These delicious gingerbread muffins are made with dried fruit for extra sweetness and texture, and come with an easy lemon icing. They are light, fluffy and moist and can be enjoyed throughout the holiday season for breakfast, snack or dessert.
For me gingerbread spices are an essential part of the holiday season and as Christmas is only a few weeks away I thought I’d share a simple recipe for gingerbread muffins.
Gingerbread muffins ingredients
These muffins do not contain treacle/molasses or honey. Instead I used a bit of cocoa (you won’t taste it), which along with the dark brown sugar and the spices give these festive muffins a lovely golden brown gingerbread colour.
The addition of the dried fruit means that I didn’t have to add too much sugar so these muffins are not overly sweet. I also used low fat milk and a moderate amount of oil so this gingerbread muffin recipe is also quite low in fat.
Step-by-step recipe instructions
1.Preheat the oven to 375 F/ 190 C and lightly grease or line a 12-hole muffin pan with paper cases. In a bowl combine the flours, sugars, baking powder, spices, cocoa and pinch of salt. Whisk together until thoroughly combined.
2. Stir in the dried fruit.
3. In another bowl whisk together the eggs, milk, oil and vanilla until well combined.
4. Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and stir just to combine. Do not overstir.
5. Spoon the batter into the muffin cases and bake in the centre of the oven for 26-28 minutes.
6. Remove from the oven and set aside for 5 minutes then transfer onto a rack.
7. In the meantime prepare the icing. Combine the icing sugar with the lemon juice and stir until smooth. Pour over the muffins (once they’ve cooled a little). Enjoy!
Top tips for making gingerbread muffins
- Gingerbread spices: Use either mixed spice (UK) or pumpkin spice (US) along with the ground ginger and cocoa.
- Batter: Do not overstir the batter as the muffins may be a little flat. Stop stirring when all the ingredients have been incorporated.
- Serving suggestions: I like these muffins with a drizzle of lemon icing but it’s optional. You can also dust them with powdered sugar but they are delicious on their own, too.
- Best served warm on the day. Store leftover muffins in a plastic container to enjoy later. Pop in the microwave for a few seconds before serving, if possible.
- Freeze for up to 3 months.
Substitutions
- Dried fruit: I used a combination of raisins, sultanas, currants and cranberries but you can just use one type of fruit.
- Dark brown sugar: You can use light brown sugar instead.
- Icing: Substitute orange for lemon juice if preferred. You can omit the icing altogether.
- Cacao: Use cocoa powder instead.
You might also like
- Dried Cranberry Muffins with Pecans
- Polish Gingerbread Loaf (Piernik) Recipe
- Healthy Fruit Cake Tray Bake with Nuts
- Blood Orange Muffins
Check out also this collection of 27 cacao recipes.
Keep in touch!
If you make these spiced gingerbread muffins I’d love to know how they turned out for you. Let me know in the comments below, thanks!
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Gingerbread Muffins with Dried Fruit
Equipment
- 12-hole muffin pan
Ingredients
- 180 g flour (1½ cups)
- 100 g almond flour/ground almonds (1 cup)
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 3 tsp mixed spice/pumpkin spice
- 1½ tsp ground ginger
- 140 g dried fruit sultanas, raisins, currants, cranberries (1 cup)
- 70 g dark brown soft sugar (⅓ cups)
- 60 g granulated sugar (¼ cups)
- 1⅓ tbsp cocoa/cacao powder
- Pinch of fine sea salt
- 2 large eggs
- 70 ml vegetable oil
- 240 ml semi-skimmed milk/1% milk
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste/extract
For the icing
- 7 tbsp icing sugar/powdered sugar
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 F/190 C/ gas mark 5 and lightly grease a 12-hole muffin pan or line with paper cases. In a bowl combine the flours, sugars, baking powder, spices, cocoa and pinch of salt. Whisk together until thoroughly combined. Stir in the dried fruit.
- In another bowl whisk together the eggs, milk, oil and vanilla until well combined. Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and stir just to combine. Do not overstir.
- Spoon the batter into the muffin cases and bake in the centre of the oven for 26-28 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside for 5 minutes then transfer onto a rack.
- In the meantime prepare the icing. Combine the icing sugar with the lemon juice and stir until smooth. Pour over the muffins (once they’ve cooled a little). Enjoy!
Notes
- Gingerbread spices: Use either mixed spice (UK) or pumpkin spice (US) along with the ground ginger and cocoa.
- Batter: Do not overstir the batter as the muffins may be a little flat. Stop stirring when all the ingredients have been incorporated.
- Dried fruit: I used a combination of raisins, sultanas, currants and cranberries but you can just use one of these.
- Serving suggestions: I like these muffins with a little icing on top but it’s optional. You can also dust them with powdered sugar but they are delicious on their own, too.
- Best served warm on the day. Store leftover muffins in a plastic container to enjoy later. Pop in the microwave for a few seconds before serving, if possible.
- Freeze for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
*Nutritional information is automatically generated and should be considered as an estimate.
**A note about baking: If using a fan-assisted oven refer to your appliance's instructions and adjust the temperature accordingly.
The recipe does not give a quantity of dried fruit to use
Sorry about that, fixed it now! Thanks for letting me know.
These muffins sound really festive and a perfect winter treat with a cup of steaming hot chocolate. I can almost taste them now. thank you for linking to #CookBlogShare
I love gingerbread too especially this time of year! And the bonus of making the house smell lovely too.
Cheers, Michelle
Oh I am sold on anything gingerbread! Your muffins look fab
Thank you Kat!
Yunm!
Thanks!