Gingerbread cupcakes are the perfect cupcake recipe to make this holiday season. Moist, spiced cupcakes are topped with sweet cinnamon buttercream frosting.
Gingerbread cupcakes are incredibly moist and tender, bringing together the cozy flavors of molasses, ginger, and cinnamon. Topped with creamy cinnamon buttercream frosting, each bite has just the right amount of sweetness and spice.
Making gingerbread cupcakes from scratch is surprisingly easy and a great way to celebrate the holiday season! They're made with simple pantry ingredients and easy to make for novice bakers.
The process is simple: mix the wet ingredients, mix the dry ingredients, then combine and stir with a spoon until smooth. The frosting is easy to whip up while your cupcakes bake in the oven.
Make gingerbread cupcakes this winter. They're perfect for festive gatherings or a night at home with family.
Jump to:
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.
- Milk - Whole milk adds moisture to your cupcakes. Using lower fat milks like skim or 1% can cause your cakes to turn out less moist and dry out faster.
- Oil - Adds moisture to your cupcakes and helps them stay moist longer than cupcakes made with butter.
- Sugar - Brown sugar adds sweetness, moisture, and caramelized flavor.
- Spices - Ground cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and salt add flavor to your cupcakes.
- Leavening - You'll need baking soda for this recipe. Baking soda works with the acidic ingredients in the recipe to help your cupcakes rise as they bake in the oven. Baking soda cannot be substituted with baking powder - the two are not interchangeable at a 1:1 ratio.
- Flour - You'll need all-purpose flour for this recipe. I haven't tested this recipe with other types of flour (which most of the time can't be substituted in at a 1:1 ratio), so I don't recommend using substitutes. Instead, search for a recipe developed for the flour you'd like to use.
- Eggs - Add structure and moisture to your cupcakes.
- Vanilla - Adds flavor to your cupcakes.
- Butter - The base of the buttercream frosting recipe. Make sure your butter is room temperature (not melted or cold) before beginning. Butter is room temperature when it's slightly cool and you can make an indentation with your finger.
- Confectioner's sugar - Necessary to make buttercream frosting. Confectioner's sugar is fine and incorporates seamlessly into the butter without a grainy texture. The confectioner's sugar also adds structure to your frosting. Adding less sugar will result in a soft (or potentially runny) frosting.
- Cinnamon - Adds warm cinnamon flavor to the frosting.
- Salt - Necessary to balance with the sweetness of the frosting.
- Vanilla - Adds flavor to the frosting.
- Heavy cream - Whipped into the frosting to create a lighter, fluffy texture. Feel free to add more heavy cream as needed to achieve your desired consistency.
Tips and tricks
Measure flour properly - I highly recommend using a kitchen scale to measure your ingredients, especially the flour. If you don't have a scale, use a spoon to scoop flour into your measuring cup, then level off the top with a knife. Scooping directly from a bin using the measuring cup compacts flour into the cup, adding up to 25% extra flour to the recipe. This can make cupcakes dry and dense.
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. You can also use the toothpick method. Insert a toothpick into the center of a cupcake. If it comes back with batter, your cupcakes need more time. If the toothpick comes back with crumbs or nothing at all, they're done. Additionally, if you nudge the pan and your cupcakes are jiggly, they're not done yet.
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.
Storage
Cupcakes will keep for 3 to 4 days in a tightly sealed container at room temperature.
Gingerbread cupcakes can be frozen for up to 3 months in ideal conditions. To freeze frosted cupcakes, 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.
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 many reasons. No one intends to make dry cupcakes, but a step/ingredient could have been unintentionally missed while preparing your cupcakes. The most common reasons include:
- Substituting/reducing the moisture adding ingredients (oil, whole milk, brown sugar, molasses, and eggs)
- Adding too much flour (I highly recommend using a kitchen scale to prevent this)
- Overbaking. If you haven't substituted/reduced any ingredients and are 100% sure that everything has been measured with accuracy, the only other reason baked goods turn out dry is from overbaking. I highly recommend watching your cupcakes through the door instead of relying on time alone. Ovens can run hotter or colder than the next oven, and some ovens even have hot spots, so I recommend testing early and often when trying a brand new recipe.
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.
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!