Gingerbread Cupcakes with Gingerbread Buttercream

Make delicious homemade gingerbread cupcakes with a fluffy gingerbread buttercream frosting topped with fresh ginger bread cookies.

If you’re looking for a delicious and festive treat to make this Christmas, look no further than these gingerbread cupcakes! The gingerbread buttercream is truly amazing, and will definitely satisfy your cravings for all things gingerbread. So go ahead and give these a try – they’ll be sure to put you in the Christmas spirit!

The gingerbread buttercream is deliciously spiced, and goes perfectly with the soft, fluffy cupcakes. If that isn’t enough gingerbread for you, we top them off with a festive gingerbread star cookie.

Whether you’re making these for a party or just to enjoy at home, they’re sure to impress!

About the Gingerbread Cupcake Recipe Ingredients:

Here’s what you’ll need to make and decorate the Gingerbread Cupcakes: 

• Flour: Use All-purpose flour or your favourite 1:1 flour. Spoon and level the flour when measuring it, otherwise you’ll wind up with dense cupcakes.
• Sugar: Use either light or dark brown sugar to sweeten things up, it also helps to add a little moisture into the cake.
• Spices: Make sure to use ground spices for this recipe.
• Baking soda: Helps the cupcakes rise in the oven. Make sure to test for effectiveness before using if you’ve had it longer than 6 months.
• Baking Powder: Also helps the cupcakes rise. Make sure to test for effectiveness before using if you’ve had it longer than 6 months.
• Salt: Balances out the flavor of the batter. 
• Eggs: Bring to room temperature before baking with eggs if possible. They mix better and the batter will rise better.
• Milk: I use buttermilk because it helps give the cake a more tender crumb, but feel free to use any milk you have on hand.
• Vanilla Extract: It adds fabulous flavour to the batter and helps to bring out the flavours of other ingredients too!
• Butter: Adds more flavour to the batter, and the dryness butter usually creates in cakes is balanced with the brown sugar and molasses.
• Molasses: Brings all that deep gingerbread flavour to the cake as well as some moisture.
• Frosting: I love the slightly spiced gingerbread buttercream used here but feel free to use use your favourite cream cheese frosting instead.
• Topper: I used my favourite homemade gingerbread cookies.

How to Store Cupcakes with Buttercream

It is very important to store cupcakes in the right way. If they are not stored properly, they will dry out and get ruined quickly. Fortunately, if you know what to do and how to store them, you’ll be able to save your delicious but hard-earned cupcake creations for much longer!

Frosted cupcakes are best stored in an airtight container on the counter. This will help keep them from drying out or becoming stale. You can also store cupcakes in the fridge, but they may not last as long as if they are stored at room temperature as they can dry out faster.

If you’re going to store your cupcakes in the fridge, it’s best to put them in an airtight container. Wait until they are completely cool before putting them in the fridge.

If you want to store them for a longer period of time, you can freeze them before frosting. Just make sure they are in an airtight container and that they are properly wrapped so they don’t get freezer burn. Thaw out on the counter overnight and then frost prior to serving.

Looking for More Tasty Christmas Dessert Recipes?

Check out some of the very best Christmas desserts!

This Festive Candy Cane Bundt Cake features a light and sweet peppermint cake with swirls of red smothered in a candy cane cream cheese frosting. It is such a pretty and perfectly seasonal Christmas cake.

My copycat recipe for the famous Lofthouse frosted sugar cookies. These soft and cakey cookies are a must have around Christmas time!

This peppermint cheesecake gets topped with crushed candy canes, real whipped cream and Ghirardelli chocolate to create a showstopping dessert.

How to Make Gingerbread Cupcakes with Gingerbread Buttercream

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup molasses
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground allspice

For the Gingerbread Buttercream:

1 cup Butter, softened
3 Cups Powdered Sugar
1 Tbsp Molasses
1/2 tsp ginger, ground

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners. Set aside.

Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar together in a large bowl.

Mix in the egg, molasses, and vanilla until combined.

In a medium-sized bowl, stir together the dry ingredients.

With the mixer on low speed, beat in half the dry ingredients. Mix until just combined and scrape down the sides.

Pour in the milk and then the last of the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.

Spoon the batter into the paper liners about 2/4 of the way full.

Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely before frosting.

Meanwhile, cream the butter then whip in molasses and ground ginger.

Mix in powdered sugar until well combined.

If buttercream is too thick thin it out with a little milk until you get your desired consistency.

Spread or pipe over cooled cupcakes.