Gingerbread Muffins with cashew cream
Warm-spiced soft muffins topped with a delectable and creamy cashew cream cheese frosting, these gingerbread muffins are the answer to your seasonal cravings. With every bite of this soft and fluffy muffin, you will get a mouthful of delightful warm spices like ginger cinnamon, and cloves. Try it for the perfect holiday breakfast.
Breakfast can’t get better with some soft gingerbread muffins this time of the year. Who’s ready for all the gingerbread goodies?!
From gingerbread cookies to gingerbread loaf… my favorite way to pair gingerbread anything is with my cashew cream cheese frosting.
The slightly sweet, tangy, and creamy frosting is the perfect complement to the warm spices in gingerbread muffins.
I seriously just can’t get enough.
Even better? These gingerbread muffins are filled with clean, wholesome ingredients making them perfect for any time of the day… Dessert for breakfast anyone?
Shhh, I won’t tell if you don’t.
Ingredients Needed for Gingerbread Muffins
You only need a handful of simple ingredients for this gingerbread muffin recipe, and all of the ingredients can easily be found at a local grocery store.
Whole Wheat Muffin Ingredients:
- Whole wheat flour (can use a 1:1 ratio of gluten free flour instead)
- Baking powder
- Almond butter (smooth)
- Blackstrap molasses
- Apple sauce or pumpkin puree
- Dairy-free milk (any milk that you prefer)
Gingerbread Spices:
These spices are what really makethe gingerbread muffins come alive so I highly recommend using all of them for the perfect gingerbread spice.
- Cinnamon
- Clove
- Ginger
- Nutmeg
Cream Cheese Frosting:
I used my tried-and-true vegan cashew cream cheese frosting to layer on top of these muffins and it did NOT disappoint.
This frosting is so versatile and you can add it to so many things so feel free to make extra!
How to Make Wholewheat Gingerbread Muffins
First, pour the molasses into a microwave-safe bowl and warm in the microwave for 20-30 seconds.
It’s important to gently heat up the molasses because it’s fairly thick and needs to thin out to properly combine with the other ingredients.
Thinning out the molasses also helps to prevent a dense muffin. (Thanks to the tip from Sally’s Baking Addiction).
Next, in the same bowl as the molasses, add the almond butter, apple sauce and milk. Mix until thoroughly combined.
Then, in a separate bowl, mix the whole wheat flour, baking powder, cinnamon, clove, ginger and nutmeg.
Gently combine wet and dry ingredients with a spatula, being careful not to over-mix.
Line a muffin pan and fill each muffin cup with batter, almost to the top.
Bake at 350 F for 15 minutes. Stick a toothpick into the center to check for doneness.
The toothpick will come out clean when muffins are ready.
Allow muffins to completely cool before frosting.
If muffins are still warm the cashew cream cheese frosting will melt.
Variations of These Gingerbread Muffins
.This gingerbread muffin recipe serves as a great base recipe for you to develop your own creations!
Some ways to switch things up:
- Chocolate chips
- Raisins
- Nuts
- Lemon glaze
- Butter rum toffee
- Whipped cream
- Crumble topping
- Powdered sugar
You can really dress these up however you like!
How to Store these Wholewheat Muffins
Great news! There’s several ways to store these yummy gingerbread muffins so you can choose whichever you prefer.
If you’d like to keep them on the counter in a cute little display they can last for 2-3 days.
If you need to keep them longer, storing them in an airtight container in the fridge will keep them in good shape for up to 7 days.
This recipe also freezes well!
If you wish to make extra and store them for later, you can store them in the freezer without the frosting. When you’re ready to eat them just pull them from the freezer to thaw and frost them after.
Note: make sure muffins are completely cooled before storing in the fridge or freezer.
What’s your favorite way to eat gingerbread? Leave a comment below!.
I LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOUR CREATIONS! YOU CAN USE “TRIED IT” ON PINTEREST OR SHARE ON INSTAGRAM BY TAGGING #SHUANGYSEATS
Get the recipe:Gingerbread Muffins with Cream Cheese Frosting {Vegan}
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup black strap molasses, warm]
- 1/3 cup smooth almond butter
- 3/4 cup dairy free milk
- 1/2 cup apple sauce *
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour **
- 1/3 cup coconut sugar***
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ginger
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp clove
Cashew Cream Frosting
- 1 1/2 cup raw cashews
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup canned coconut milk, the top part****
- 2 – 3 tbsp coconut oil, melted and cooled
Equipment
Instructions
- Gingerbread Muffins
- Pour the molasses into a microwave-safe bowl and warm in the microwave for 20-30 seconds.
- In the same bowl with the molasses, add the almond butter, apple sauce, apple cider vinegar, and dairy-free milk. Mix until thoroughly combined.
- In a separate bowl, mix the whole wheat flour, coconut sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, clove, ginger, and nutmeg.
- Gently combine wet and dry ingredients with a spatula, being careful not to over-mix.
- Line a muffin pan and fill each muffin cup with batter, almost to the top.
- Bake at 350 F for 15 – 17 minutes. Stick a toothpick into the center to check for doneness. The toothpick will come out clean when muffins are ready.
- Allow muffins to completely cool before frosting with the cashew cream cheese.
- Cashew Cream Frosting – Find the Full Recipe in this Post.
Notes
- * You can also use pumpkin puree if you don’t have apple sauce in hand (I know everyone is probably more stocked up on pumpkin puree this time of the year)
- ** For a gluten-Free option, substitute for Gluten-Free Flour by 1:1 Ratio.
- *** Use 1/2 cup coconut sugar if you prefer sweeter muffins.
- **** For the best result and thickness of the cashew cream frosting, leave canned coconut milk in the fridge overnight. Scoop out and use the top thick part of the coconut milk.
- General Baking Tip: Make sure your oven temperature is accurate, a lot of times, ovens take extra 10 minutes to reach the set temperature after "beeping" that they are ready. Or use an oven thermometer. In this recipe, 15 minutes is enough to give the gingerbread muffins soft, tender, and just the right texture.
- The nutrition facts below do not include the cashew cream cheese frosting. You can find the nutrition facts for the recipe Here.
The Nutrition Facts above are specific to the ingredients I chose to use for this recipe, which may vary.
Hi 🙂
Not sure if I did something wrong or not- but the texture for these muffins was abit gooey?! I added more baking time and still not a great texture.
I was expecting a spongy muffin texture.
I followed the recipe exactly so not sure where I went wrong.
Hi Tania, I’m so sorry to hear that! There are a lot of factors to take into consideration. But since you said that you followed the instructions and even left them in for additional time my best guess is that the baking powder was old or that the oven was too cold. However, these muffins do not have the same texture as a “regular” muffin that’s made with butter, eggs, and all-purpose flour. Once again, I’m sorry you weren’t satisfied. All the best, Emmelie
We are allergic to nuts and dairy- could you sub another dairy free spread like Earth Balance for the butter? Thanks!
Hi Annie,
Yes you can definitely use any vegan butter. My favorite brand to use for this recipe is Miyokos but I think Earth Balance would work just fine 🙂 Happy Thanksgiving!
Shuang
In the recipe for the frosting, you wrote 2-3 coconut oil, is that 2-3 tablespoons?
Hi Nazifa,
2 – 3 tbsp. Just edited it. Thank you for pointing it out 🙂
Shuang