Easy and Fluffy Gingerbread Cupcakes
These Gingerbread cupcakes are so fluffy, moist and easy to make. They are spiced with warm seasonal spices like ginger and cinnamon and topped with a sweet caramel buttercream. They are the perfect festive holiday cupcakes to make for any party or get together, everyone will love them!
As far as holiday dessert recipes go, gingerbread is my all time favorite flavor to bake. The way it makes the house smell all cozy and delicious, it gets me every time! As a trained pastry chef who has made a ton of cupcake recipes in the past, I figured it was time to make gingerbread cupcakes!
These gingerbread cupcakes are spiced with ground ginger, cinnamon, and un-sulfured molasses. You could also put in allspice and nutmeg but I prefer to leave them out. The cupcake is super fluffy and moist and is topped with a sweet homemade caramel buttercream frosting. These cupcakes would also go really well frosted with a cream cheese frosting. To take these over the top you can then drizzle a maple glaze over the frosting.
If gingerbread is your go to holiday flavor then don’t miss out on this gingerbread bundt cake, these gingersnap cookies (FAVE!), or these gingerbread biscotti.
What you need
How to make gingerbread cupcakes
Cream- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or using an electric mixer, add the softened butter and brown sugar to the bowl and mix on medium speed for about two minutes until creamy. Add in the vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla, and mix again for 1 minute.
Dry Ingredients- In a small bowl combine the flour, cinnamon, ginger, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Lightly mix to combine.
Wet Ingredients- In a liquid measuring cup add the buttermilk and molasses and give it a stir.
Alternate- Alternate adding 1/3 of dry ingredients with half of the wet ingredients starting and ending with the dry ingredients mixing in between each addition. This gives the batter time to absorb all the flour without weighing it down.
Fill and bake- Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners and fill up to 3/4 of the way full using an ice cream scoop for accuracy. Bake at 350° F for 18 minutes. Cool on a wire rack before frosting.
Frost– Frost the cupcakes with caramel buttercream.
Decorating
I like to use a piping bag and a large star tip to pipe the frosting on top of the cupcake. You can then either top it with a cute gingerbread man or even cookie crumbles like I did here. Another thing you can do is add a cinnamon stick for pretty factor.
Recipe Tips
- Measure the flour correctly using a kitchen scale. Otherwise you can spoon flour into a measuring cup and level it off. Don’t scoop your flour with your measuring cup or it will pack too much flour and you will end up with dense cupcakes.
- You can add 1/4-1/2 tsp of allspice or cloves to the dry ingredients. I just prefer leaving them out.
- Fill the liners up to 3/4 of the way full. Any more than that and they will overflow in the oven.
Easy and Fluffy Gingerbread Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature (113g)
- 1/2 cup brown sugar, (105g)
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 egg
- 2 egg whites
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/3 cup all purpose flour, (165g)
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 cup molasses, un-sulfured
- 1/3 cup buttermilk
Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° F and line a muffin tin with cupcake liners and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment add the 1/2 cup butter and 1/2 cup brown sugar and cream on medium speed for 2 minutes.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add in the 2 tbsp vegetable oil, 1 egg, 2 egg whites, and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract. Mix again for 1 minute on medium speed.
- In a small bowl combine the 1 1/3rd cup flour, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp ginger, 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp baking soda, and 1/4 tsp kosher salt. Whisk lightly to combine.
- In a liquid measuring cup add the 1/4 cup molasses and 1/3 cup buttermilk and give it a stir. Set aside.
- Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients to the batter and mix on low-medium until combined. Next add in 1/2 of the wet ingredients and mix again. Alternate the rest of the dry and wet ingredients mixing in between each addition ending with the flour. Mix for 30 seconds more to combine.
- Fill the cupcake liners up to 3/4 of the way full but no more than that otherwise they will overflow. Bake for 18 mins.
- Cool on a wire rack and frost with caramel buttercream.
Absolutely delicious! Not overpowering in taste- simply perfect. I will be doubling the recipe next time because 12 disappeared before my eyes! Thank you!
Omg YAY Pamela! So happy you loved these! Glad to know the flavor was on point! I also dont like and overpowering gingerbread taste. Thanks so much for coming back to leave a rating and review. Happy Holidays!!