These gingerbread cupcakes with cream cheese frosting are ideal for any festive gathering! Soft and moist sponge, flavoured with aromatic spices, topped with delicious cream cheese frosting and sprinkled with buttery feuilletine.
This post is a part of a paid collaboration with Waitrose and Partners. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Hello friends! Happy December!
Finally, the most anticipated month of the year is upon us! Time to put on some festive tunes and start baking ALL the festive goodies! Ready? Let's go!
Gingerbread cupcakes- festive treat for everyone!
Is there a more festive flavour than gingerbread? I don't think so! All these wonderful and aromatic spices are just perfect to get you into festive spirit and make you feel cozy and warm. Add these flavours into some cupcakes and you will have a guaranteed crowd pleaser, perfect for all of your gatherings with friends and family! They would make a lovely, delicious centrepiece on your festive table too!
What will you need to make these cupcakes
This is an easy and quick recipe, made with relatively simple ingredients. The only thing that you may not be that familiar with would be the molasses. They are great for adding that distinctive, brown sugar flavour to the bakes, as well as adding an extra moisture. Make sure to use organic, pure blackstrap, unsulphered molasses.
For the frosting, I'm using the simple, classic cream-cheese frosting, but feel free to use your favourite kind of frosting if you wish. Also, for the extra special touch and some more delicious flavour, sprinkle the frosting with some feuilletine. In case if you are wondering what it is, feuilletine is a crispy confection made from thin pastry. I'm using the one from Waitrose and Partners Cooks' Ingredients range. They are delicious, crispy and buttery flakes that would take any of your bakes to the next level!
If you want, you can also use gingerbread cookies/ biscuits to decorate these cupcakes with. I've used my gingerbread cut out cookies recipe and used small cutters instead of the big ones.
Dry ingredients
Let's start with all of the dry ingredients. You will need plain, all-purpose flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg (I recommend using freshly ground), some mix spice and small pinch of salt. Mix them all in a large bowl and set aside.
Wet ingredients
These will consist of Greek yogurt, molasses, eggs, vanilla, butter and dark muscavado sugar. As with any baking recipe, make sure that all of the ingredients are at room temperature before you start using them.
How to make gingerbread cupcakes
As mentioned above, mix all of the dry ingredients together in a large bowl and set it aside. In a separate, small bowl, mix together the Greek yogurt and molasses. Next, you will need to cream the sugar and butter together. I recommend using a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment to do this. Mix them until light and fluffy, then start adding eggs, one at a time, followed by vanilla.
With the mixer running on low speed, add half of the dry ingredients into the mixture, followed by half of the molasses and yogurt mixture. Repeat, by adding the remaining dry and wet ingredients. Stir until all the ingredients are combined and divide the batter between cupcake cases. Fill ¾ of each cupcake case with batter and bake.
When making the cream cheese frosting, it's important to bring both, cream cheese and butter to the room temperature. This step will ensure to have a smooth texture of the frosting as they will blend better together. Add the icing sugar in 4-5 increments, mixing well after each addition until you have smooth frosting.
I recommend placing the frosting in the fridge, for 10-15 minutes just so it firms up a little bit. It will remain its shape much better when piping on top of the cupcakes.
Happy baking and see you next time!
As always, thanks for reading today's post! Feel free to leave me a comment and the review if you tried this recipe! Also, remember that you can follow me on my Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook.
Gingerbread Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
Equipment
- 12 hole muffin tin
- Piping bag
- French star piping nozzle
Ingredients
- 185 g plain flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 ½ tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp nutmeg
- ½ tsp mixed spice
- ¼ tsp salt
- 110 ml Greek yogurt
- 110 ml molasses
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 115 g unsalted butter softened
- 85 g dark brown Muscovado sugar
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 225 g full-fat cream cheese room temperature
- 115 g unsalted butter softened
- 560 g icing sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 tbsp feuilletine optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180 C (165 C fan). Line the 12 hole muffin tin with some liners and set aside.
- In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, all the spices and salt. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, mix together molasses and Greek yogurt. Set aside.
- Using an electric mixer, cream together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, followed by vanilla.
- With the mixer running on low speed, add half of the flour mixture, followed by half of the molasses and yogurt mixture. Repeat again, add the remaining flour mixture followed by remaining molasses and yogurt mix. Stir until all the ingredients are incorporated.
- Divide the batter between the cupcake cases, but don't over fill them. Fill about ¾ of each cupcake case. Bake for 15 minutes, until the toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with just few crumbs remaining. Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before topping with frosting.
Cream cheese frosting
- Using an electric mixer, beat together the cream cheese and butter. Gradually, add the icing sugar until fully combined. Add the vanilla and salt and mix well.
- Fill the piping bag fitted with the French star nozzle with the cream cheese frosting and pipe it on top of the cooled cupcakes. Sprinkle the feuilletine on top of the frosting. Decorate the cupcakes with some gingerbread cookies if you desire.
Please note that all my recipes are developed and tested in metric grams. I recommend that you use digital scales for a more accurate results. I have provided a conversion to US customary in the recipe but please note that I haven’t tested using this method.
Notes
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This recipe was adapted from Butternut Bakery
Natalie
Oh wow, now I can't wait to make these cupcakes. They look fantastic. That frosting sounds super delicious. I bet the flavors combined are amazing too.
Anna
Thanks Natalie, let me know if you try them!
