Gingerbread cupcakes are the perfect cupcake recipe to make this holiday season. Moist, spiced cupcakes are topped with sweet cinnamon buttercream frosting.
Recipe summary
Flavor/texture: Moist, tender cupcakes filled with cozy flavors like molasses, ginger, and cinnamon. They're topped with a sweet Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting.
Easy to make: The cupcakes come together with two bowls and a spoon, and the frosting is easy to whip up while your cupcakes bake!
Yield: 12 cupcakes
Similar to: Applesauce Cupcakes, Carrot Cake Cupcakes
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Ingredients and substitutions
- Molasses - I recommend Grandma's Original Molasses (a common brand found in grocery stores). Molasses is a must when baking gingerbread and gives it a distinctive flavor. Light or dark molasses will work in this recipe - dark molasses adds a stronger molasses flavor.
- Wet ingredients - Whole milk, oil, brown sugar, and eggs add moisture to your cupcakes. If these ingredients are reduced or omitted, your cupcakes will turn out dry.
- Dry ingredients - All-purpose flour and baking soda balance with the wet ingredients and help your cupcakes rise in the oven.
- Flavor - Vanilla, ground cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and salt add flavor to your cupcakes.
- Frosting ingredients - Unsalted butter, confectioner's sugar, cinnamon, salt, vanilla, and heavy cream create the cinnamon frosting to top your cupcakes. Butter must be room temperature (not cold or melted) to create a smooth, creamy frosting. Unsalted butter and salt can be substituted with salted butter if desired.
How to make gingerbread cupcakes
- Stir together wet ingredients until fully incorporated.
- Add whisked or sifted dry ingredients to the wet and stir until just incorporated.
- Fill lined cupcake pan cups about ⅔ full. Bake until centers pop back after a gentle press.
- Cool cupcakes completely and top with frosting.
Heather's Top Tip
For accurate results every time, use a kitchen scale to measure flour by weight. If you don't have a kitchen scale, use the spoon and level method. Stir the flour (especially if it's been packed down in a bag/container), then gently spoon into the measuring cup, leveling off the top with a knife. Scooping with a measuring cup compacts flour into the cup and adds up to 25% extra to the recipe, resulting in dry, bland baked goods.
Tips and tricks
Don't overmix the batter - Only mix your batter until the ingredients are incorporated. Overmixing your batter can whip extra air in, causing your cupcakes to rise quickly and then fall in the center when they bake. This can also overwork the gluten, causing your cupcakes to turn out tough.
Testing for doneness - Gently press onto the top of a cupcake with one finger. If the cupcake pops right back, it's done. If an indent is left, it needs more time.
Allow cupcakes to cool - Do not unwrap your cupcakes while they're still warm. Your cupcakes will stick to the liners until they are fully cooled throughout. Once cooled, your cupcakes will easily unwrap.
Do not frost warm cupcakes - Buttercream is sensitive to heat and will melt between 90 to 95 degrees Fahrenheit. Instead, allow cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.
Frequently asked questions
Buttercream frosting is made with two main ingredients: confectioner's sugar and butter. It's popular because it's easy to prepare with minimal ingredients. However, because it's mainly made of sugar, it's very sweet. Unfortunately, making it with less sugar means it will begin to taste like butter, the other main ingredient. Instead, I highly recommend making a frosting that's already written to include less sugar, like ermine frosting. You could also add a dollop of whipped cream instead. You can add cinnamon to either of these recipes for a similar flavor.
For years I've used this simple Wilton cupcake decorating kit (Amazon) to decorate my cupcakes. It comes with four piping tips, bags, and easy to read instructions. I also purchased this additional coupler (Amazon) to make it easy to secure the piping tips and to change out tips halfway through decorating.
Baked goods can turn out dry for a few reasons:
- Baking too long.
- Adding too many dry ingredients.
- Adding too few wet ingredients.
- Butter-based cake is refrigerated (it feels dry when chilled, but softens when it comes back to room temperature).
It's important to follow the recipe exactly, including the measurements and exact ingredients listed. I recommend using an instant-read thermometer to make sure your cake doesn't get overbaked in the oven.
This can be caused by humidity in your home or storing cupcakes in a sealed container while they're still warm. This can't really be fixed, but can easily be covered with frosting.
Sinking can happen for many reasons. Overmixing the batter (which adds extra air that's released during baking), underbaking, using expired leavening, using the wrong leavening, or accidentally doubling the leavening can all cause your cupcakes to sink in the middle.
Cupcakes will keep for 3 to 4 days in a tightly sealed container at room temperature or 3 months in the freezer.
Place cupcakes on a lined sheet pan and freeze until solid. Transfer to a freezer-safe container and seal tightly. To thaw, place in the refrigerator to thaw overnight, or place on the countertop and remove the lid to allow to thaw for 1 to 2 hours.
Recommended
📖 Recipe
Gingerbread Cupcakes
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- ½ cup (100 g) vegetable oil
- ½ cup (107 g) brown sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup (170 g) molasses, use an "unsulphured" molasses like Grandma's Brand
- ½ cup whole milk, room temperature
- 1 ½ cups (180 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon salt
Frosting
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 4 cups (456 g) confectioner's sugar, sifted/whisked to remove lumps
- ⅓ cup (76 g) heavy cream, cold
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
Cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 350℉. Line a cupcake pan with paper liners and set aside.
- In a large bowl, wet ingredients: vegetable oil, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, molasses, and whole milk. Stir until ingredients are fully incorporated. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, add dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and salt. Whisk to remove any clumps.
- Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir until just combined (do not overmix the batter).
- Divide batter between 12 cupcake tins, filling to about ⅔ full. Bake for about 17 to 19 minutes, or until the tops pop back when gently pressed (or toothpick comes out clean or with dry crumbs, not wet batter).
- Transfer cupcakes to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely before frosting.
Frosting
- In a large bowl, add room temperature butter and beat with a hand mixer (or stand mixer) until creamy, about 1 minute.
- Add confectioner's sugar one cup at a time and slowly mix until ingredients are fully combined. Then, whip at high speed for 1-2 minutes, or until light and fluffy.
- Add heavy cream, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and salt, then whip for an additional 2-3 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Add additional heavy cream as needed to reach desired consistency.
- Pipe or spread frosting with a knife onto cupcakes and serve.
Equipment Recommendations
Notes
- Leftovers: Cupcakes will keep for 3-4 days at room temperature in a tightly sealed container.
- Cool cupcakes first: Allow cupcakes to cool completely before removing from paper liners or adding frosting. If still warm, cupcakes will stick to the paper liners. Buttercream frosting melts between 90-95F and will melt if frosted onto a warm cupcake.
- Frosting quantity: Recipe makes enough frosting for tall, dramatic piped frosting (as shown in the photos). For less frosting, cut frosting recipe in half.
- More tips: Be sure to check out my 10 tips for baking cake, based on reader comments and questions!
I had so much fun creating this recipe! I hope you give it a try and love it as much as I do. If you have a question, check out the post above, which is packed with information about the recipe. Tried the recipe? I'd love to hear your thoughts — leave a comment and a star rating to share your feedback!