In the early tests of this recipe, I was working towards a gingerbread cake with spiced cashew whipped cream and segments of poached pear on top. The more I made it though, the more I wanted this to become an everyday sort of treat to enjoy with coffee (perhaps a maple sea salt latte?). With a few adjustments, the dark and warmly spiced batter transitioned beautifully to muffins.
Molasses makes for a very moist batter. Knowing this, I cut about half of the total flour with 100% whole wheat flour. The nutty edge is lovely and adds a little bit of heft to these easy gingerbread muffins. I love warm spices paired with orange, so zest and juice go in too. Lastly, I couldn’t just do a plain cake muffin–that’s not my style! If I can clutter up a recipe, I will every time. Frozen cranberries are folded in right before baking for little juicy and tart pops in every bite.
I use and recommend fancy molasses for these muffins and any treat that calls for molasses on my site. It is also labelled as “Light” or “First” molasses. You could get away with using either “Dark” or “Cooking Molasses.” Both are slightly more intense in flavor, thicker, and not quite as sweet.
These are a nice baked treat to make ahead of time. An indulgent grab and go breakfast! Of course they’re best when fresh, but the muffins stay tender and moist for up to 5 days in a tin or wrapped up in foil.
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Moist Gingerbread Muffins with Cranberries (Vegan)
Ingredients
- 1 cup + 3 tablespoons (143 grams) all-purpose flour, divided
- 1 cup (113 grams) whole wheat flour
- 1½ teaspoons ground ginger
- 1½ teaspoons cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1½ teaspoons baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons (75 grams) neutral oil, such as sunflower
- ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons (117 grams) maple syrup
- ¾ cup (255 grams) fancy molasses
- 2 tablespoons (28 grams) non-dairy milk
- 1 tablespoon orange zest (from roughly 1 medium orange)
- 2 tablespoons (28 grams) fresh orange juice
- ½ cup (114 grams) boiling water
- 1 heaping cup (110 grams) whole frozen cranberries, not thawed (plus extra for garnishing)
Notes
- Fresh cranberries will also work in this recipe.
- I use fancy molasses from the Crosby’s brand. This is the lightest molasses variety available. You could also use “dark” or “cooking molasses,” which is a mixture of light and blackstrap. I do not recommend using 100% blackstrap molasses–the flavor is too strong and bitter.
- I like using baking spray for muffin tins. This is a product that contains oil and flour. I find that when I use this (rather than oil alone or paper liners), the muffins puff up a bit more.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line the cups of a muffin tin with paper liners or grease with baking spray.
- In a large bowl, whisk together 1 cup + 2 tablespoons (135 grams) of the all-purpose flour, all of the whole wheat flour, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the oil, maple syrup, molasses, non-dairy milk, orange zest and orange juice until smooth and combined.
- Add the wet mixture to the dry and whisk until combined. Avoid overmixing.
- Add the boiling water and whisk until smooth and unified.
- Let the batter rest for 10 minutes so that it thickens slightly.
- In a small bowl, quickly toss the cranberries with the remaining tablespoon of flour. Then, gently fold the cranberries into the batter.
- Divide the batter among the 12 muffin cups. Place a few extra cranberries on top of the muffins if you like.
- Bake 25-28 minutes, until the tops spring back and a tester comes out clean.
- Let the muffins cool completely before removing from the pan.
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