Gingerbread Muffins Recipe (with Streusel Topping)

The intense and warm flavor of gingerbread, translated into a delicious, soft, moist Gingerbread Muffin recipe with a streusel topping is what memories are made of. A moment of silence is in order as you take a bite. I can’t think of anything more enticing than this combination.

Any time I have gingerbread, it takes me to family gatherings or quiet mornings shared with someone I love with a cup of coffee.

Our recipe for Gingerbread Muffins is so easy you will want to share it. Take a plate of warmly baked homemade gingerbread muffins to a favorite neighbor or special friend and just watch their eyes light up. We walk you through the exact steps to make this easy recipe. Nothing complicated, nothing expensive. Just perfect muffins from scratch without a box mix.

What is Gingerbread?

The star ingredient of gingerbread is ground ginger. Cinnamon has an underlying comforting presence. Molasses rounds out the familiar and intense flavor with a rich, dark sweetness. While usually made into hard cookies to build gingerbread houses, our soft Gingerbread Cookies, Gingerbread Bars, and Gingerbread Bundt Cake use this flavor combination to make these heavenly muffins.

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Ingredients you’ll need for this recipe

Please note, that the printable recipe card has the full list of ingredients, quantities, complete instructions, and nutritional information. The following is a quick overview of the recipe.

Ginger. Use ground ginger found in the spice aisle. Do not use fresh ginger for this recipe.

Light Brown Sugar. You can use dark brown sugar instead.

Molasses. You can find several different varieties. I’ll share some information that will help you choose your favorite.

Sour Cream. Makes muffins moist and gives them a smooth, tender crumb. You can substitute with plain yogurt as needed.

How To Make Gingerbread Muffins

Preheat your oven and prepare your pan to make sure it’s properly heated before baking. Make sure you have everything you need. First, mix your streusel ingredients and set them aside.

Then, in a medium mixing bowl, mix the dry ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, mix all of the wet ingredients. Gently combine the dry and wet ingredients in the large mixing bowl. Fill your muffin pan using a three-tablespoon cookie scoop.

Top each muffin with a little bit of streusel and bake them.

To get bakery-style muffins, we shock them with a short blast of hot oven temperature and then reduce the temperature to finish baking them. Your muffin tops will be crunchy but the interior will be soft and fluffy. Let the Gingerbread Streusel Muffins cool for about 5 minutes in the pan and then remove them to finish cooling on a wire rack. Muffins can also be eaten warm.

Frequently Asked Questions

What’s the best variety of molasses to use?

Molasses is a liquid that adds moisture and a darker hue to your recipe. There are basically three varieties of molasses. You can use what you prefer. Here are the differences.

1. Light molasses – lighter in flavor and hue. Perfect for baking and candies.
2. Dark molasses – stronger in flavor and darker hue. Can be used interchangeably with light molasses. It is often used for gingersnap recipes.
3. Blackstrap molasses – dark hue with a strong flavor that is somewhat bitter. Often used in barbecue or baked bean recipes. (source)

What is the secret to moist tender muffins?

Sour cream helps keep the muffins extra moist. We recommend full-fat for extra richness but you can use any variety. You can use plain yogurt instead. We also use a combination of baking powder and baking soda to give our gingerbread muffins a fluffy tender oven rise.

What makes gingerbread taste like gingerbread?

Spice Combinations: We kept this gingerbread muffin recipe simple by using ground cinnamon and ground ginger. Other spices commonly used in gingerbread recipes are nutmeg, cloves, cardamom, and allspice. Don’t overdo it. Too much spice can cause baked goods to have a “hot” flavor, not a smooth, perfectly balanced, softly spiced flavor.

Can I make mini muffins?

Yes, you can make mini muffins for the perfect bite-sized treat. Watch baking time because they can take 1 to 2 minutes less than a regular muffin recipe. Mini muffin tins hold about 1/3 to 1/2 the amount of batter as a regular muffin tin, so doubling the yield is a good rule of thumb, or 32 in this case.

When baking mini muffins, reduce the heat after 4 minutes and then watch their baking progress carefully checking after an additional 10 minutes.

How long does it take to bake gingerbread muffins?

You do not want to overbake your muffins and the best way to ensure they are perfect is to preheat your oven, measure the batter with a cookie scoop to make sure they are properly sized, and bake for the exact amount of time listed in the recipe.

The recipe card says 12-15 minutes so you would check them at 12 minutes and see if a knife, toothpick, or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few crumbs. If they aren’t quite done, add thirty seconds more and continue checking them until the muffins are perfectly baked.

What to Serve with Gingerbread Streusel Muffins?

These soft and airy muffins are the perfect addition to our Italian Sausage and Potatoes for breakfast or with a bowl of our amazing 13 bean soup for dinner. They also make the perfect snack for the kiddos on their way to after school functions.

How To Store and Reheat

Best way to store Homemade Muffins?

Let muffins cool completely and then store them at room temperature in an airtight container is ideal for the first couple of days. After a couple of days, the streusel will lose its crunch and become soft. Freeze the leftovers before this happens.

Can I freeze Muffins?

Yes, muffins reheat so quickly in the microwave it is ideal to freeze any muffins you have left over well before they get stale. Once the muffins are completely cool, place them in freezer quality plastic bag. They thaw quickly at room temperature so you can grab one and let it thaw on the way to work.

How to reheat Muffins?

A fresh muffin only needs about ten seconds in the microwave to be hot enough to melt butter. A frozen muffin will actually thaw and warm up in about thirty seconds in the microwave.

Variations and Substitutions

Add chocolate chips, cinnamon chips, or white chocolate chips for variation.

We use a lot of smooth vanilla extract. You can substitute with different extracts to change up the flavor. Almond or burnt sugar extract would be delicious.

Add slivered almonds chopped pecans or walnuts to the streusel for more crunch.

Hostess Tips and Tricks

• Do not overmix the muffin batter. I recommend using a Danish dough whisk, wooden spoon, or a spatula to mix them. This gingerbread muffin recipe comes together so quickly that I don’t use an electric mixer.
• If, like me, you forget to cool the butter before adding to the eggs (cooling the butter will make sure the eggs don’t cook with the residual heat from the butter), just mix the butter with the sugar and molasses, then add the eggs. 
• To avoid chewy, almost rubbery muffins mix the dry ingredients separately and then combine the dry and wet ingredients gently. This helps prevent overmixing. If you’ve ever taken a bite of a muffin and get a mouthful of salt or baking soda it’s because the dry ingredients weren’t mixed together thoroughly.

Related Recipes

I am in love with muffins and I think the site reflects that. We have almost thirty different recipes! Muffins are amazing because they are a quick bread meaning they don’t contain yeast or have to rise. So you don’t have to do anything special or wait any length of time to get them ready for breakfast.

A quick mix of ingredients, fifteen minutes in the oven and you are good to go. Oatmeal Raisin Muffins or Cinnamon Roll Muffins are both equally good for breakfast. Another fantastic option I return to over and over again is this recipe for Apple Cider Donut Muffins or our Basic Muffin Recipe which is one of the most popular recipes on our site.

I hope you enjoyed this delicious recipe as much as we do. Drop me a comment below, and don’t forget to give it a star rating. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐. Your comments and ratings help others decide if this recipe is for them too.

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