Cranberry Gingerbread Muffins

A Christmas muffin split open on a plate, served with butter.

5 from 1 vote

Cranberry Gingerbread Muffins

Learn how to make the best gingerbread muffins with this easy recipe. These Christmas muffins are flavoured with molasses, gingerbread spices, and cranberries for a lovely snack or Christmas breakfast treat.

Prep Time25

Cook Time25

Total Time50

Course: Snack

Cuisine: American

Servings: muffins

Calories: 289kcal

Author: Janice Lawandi

Equipment

Ingredients

250 grams bleached all-purpose flour
150 grams granulated sugar
10 mL baking powder
5 mL ground cinnamon
2.5 mL baking soda
2.5 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
2.5 mL ground ginger
2.5 mL ground nutmeg
1.25 mL ground cloves
155 grams unsalted butter
125 mL sour cream (14% fat)
125 grams Fancy molasses
2 large egg(s)
5 mL pure vanilla extract
180 grams fresh cranberries or frozen

Metric - US

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375℉ (190 ℃). Line a 12-cup muffin pan (or two 6-cup muffin pans) with paper liners (or silicone, or butter and flour to prevent sticking). Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the melted butter, sour cream, molasses, eggs, and vanilla. Whisk until smooth.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices. Set aside.
Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and stir just until combined.
Fold the cranberries into the batter. The batter will be thick.
Divide the Christmas muffin batter among the paper-lined muffin pans.
Bake until puffed and set. A cake tester inserted into the middle (not through the berries) should come out clean. This takes about 25 minutes.
Serve warm with salted butter or let cool to store.

Notes

Equipment: I like to use a Danish dough whisk to mix muffin batters. To line the muffin pans, you can use paper liners or silicone. Alternatively, you can butter and flour the muffin cups instead.

Variations:

Molasses—use a light baking molasses or black treacle (if in Europe).
Cranberries—fresh or frozen will work here. If using frozen, incorporate them into the batter when still frozen. Dried cranberries also work!
Sour cream—full-fat Greek yogurt can also work in this recipe.
Spices—you can replace the mix of spices with pumpkin pie spice mix, gingerbread spice mix, or even apple pie spice mix.
Chocolate—add white chocolate chips or chopped white chocolate to the muffin batter. Dark chocolate may also work if you prefer.
This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!

Storage: You can store these moist muffins for 3–4 days in an airtight container, but I prefer to freeze them when they are freshly baked (cooled completely) to keep them fresh.

Defrosting instructions: If you want to defrost frozen muffins, you have a few options depending on how much time you have: in the fridge overnight, unwrapped to avoid moisture buildup on the surface of the muffin tops; at room temperature for a few hours, unwrapped to avoid moisture buildup on the surface of the muffin tops; in the microwave oven: place the unwrapped muffin on a napkin or a microwave-safe plate. Microwave on HIGH for about 30 seconds for each muffin. The time and results will vary according to the power of your microwave, but this is definitely the fastest method to defrost muffins.

Nutrition