Gingerbread Cupcakes are flavored with all of your favorite festive ingredients and topped with the most amazing vanilla buttercream frosting! Offer these tasty treats as part of your Christmas dessert spread and watch them disappear.
Spiced Gingerbread Cupcakes
Of all the beloved Christmas flavors, gingerbread’s probably the most iconic. Everything about it simply screams “Christmas!” These cupcakes are strong with gingerbread flavor that’s created by ingredients like brown sugar, molasses, ginger, nutmeg, and so much more.
Besides the richly spiced gingerbread flavor, there’s another reason to obsess over these cupcakes – the moist, yet fluffy consistency! Although stores everywhere are stocked with boxed gingerbread cake mixes, they can’t hold a candle to this tried and true homemade recipe.
Why You’ll Love this Christmas Cupcakes Recipe:
- Flavorful: These cupcakes are anything but bland. Made with bold ingredients, the gingerbread flavor is potent and mouthwatering as can be.
- Christmas Ready: Perfect for Christmas office parties, Christmas Eve, or for munching on while you decorate the tree, you’ll never make such festive cupcakes as these!
- Classic: Pretty much everyone loves gingerbread. With so many crazy new recipes out there, stick to the classics like this one that you know everyone will enjoy.
If you like gingerbread, be sure to try this festive Gingerbread Cheesecake!
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How to Make Gingerbread Cupcakes with Spiced White Chocolate Buttercream
Be sure to see the recipe card below for full ingredients & instructions!
- Prepare by preheating the oven and lining muffin tins.
- Mix together all of the wet ingredients for the cupcakes, then add the brown sugar.
- In another bowl, mix together the dry ingredients.
- Slowly mix the wet and dry ingredients until just combined.
- Divide the batter evenly amongst the tins.
- Bake, then cool.
- Make the frosting by first beating together the butter and powdered sugar.
- Add the remaining ingredients.
- Transfer the frosting to a piping bag, then frost the cupcakes, and enjoy!
Gingerbread Cupcakes Ingredients & Notes
- Milk: Adds moisture to the cupcakes. Use whole milk for best results, but any milk (dairy or nondairy) will work
- Vegetable Oil: Keeps these cupcakes soft.
- Molasses: A classic addition to gingerbread- make sure to use dark molasses.
- Eggs: Bind the cupcakes together so they don’t fall apart.
- Vanilla: Pure vanilla extract enhances the flavor of the spices and molasses.
- Flour: All-purpose flour gives the cupcakes structure so they aren’t too wet. Make sure to measure using the spoon and level method!
- Baking Powder: Helps the cupcakes rise.
- Spices: Use a combination of cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg to add quintessential gingerbread flavor to these cupcakes, but a pre-made gingerbread seasoning is also a great choice.
- Butter: Gives the icing structure – make sure it’s fully softened so you don’t end up with lumps in your frosting.
- Powdered Sugar: Sweetens the frosting and gives it structure.
- White Chocolate: Adds great flavor – leave it out for a classic spiced buttercream frosting.
Dark unsulphured molasses will yield the most authentic gingerbread flavor.
Freeze the cupcakes WITHOUT the frosting for up to 3 months. Just wrap them in plastic wrap, then in foil to help insulate them and prevent them from getting freezer burn.
Dry cupcakes can be caused by 2 things. You may have measured the ingredients incorrectly, or you might have overmixed the batter. It’s important to scoop and level your ingredients if you’re not using a scale, and it’s important to have a light hand when mixing the batter.
If your buttercream looks curdled, it is likely too cold. Place the buttercream in a heat-proof bowl set over a pot of simmering water until the edges begin to melt, then whip again until it comes together.
Rich with real gingerbread flavor and topped with the sweetest, most decadent buttercream frosting, these festive desserts are always sure to satisfy.
The most perfect cupcakes are equal parts fluffy, moist, and flavorful. This recipe definitely meets those descriptions!
Recipe Tips and Notes
- Make sure you measure all of the ingredients with great care. Baking is a science, after all!
- Check the cupcakes with a toothpick before letting them cool, that way you don’t accidentally end up with underbaked middles.
- If you don’t have a piping bag, you can just use a Ziplock bag with the corner cut off.
What other frostings can I use for gingerbread cupcakes?
Cream cheese frosting is always a tasty choice!
What piping tip is best for this frosting?
All piping tips will get the job done. I tend to use Wilton piping tips, as they’re my favorite.
What can I use for gingerbread cupcake decorations?
A sprinkle of cinnamon always does the trick, but mini gingerbread men are a cute topping as well if you can find some!
Perfectly baked gingerbread cupcakes with buttercream frosting are the best desserts for your next Christmastime gathering!
If you make this recipe be sure to leave us a comment or rating. Enjoy!
Gingerbread Cupcakes Recipe
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Ingredients
For the Cupcakes
- ½ cup whole milk 114 grams
- ¼ cup vegetable oil 50 grams
- ¼ cup unsulphured molasses 85 grams
- 2 large eggs 100 grams
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 4 grams
- ½ cup brown sugar 107 grams
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour 180 grams
- 1 teaspoon baking powder 4 grams
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
For the Spiced White Chocolate Buttercream
- ½ cup unsalted butter 113 grams, room temperature (1 stick)
- 2¼ cups powdered sugar 254 grams
- ¼ cup white chocolate chips 43 grams, melted and cooled
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Equipment
- Kitchen Scale (optional)
- Cupcake Tin
- Stand Mixer
- Piping Tip Set
Instructions
For the Cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line a 12-count cupcake tin with paper liners. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk the milk, vegetable oil, molasses, eggs, and vanilla together.½ cup whole milk, ¼ cup vegetable oil, ¼ cup unsulphured molasses, 2 large eggs, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Add the brown sugar and whisk to combine.½ cup brown sugar
- In another bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg.1½ cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon ground ginger, ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet, mixing just until they are fully combined. You don’t want to overmix.
- Divide the batter between the cupcake tin wells, filling each one ¾ of the way full.
- Bake for 15-17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Remove the cupcakes from the pan and allow them to cool on a wire rack before frosting.
For the Spiced White Chocolate Buttercream
- Add the softened butter to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.½ cup unsalted butter
- With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the powdered sugar. Mix until the powdered sugar has been incorporated.2¼ cups powdered sugar
- Add the white chocolate, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Turn the mixer to medium speed and beat until the frosting is light and fluffy, about 1 minute.¼ cup white chocolate chips, ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- Transfer the frosting to a piping bag fitted with your choice of tip.
- Frost as desired and enjoy!
Notes
- Make sure you measure all of the ingredients with great care. Baking is a science, after all!
- Check the cupcakes with a toothpick before letting them cool, that way you don’t accidentally end up with underbaked middles.
- If you don’t have a piping bag, you can just use a Ziplock bag with the corner cut off.
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