinkling on top of the muffins for a nice finish, since I prefer not to glaze my gingerbread muffins. Feel free to do so if you’d like, for me they are more than sweet enough thanks to the molasses and brown sugar in the recipe.

How to make gingerbread muffins

Start by combing the dry ingredients thoroughly in a large bowl (1). I use a whisk for this to make sure the spices and baking powder/soda are evenly distributed.

Combine all of the wet ingredients in a separate bowl and whisk until smooth (2).

Next, pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Fold them together with a spatula JUST until combined (3) – lumps are totally fine. Do not use a whisk for this, or your muffins will be dense!

If you’re adding the crystallized ginger, fold it into the batter now (4).

Evenly divide the batter between 12 muffin cups. This is super easy with a large cookie scoop. Sprinkle on the coarse sugar (5).

You’ll want to fill the muffin cups almost to the top to get that bakery-style dome, but do not fill them all the way to the top or they’ll spill over.

If you have too much batter for 12 muffins, just stack 2 liners together and fill them with the remaining muffin batter. It can bake on the baking tray next to the muffin pan.

How to bake muffins

Now for the baking, I take a couple of extra steps here.

First, I heat the oven to 425°F. Yes, that’s crazy high for a muffin, but hear me out: Right before you put the muffins in the oven, reduce the heat to 400°F. It will be at 425°F still, but it will go down as the muffins bake. You’ll want that extra heat right in the beginning, to help the muffins form those beautiful bakery-style domes.

Then, 8 minutes into baking, reduce the heat to 360°F. Do not open the oven to do this! Just dial down the temperature.

Now you’ll let the muffins finish baking for 15-20 minutes. In my oven, they need around 18 minutes until they’re done. Watch them closely, they burn easily once they’re overbaked thanks to the high molasses content.

Follow this baking pattern, and you’ll be rewarded with the perfect bakery-style, domed muffins.

Recipe tips

• Mixing: Do not overmix the batter! You want it to be lumpy and just barely combined, otherwise the muffins come out flat and dense.
• Spillage: If you’re concerned about the muffin batter spilling over, place the muffin pan on a lined baking sheet rather than on a baking rack. That way, you’ll catch any drips without dirtying your oven.
• Cooling: I recommend letting the muffins cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes. Then, remove them to a wire rack to cool completely. If you leave them in the muffin pan, they will start “sweating” and may turn a little dense.

Storage tips

Store the muffins in an airtight container on the counter for up to 2 days.

Freezer instructions

These muffins freeze really well. Place the cooled muffins in freezer bags and label with the name and use-by date. Freeze for up to 3 months.

To defrost, remove from the freezer bag and set on a wire rack on the counter. Allow to defrost a few hours. Warm in the microwave, if you like.

More gingerbread treats

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Please note: I changed this recipe on 12/12/2020. If you want the original recipe posted in 2014 (made healthier), print it here.