Gingerbread Cupcakes
These moist, homemade Gingerbread Cupcakes are perfect for fall and winter! They are soft and fluffy with wonderful gingerbread flavor from ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and molasses. We've frosted them with cream cheese frosting-such a delicious combination!
Table of Contents
How to Make Gingerbread Cupcakes
You can find the full, printable cake recipe further down in this post. Here is a quick look at our steps!
- Preheat the oven to 350℉ and line cupcake pans with paper liners.
- Dry Ingredients: In a separate bowl, combine the cake flour, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk 30 seconds and set aside.
- Wet Ingredients: In another bowl, add the buttermilk, vegetable oil, and molasses. Stir and set aside.
- In the bowl of your mixer, beat the butter at medium speed until smooth. Add the sugar and mix 4 to 5 minutes until lightened in color and fluffy.
- Add the eggs one at a time mixing just until the yolk is blended in.
- With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the mixing bowl alternately with the wet ingredients. Begin and end with the flour mixture (3 additions of dry ingredients and 2 of wet ingredients). Mix just until blended, stopping to scrape down the sides as needed.
- Next, add about ¼ cup of batter into each cupcake liner in the pan.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached.
Frosting the Cupcakes
We frosted our cupcakes with a simple and delicious cream cheese frosting recipe. We love cream cheese frosting on just about any kind of cupcake, but especially when it comes to spice cupcakes like today's recipe.
This cream cheese frosting is a combination of softened cream cheese and butter, powdered sugar, a pinch of salt, and vanilla extract.
Once the gingerbread cupcakes have cooled completely, decorate them however you like! We decorated them very simply, creating swirls of frosting using a disposable piping bag with the tip snipped away. (We started on the outer edge of the cupcake and spiraled inward.
*If at any time the frosting becomes too soft, you can pop the piping bag or bowl in the refrigerator for a few minutes to thicken.
Recipe FAQs
More Fall Cakes
We've made so many fall and winter cakes over the years! Here are just a few more for you to try! Some of our favorites are our Carrot Cake, Red Velvet Cake, and Pumpkin Spice Cake but there are so many more.
Have you made this? We would LOVE for you to leave a ⭐️ rating as well as a comment and photo below! We really appreciate your feedback!
Gingerbread Cupcakes
Ingredients
For the Cupcakes
- 1 ½ sticks unsalted butter, softened (170g)
- 2 cups (400g) sugar
- 4 large eggs, room temperature (if in a hurry, place the eggs in a bowl of warm water for 5 minutes)
- 3 cups cake flour (342g)
- 2 teaspoon baking powder (8g)
- ½ teaspoon baking soda (3g)
- ½ teaspoon salt (3g)
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger (4g)
- 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon (6g)
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg (1g)
- 1 cup buttermilk (242g)(we use whole buttermilk)
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil (65g)
- ½ cup molasses (160g) (We used Grandma's Molasses)
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened (226g)
- 16 oz Cream Cheese, softened softened (This is two 8 oz packages) Use full fat cream cheese.
- 6 to 6 ½ cups 690g - 747g powdered sugar (start with 6 cups and adjust to your liking)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (4g)
Instructions
For the Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350℉
- Line cupcake pan(s) with paper liners.
- In a separate bowl, combine flour, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk 30 seconds and set aside.
- In another bowl, add the buttermilk, vegetable oil, and molasses. Stir and set aside.
- In the bowl of your mixer, mix the softened butter on medium speed until smooth. Add the sugar and mix 3 to 5 minutes until lightened in color and fluffy.
- Add the eggs one at a time, mixing just until the yolk is blended in.
- With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the mixing bowl alternately with the wet ingredients. Begin and end with the flour mixture (3 additions of dry ingredients and 2 of wet ingredients). Mix until just blended, stopping as needed to scrape down the bowl. Be careful not to overmix.
- Add batter to the cupcake liners in the pan(s).
- Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached. This recipe makes about 30 cupcakes. (Bake times may vary, peek in at around the 15 minute mark).
For the Cream Cheese Frosting
- Add the softened butter to the bowl of your mixer, mix until smooth.
- Cut the softened cream cheese into pieces and add to the butter, mixing until blended.
- Add the vanilla extract
- Gradually add powdered sugar and mix until well blended.
- This frosting will pipe best if used while still a bit chilled. You can make it in advance, refrigerate and when ready to use let it soften slightly and remix. Do not microwave to soften. If the frosting becomes too soft while using just refrigerate the piping bag or bowl for a short while to firm it up.
Decorating the Cupcakes
- Decorate however you like! We kept things simple and piped swirls onto the cupcakes using a disposable piping bag with the tip snipped away.
- These cupcakes need to be refrigerated in an airtight container, cake dome, or sealed bakery box. However, for the very best flavor and texture, remove from the refrigerator a couple of hours before serving. This allows them time to warm and soften.
Would halving this recipe work?
I wouldnt know what to do with 30 cupcakes!
12 is plenty for my family.
Hi Jody, yes halving should work fine! Also, you can always freeze them ;0)
Sounds awesome! They look super moist and delish! :-)