When a gingerbread cupcake is done right, it can be one of your fave holiday desserts. My trick is making sure the ginger isn’t too intense but just enough to carry through. I also keep everything balanced with a moist molasses batter that’s got warm spices in the mix. Then I calm it all down by going more subtle with a classic vanilla maple buttercream topping. Everything just works so well.
This post may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy.
How to Make Gingerbread Cupcakes
Make the Cupcakes
- Add the butter, both sugars and molasses to the bowl of a stand mixer and beat on high speed until light and fluffy for about 5 minutes.
- Add the eggs one at a time and mix until well incorporated.
- Add the flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, allspice, and cloves to the bowl in increments. Mix on low speed until well combined.
- Add in the buttermilk and vanilla and mix again until the batter is smooth.
- Scoop the batter into your cupcake liners filling three-quarters full.
- Bake the cupcakes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean. Allow the cupcakes to cool completely.
Make the Buttercream Frosting
- Add the butter and salt to your stand mixer and beat at medium-low speed.
- Add the confectioners’ sugar in small portions and mix on low until all the sugar is added. Once it’s all in the bowl turn the speed up to medium-high and mix until it’s completely combined.
- Add the heavy cream, maple syrup, and vanilla extract to the bowl.
- Mix until the frosting is nice and fluffy.
Decorating the Cupcakes
- Pipe the buttercream on completely cooled and room-temperature cupcakes.
- Decorate your cupcakes with ginger cookies and serve.
Want to Save This Recipe, Boo?
I'll email this recipe to you, so you can come back to it later!
Gingerbread Cupcakes Recipe
Want to Save This Recipe, Boo?
I’ll email this recipe to you, so you can come back to it later!
Ingredients
For the Cupcakes
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 cup light brown sugar packed
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup molasses
- 4 large eggs room temperature
- 3 cups all-purpose flour sifted
- 2 tbsp ground ginger
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp ground allspice
- ½ tsp ground cloves
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 ½ tbsp Pure Vanilla extract
For the Buttercream
- 3 cups unsalted butter room temperature
- ½ tsp salt
- 9 cups confectioner’s sugar
- 3 tbsp heavy cream
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
- Ginger cookies with snowflakes
Instructions
For the Cupcakes
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and add liners to muffin pans and set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer, add together butter, both sugars and molasses and beat on high speed until light and fluffy for about 5 minutes.
- Next add in eggs one at a time and mix until well incorporated.
- Slow mixer to lowest speed and carefully add flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, allspice, and cloves in increments and mix until well combined.
- Lastly, mix in buttermilk and vanilla until smooth.
- Scoop batter into liners 3/4s full and bake for 15-17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean. These cupcakes don’t have a high dome, just fyi.
- Remove cupcakes from oven and allow to cool to room temperature before frosting.
For the Buttercream
- In your stand mixer, add butter and salt at medium low speed.
- Next, turn the mixer down to low and slowly add confectioners’ sugar in small portions until all is added, then turn the speed to medium high to combine.
- Add heavy cream, maple syrup, vanilla extract and mix until nice and fluffy.
- Pipe buttercream on room temperature cupcakes, decorate with ginger cookies and serve.
Video
Notes
- Do not over-bake. For a moist cupcake you want to bake just until a toothpick comes out clean. Over-baking may result in dry, tough cupcakes.
- Frosting your cupcakes. Be sure the cupcakes are completely cooled. If they are still warm the frosting may melt and slide off when added to the cupcakes.
- Don’t overfill the cupcake liners: These cupcakes don’t have a high peaked dome so you want to fill them up a bit more than other cupcakes. Fill to three-quarters but not any higher to leave a little room for the cupcakes to rise without overflowing.
- Use fresh spices: Spices don’t last forever in your cabinet. Be sure your ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg are fresh to ensure they provide the best flavor. Expired or stale spices can lead to a less flavorful cupcake.
- Accurate measurements are key to baking success: Use a spoon to measure dry ingredients into the measuring cups and level off with a knife when measuring.
Nutrition
Recipe Tips
- Do not over-bake. For a moist cupcake, you want to bake just until a toothpick comes out clean. Overbaking is gonna make those super dry.
- Frosting your cupcakes. Be sure the cupcakes are completely cooled. If they are still warm the frosting may melt and slide off.
- Don’t overfill the cupcake liners: These cupcakes don’t have a high peaked dome so you want to fill them up a bit more than other cupcakes. Fill to three-quarters but not any higher to leave a little room for the cupcakes to rise without overflowing.
- Use fresh spices: Be sure your ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg are fresh to ensure they provide the best flavor. Expired or stale spices ain’t it.
Recipe Help
The cupcakes do not bake up into a high dome but have rather flat tops. They shouldn’t have sunk though. The most likely cause is that they needed to bake for a bit more time. Make sure to check for doneness with a toothpick rather than only relying on time. Not all ovens are exactly the same so the baking time may vary slightly.
No worries! A freezer bag works great! Simply transfer your frosting to the bag and zip it shut. Then cut off one corner in order to squeeze out the frosting. Be sure you don’t cut the hole too large. You can also simply spread the frosting on top with a spatula or knife.
More Holiday Dessert Recipes
- Perfect Shortbread Cookies with Chocolate
- Pineapple Rum Cake
- Fruit Cake
- Cranberry Orange Cake Recipe
- Chocolate Peppermint Cheesecake
- Red Velvet Cheesecake
If you love ginger flavors, definitely try my Gingerbread Crinkle Cookies, Gingerbread Cake, and Gingerbread Pancakes!Â
*Did you make this recipe? Please give it a star rating and leave comments below!* Post a photo of how your version of the recipe came out on Instagram (using #grandbabycakes)!!
pinterest 
facebook 
twitter 
email
Do I really need to use molasses in this recipe
Yes you definitely must.
Can I use molasses sugar instead of molasses
Looking delicious to me
I usually make gingerbread in a square pan. I am looking forward to making these cupcakes for Christmas!
Cupcakes looks delicious. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
The cupcakes look so pretty! I’m not sure my attempt would look anything similar, but I will be giving them a try! Sim x
You can do it!!
Thank you so much for sharing such a wonderful recipe.
This gingerbread tastes just like my grandma’s. If you don’t like molasses this may not be a good option for you, but I think it’s just how gingerbread should taste. Thanks for the wonderful recipe 🙂
I saw this and had to make it ASAP! So I did and made it exactly as written and it’s so good! BUT, first, it didn’t come out as dark as the picture, which could just be a matter of lighting when photographed. Also, I didn’t think the icing is very good. I tried to doctor it up with some Kahlua, which helped a bit, but not enough – all I can taste is the powdered sugar! I’ll make the cake again for sure but need to experiment with the icing, or even try a frosting with crystallized ginger and/or orange zest.
I always buy gingerbread so I am excited to make it rom scratch!
I am craving these cupcakes right now! Gingerbread desserts are my favorite!