I have a touch of holiday magic for you today in the form of Pumpkin Gingerbread Muffins! Marvelously moist with tender centers and crunchy sugar tops, these splendid muffins offer the best of two all-star holiday flavors.
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This recipe is sponsored by Land O’Lakes.
Pumpkin is a celebrity flavor whose tenure starts earlier and earlier each year, and for good reason. Its familiar cozy flavor and natural moisture make it a versatile gem in wholesome baking recipes ranging from Healthy Pumpkin Cookies to Healthy Pumpkin Muffins to Pumpkin Sheet Cake with Greek Yogurt Cream Cheese Frosting.
Gingerbread, however, is a late bloomer. It’s not until December that I see recipes like these Gingerbread Muffins and my all-time favorite Chocolate Ginger Cookies pop into popularity.
A lover of gingerbread’s intensity—there’s something refreshing about a flavor that’s up-front and there’s certainly nothing subtle about gingerbread’s spiciness and warmth—I always find the delay a bit of a shame.
Perhaps, I thought, pumpkin can ease us all into it.
Pumpkin + Gingerbread – A Match Made in Holiday Heaven
Combining pumpkin and gingerbread turned out to be one of the very best baking decisions I’ve made!
The innate subtly of pumpkin (pumpkin is actually pretty bland until you add the spices) is the ideal counterpoint to the spicy intensity of gingerbread. If there were a flavor dating app, surely these two would have been a swipe right.
I shared these muffins with a friend, and her feedback was that the balance was exactly 50/50 between pumpkin and gingerbread and she wouldn’t change a thing; not a fraction of a teaspoon of spice is misplaced.
Whether straight-up gingerbread hasn’t been your thing, you happen to love both pumpkin AND gingerbread, and the idea of not having to choose appeals to you, or you are looking for a stellar holiday breakfast recipe, these pumpkin gingerbread muffins will be a holiday gift to you!
How to Make Pumpkin Gingerbread Muffins
These muffins are made with simple, wholesome ingredients including whole grains and pure maple syrup.
The batter is easy going – you won’t even need to bust out the mixer!
The Ingredients
- Pumpkin. The first half of our holiday flavor tango. While it may not be a flavor powerhouse on its own, once combined with the molasses and spices, it shines.
- Molasses. The key to the signature gingerbread flavor. Molasses adds a rich, sweet warmth that’s full of flavor. Make sure to use regular molasses here (usually labeled “unsulphered”), as blackstrap will be too bitter.
- . My favorite butter for its quality, taste, and value for the price. I stock the convenient half-stick size most often. It’s ideal for smaller batch cooking and recipes like these muffins, where a lesser amount of butter is needed.
In addition to loving the way the butter tastes and its simple ingredient list, I appreciate that Land O’Lakes is a co-op, meaning the company is owned by its dairy farmers (more than 1,700 of them!). I also think it’s fantastic that the company has made highlighting female farmers a priority (fun fact: 30% of dairy farming in the U.S. is done by women). You can learn more about their farmer-owners here.
- Flour. I found that a mixture of all-purpose flour and white whole wheat flour worked perfectly here. You are getting whole grain benefits, and the muffins stay nice and fluffy.
- Spices. A combination of ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves adds cozy spice to these muffins. The spices truly take their flavor to the next level.
- Maple Syrup. Wonderful in its natural sweetness and the way it pairs with molasses.
- Sparkling Sugar. A beautiful way to finish these muffins! The crunchy tops are worth devouring all on their own.
The Directions
- Stir the dry ingredients together in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another.
- Combine the dry and wet ingredients.
- Stir until the flour disappears.
- Pour the batter into the wells of a muffin pan, then sprinkle sparkling sugar over the tops.
- Bake at 375 degrees F for 20 to 22 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes, then DIG IN!
Storage Tips
- To Store. Store muffins at room temperature for up to 5 days in an airtight storage container lined with paper towels.
- To Freeze. Freeze muffins in an airtight, freezer-safe storage container for up to 3 months. Thaw and enjoy as desired.
Tip!
For additional muffin storage tips and tricks, check out my post on How to Store Muffins.
Serve Your Muffins With
With pumpkin, deep gingerbread spice, and everything nice, these do-it-all muffins are the total (holiday) package!
Pumpkin Gingerbread Muffins
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Ingredients
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup white whole wheat flour or additional all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 cup pumpkin purée not pumpkin pie filling
- ½ cup pure maple syrup
- ½ cup unsulphured molasses do not use blackstrap; it will be too bitter
- ¼ cup Land O Lakes® Unsalted Butter in Half-Sticks melted and cooled to room temperature
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons coarse sparkling sugar or turbinado sugar
Instructions
- Place a rack in the center of your oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly coat a standard 12-cup muffin pan with nonstick spray.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, white whole wheat flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. In a separate, larger mixing bowl, stir together the pumpkin puree, maple syrup, molasses, melted butter, and eggs until well blended.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, then by hand with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, stir very gently to combine; stop as soon as the flour disappears. The batter will seem loose and a little lumpy.
- Divide the batter among the muffin cups, filling them no more than 3/4 of the way to the top. Sprinkle the tops of each muffin with 1/2 teaspoon sparkling sugar.
- Bake the muffins for 20 to 22 minutes, until the tops spring back lightly when touched and a tester inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Place the muffin pan on a wire rack and let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Carefully remove the muffins from the pan and transfer to the rack to cool completely. These taste even better as they rest. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- TO STORE: Store muffins at room temperature for up to 5 days in an airtight storage container lined with paper towels.
- TO FREEZE: Freeze muffins in an airtight, freezer-safe storage container for up to 3 months. Thaw and enjoy as desired.
Nutrition
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I am sharing this post in partnership with Land O’Lakes. As always, all opinions are my own. Thanks for supporting the brands and companies that make it possible for me to continue to create quality content for you!
Just reviewed these and I accidentally misspelled my email! :-((
Hi Susie! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this kind review!
Didn’t have whole wheat flour. Considered using Rye flour as an alternative, but wound up going with 1.5 cups of All-purpose in the end.
These are incredible! Flavor, texture…, Exactly what I hoped it would be.
Hi Mathew! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this kind review!
I loved how filling yet still light and full of nutrition this soup was!!
Super great:) I will recommend it to others for sure!
Yay, thank you Cecelia!
I love pumpkin muffins and I adore gingerbread. These muffins are a match made in heaven! I made them today, my house smells amazing ! My husband took one bite and put his stamp of approval on these muffins! Adding to my rotation of muffin recipes!
Thanks El!!
Wow. I make a lot of various muffin/sweet bread recipes & this truly exceeded my expectations. I prefer less sweet muffins so did decrease the maple syrup to 1/3 cup & can likely reduce to 1/4; however, these turned out incredibly flavorful & tender. Thank you!!
Great to hear! Thank you Nancy!
It’s only September 1st, but I had a craving gingerbread. I also try to find healthy recipes so I can make mini-muffins – these work out wonderfully to include in my son’s lunchbox or for a snack.
These have a wonderful gingerbread “bite” to them. The only change I made was using a mini-muffin pan, and baked them for 14 minutes at a little bit above 350. I may also cut the maple syrup a tad (any idea how much of the syrup can be cut without changing the recipe too much?).
Thanks for the recipe – it’s a keeper!
So glad to hear you enjoyed the muffins, Aliya! Thanks for the feedback on making them mini. As far as the syrup, you’d have to play around with it, I’ve only tested the recipe as is!
Loved these. Made exactly as stated. Very moist and flavorful
Thank you Judy!