Jacqueline Debono
Gingerbread always makes me think of Christmas. It really is the best holiday treat whether as cookies, cakes or muffins. Your muffins look beautiful. I love the dark colour the molasses makes. We don't have Waitrose here in Italy but maybe I can the feuilletine online.
Jamie
These look so cute and I love the gingerbread man on top of the cupcake! This is such a great idea and I know my nieces would love decorating them with me!
Carmy
These cupcakes look amazing! I love the little gingerbreads too. The cream cheese frosting goes so well with the gingerbread cupcakes.
Anna
Thank you Carmy, these are my favourite festive cupcakes, we make them every year and it has now become our little tradition. And you are so right, the cream cheese frosting is a perfect addition to these cupcakes!
Nicoletta De Angelis Nardelli
Since we are going to have a much smaller gathering for Christmas this year, these amazing gingerbread cupcakes are most certainly going to be our dessert! Love the ingredients (hello Greek yogurt and molasses!) and a look at that crumb sold me! Thank you!
Anna
Hey Nicoletta, thanks for stopping by! Same here, we are actually opting for these instead of the cake this year! Greek yogurt is just the best ingredient to create this moist, yet light and airy crumb. And pleasure all mine 😉
Gunjan
Oh my gosh! These cupcakes are so beautiful. I am sure it’s equally yummy. My daughter is crab for these while write it to you. So definitely making it in the coming days.
Anna
Thanks Gunjan, I hope you will enjoy them.
Moop Brown
These look like such a great treat for the holidays. I love the cream cheese frosting on top as well!
Tracy
We loved these cupcakes. My girls had SO much fun with them. Thank you!
Anna
Hi Tracy, thanks so much for this review, I'm so happy to hear that you and your girls enjoyed these festive cupcakes!
Amy Liu Dong
Such a pretty cupcake and I am pretty sure that this one is delicious, I must try making this. Thank you!
Jenny
These are fantastic! They look so cute, I almost don't want to eat them but that is impossible because cream cheese frosting is my weakness. Can’t wait to make these for the holidays. What a lovely recipe. Thanks so much!!
Jan
Very cute cupcakes - perfect for the holidays. Your cupcake liners look so sturdy. What brand are they and where can they be purchased? Thanks.
annabanana
Thanks Jan, glad you like them so much! The cupcake liners are from Wilton, I bought them online on their website. Hope this helps!
Natalie
These cupcakes look absolutely gorgeous. I love the cream cheese frosting and decoration. I can't wait to make this for my kids for holidays. What a lovely recipe. Thanks!
annabanana
Aww Natalie, pleasure is all mine, these will be ideal to make with kids! So happy to hear that you will be making them! Happy baking! X
Ela
Oh my, these cupcakes are so cute and festive! I love gingerbread so much, it's simply perfect for the holiday season. 🙂
annabanana
Hey lovely! Thanks so much, I couldn't agree more, it's the flavour of Christmas and all the good memories, right? Sending hugs from increasingly cold UK! x
GUNJAN C Dudani
Ah! heavenly combination of ingredients. Love these cupcakes.
annabanana
Thanks so much, glad you like them!
Sophie
This looks insanely delicious and festive. Love the flavors of gingerbread.
annabanana
Thank you Sophie, they are crazy good, my friends and family love them and always ask when I will be making them again!
Cathleen @ A Taste of Madness
I love the gingerbread flavours over the holidays. These cupcakes are perfect!! Bookmarking it to make later!
annabanana
Same, my favourite flavour of the season! Thanks so much for stopping by Cathleen, please let me know if you try them, I would love to hear how did you like them! x
Debbie
What an adorable cupcake for the Holiday season! Everything about this Gingerbread cupcake I love. The cream cheese frosting on top of spiced gingerbread sounds amazing!! I can't wait to try these.
annabanana
Thanks so much Debbie, so glad you like them! And please let me know if you make these, I would love to know did you enjoy them!
Jess
These are the cutest holiday cupcakes of all time! I love the flavors too! And those gingerbread men!
annabanana
Hey Jess, thanks so much for stopping by! Over the moon to hear that you love these cupcakes! Gingerbread men are perfect for decorating any festive bakes and making them look super-cute!
Leslie
First of all, your photography for this recipe looks stunning! Second, I LOVE cream cheese frosting with gingerbread. It's the perfect combination!
annabanana
Thank you so much Leslie, so happy to hear that you like the photos and the recipe! Cream cheese frosting is one of my favourites too, I could eat it on its own!
Analida Braeger
I always keep molasses on hand for tasty recipes like this! Thanks for all the great tips to make them!
annabanana
Aww you're welcome Analida! Molasses are a must have ingredient, especially at this time of the year! Great for all the festive bakes!
Aleta
Oh yes, yes, yes please!! These gingerbread cupcakes look amazing, especially topped with cream cheese frosting! I love the little gingerbread cookies on top - a really nice touch!
annabanana
Thank you so much for your kind words Aleta! So happy you like them! And yes, the gingerbread men make everything look so much cuter, right? Perfect decorations for all the festive bakes! x
Jacque Hastert
These are an absolutely perfect cupcake for Christmas holiday baking. They would be perfect to take to classroom or office parties.
annabanana
Oh gosh, yes, yes they would be! They are always go down a treat with crowds, I honestly have not met anyone who wouldn't like these! And thank you Jacque!