Gingerbread Cupcakes | Cookies & Cups

What Makes These Gingerbread Cupcakes So Good?

With the festive season across the nook, I can’t wait to have these gingerbread cupcakes on repeat! These gentle, moist gingerbread cupcakes style quite a bit like my soft-baked gingerbread cookies, flavored with caramelized brown sugar and a touch of molasses. Right here’s what makes these fluffy gingerbread cupcakes so nice:

• Straightforward elements. Nearly each ingredient in these cupcakes is a pantry staple, other than perhaps the molasses. Fortunately, I had a jar left over from my final batch of molasses cookies! In any case, all the pieces you want is simple to seek out within the grocery retailer.
• They style similar to gingerbread! I really like how shut in taste these do-it-yourself cupcakes are to traditional gingerbread cookies. There’s loads of candy burnt caramel and heat spice in every fluffy chew. The tangy cream cheese frosting compliments the gingerbread completely!
• The most effective cream cheese frosting. Talking of frosting, I make the white chocolate cream cheese frosting with a field of white chocolate prompt pudding combine. It’s a game-changer. The feel of the frosting is silky clean and it tastes prefer it got here from a bakery.
• Good for the vacations. If vacation cheer was a dessert, it will be a frosted gingerbread cupcake. They’re tremendous festive and simple to customise, you possibly can enhance them any method that you just like.

Elements You’ll Want

These are some notes on the essential elements on this gingerbread cupcakes recipe. Scroll to the printable recipe card beneath the publish for the total recipe measurements and particulars.

For the Cupcakes

• Flour – All-purpose is greatest.
• Baking Powder and Baking Soda – Examine the dates on the packaging to ensure your leavening is recent and never expired.
• Spices – Floor ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg, plus a pinch of salt. You too can substitute the person spices with pumpkin pie spice.
• Butter – Dropped at room temperature. You should use salted or unsalted butter.
• Brown Sugar – Darkish brown sugar offers these cupcakes a richer, caramelized taste. Mild brown sugar works in a pinch. You too can comply with my tutorial on how to make brown sugar from granulated sugar.
• Molasses – I like to recommend common, medium, or darkish molasses for gingerbread. No matter you do, keep away from blackstrap molasses, which is much too bitter.
• Egg – Additionally at room temperature.

For the Frosting

• Instantaneous Pudding – I take advantage of one 3.5-ounce field of white chocolate prompt pudding combine. You possibly can additionally use vanilla prompt pudding.
• Milk – Make sure that it’s chilly from the fridge.
• Powdered Sugar – Additionally referred to as confectioner’s sugar or icing sugar.
• Cream Cheese – You’ll need to use a block of plain, full-fat cream cheese (not the type that is available in tubs).
• Cool Whip – Thawed beforehand.

How you can Make Gingerbread Cupcakes

The cream cheese frosting for these cupcakes wants to sit back for about an hour within the fridge earlier than you employ it, so be sure that to finances your time accordingly. I’ll generally get the frosting within the fridge first after which get began on the gingerbread cupcakes, or I’ll chill the frosting whereas the cupcakes cool to room temperature. It’s as much as you! 

Right here’s a fast have a look at the recipe steps, and you’ll discover printable directions within the recipe card on the backside of the publish.

Recipe Suggestions

• Don’t overmeasure. It’s essential to measure elements like flour appropriately, in any other case it modifications the end result of the cupcakes. Spoon the flour into the measuring cup, and stage off the highest with the again of a knife (reasonably than scooping straight from the bag). Even higher, use a kitchen scale!
• Alternate including the dry elements with the recent water. Scorching water makes the cupcake batter simpler to combine and prevents lumps. Make sure that so as to add the flour combination slightly at a time, including scorching water in between, beginning and ending with the dry combination.
• Don’t overfill the cupcake liners. I like to recommend filling every cupcake liner not more than ⅔ full. If you happen to’re utilizing a smaller pan, purpose for ¾ full. If you happen to fill the liners too excessive, the gingerbread cupcakes would possibly overflow and/or deflate within the oven.

Extra Adorning Concepts

There’s multiple approach to enhance a Christmassy gingerbread cupcake!

• Completely different frosting. These gingerbread cupcakes would additionally style nice frosted with vanilla buttercream, heritage frosting, or Swiss meringue buttercream.
• Cookie garnishes. Prime the frosted cupcakes with mini gingerbread males or broken-up gingersnaps. 
• Add sprinkles. Brighten up these cupcakes with festive vacation sprinkles. Attempt a purple, white, and inexperienced Christmas combine or gold balls (dragees).
• Caramel drizzle. End every frosted cupcake with a drizzle of microwave caramel sauce. Simply guarantee that the caramel is cool earlier than you drizzle it in order that it doesn’t soften the frosting.

How you can Retailer

• Refrigerate. The frosted gingerbread cupcakes could be saved lined and hermetic within the fridge for as much as 3 days. You too can retailer the unfrosted cupcakes and frost them earlier than serving.
• Freeze. The baked, unfrosted cupcakes could be frozen in a freezer bag or hermetic container for as much as 1 month. Thaw them within the fridge or at room temperature.