Santa is sure to visit your house this season with a plate of these Gluten Free Gingerbread Cupcakes waiting his arrival! Make them extra special with a buttery graham cracker crust and cinnamon molasses cream cheese frosting.
Are ya’ll having a holly jolly Christmas yet?! I sure hope so. Despite the chaos, clutter, craziness of the holidays, there is nothing better than Christmas music, a plateful of Christmas goodies, and some of your favorite people snuggled up by your side.
I give that description as if this is my house during the holiday season. Nope; it’s not. Despite what you may think, it ain’t no Hallmark holiday special over here during the month of December. This is how our “holly jolly” holiday season has panned out so far:
- I broke my toe on Thanksgiving. You can read all about that fun misfortune on my previous post. No need to bore you again with that story, although I will say that my poor toe has graduated from sore and throbbing to just achy and occasionally numb…not sure if that is normal or not. Oh well.
- I’ve mopped my kitchen about half a dozen times. Apparently when your kids help you make 500 dozen Christmas goodies, layers of powdered sugar, dried egg whites, and splotches of greasy butter become the new finish on your floor.
- The hatchback door on my car broke which made for some sketchy Christmas deliveries. We had to put all the seats down and shove platefuls of Christmas goodies to the back from the side doors. Braelyn cruised around with no seat belt (or even seat, nonetheless) corralling the goodies as we ran a muck through the neighborhood.
- My children and husband continue to remind me that despite it being festive to join in with the Christmas stations, I should still NEVER ever sing.
- After an excruciating ten hours of Christmas decorating, which included hanging Christmas lights, we shorted out the most important strand of colored lights on our roof. We replaced it and immediately shorted out another strand. It looks like only half our house will be lit this season because I’m totally over it. Also, I already used up my nine lives hanging lights on the roof in the first place, so I’m not about to go up there again! Let’s not push my mediocre lucky streak any further.
- I finally got Christmas cards ordered. Yes, this sounds positive. However, the one and only decent picture of our family wouldn’t upload. Santa, please bring me a new computer! Not only were there issues with the pictures, but I couldn’t think of a single exciting thing to say about myself. Ordering Christmas cards quickly turned into a depressing pity party and a possible midlife crisis on my end.
- The parental joys of having THREE elves on the shelf have begun. Enough said.
I’m telling you, the holiday season can be a doozy! No wonder so many people tend to get boozy. Hehe. See that rhyme I did there? But seriously, you can’t blame them. Since I don’t drink alcohol, my idea of getting boozy is busting out the ice cream or sipping on some hot cocoa. I’m pretty sure ice cream and chocolate serve the same purpose as a glass…or bottle…of wine.
Regardless of all the mishaps that are bound to happen during the most inconvenient times of the holiday rush, I still can’t help but fall in love with the season. Whether or not I’ve passed out all my Christmas goodies, hung up the holiday lights, attended every seasonal social gathering, or sent out the perfect Christmas card, I can always rely on the spirit of Christmas to bring joy to my life. Here are my REAL favorites of Christmas:
- The constant reminder that Jesus Christ is the savior and redeemer of the world.
- The wonder in my children’s eyes when they experience the magic of Christmas.
- The cooler weather. Hey, we’re from Phoenix and I would be lying if I didn’t look forward to some cooler months each year.
- The opportunity to serve. Our church focuses on lighting the world every holiday season and it’s so inspiring to see people of different faiths unite together to change the world.
- The delicious food! I’ll be honest, besides the obvious spiritual celebration of Christmas, the holidays are all about sharing goodies with friends and family. I’ve given mine, now I’m just waiting to receive!!!
Ben keeps stating in awe that I have really been on top of my holiday game this year. I’m not sure if I’m supposed to be offended that he’s acting so surprised. He couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw nearly two dozen plates full of Christmas goodies ready to be delivered this past week. Don’t underestimate this baking beast over here!
Anyway, of all the Christmas goodies I made during this first round of deliveries, I have to say that these Gluten Free Gingerbread Cupcakes were my favorite.
Now, embarrassing as it was, I later discovered that these cupcakes were a bit crumbly after we made our deliveries. FAIL!!! Bummer, I was so mad. They were delicious out of the oven. I’m pretty sure I may have slightly over baked them, didn’t use enough xanthan gum, or they sat out too long before delivery.
But, regardless of if these were the issues, I reworked the recipe and came up with these perfectly moist, new and improved gluten free gingerbread cupcakes. It seems as though another round of deliveries will be in my near future…
These gluten free gingerbread cupcakes are a Christmas dream come true. I’m not a big fan of gingersnaps or gingerbread, but give me ALL the ginger molasses cookies. They are one of my favorites! These cupcakes capture all the wonderful flavors of gingerbread into one scrumptious, festive cupcake.
Besides the gingerbread cupcake itself being simply satisfying, the addition of a holiday spiced graham cracker crust and cinnamon molasses cream cheese frosting takes these cupcakes over the top. They really are the poster child for the perfect holiday treat.
You can even bake some of the graham cracker crust separately and sprinkle it on top of the frosting in lieu of traditional sprinkles. Or go simple and dust the tops with cinnamon and coarse sugar. Either way the recipients of these gluten free gingerbread cupcakes will be thrilled.
Although you can leave the molasses out of this recipe, I highly recommend buying some for the full effect. It gives such a rich, deep, distinct flavor to the cake and frosting that you can’t quite get with brown sugar alone. Seriously, get ready to lick your lips with this recipe!
So, if you haven’t already delivered Christmas goodies (most people haven’t), consider adding these to your holiday line up. You and your friends won’t be sorry…well, you’ll be sorry once they’re gone.
YOU MIGHT ALSO ENJOY…
- Gluten Free Ginger Molasses Cookies
- Gluten Free Vegan Gingerbread Muffins
- Gluten Free Honey Orange Ginger Cheesecake
- Gluten Free Chewy Ginger Cookies
- Gingerbread Oatmeal Pancakes
- For the crust:
- 1¾ cups crushed gluten free graham crackers (I used Schar brand, a little more than a full box)
- ¼ cup dark brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ⅛ teaspoon allspice
- dash of salt
- 7 tablespoons butter, melted
- For the cupcakes:
- 2 sticks butter, room temperature (1 cup)
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3 tablespoons molasses (recommended) or pure maple syrup (or you can use an extra ¼ cup of packed brown sugar instead)*
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon allspice
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- 1¼ teaspoons xanthan gum (only if your gluten free flour blend doesn't already contain a gum)
- 2⅔ cups high quality gluten free flour blend or my preferred blend (2/3 cup white rice flour, ⅔ cup brown rice flour, ⅔ cup gluten free oat flour, ⅔ cup potato starch)
- 1 cup milk (I used 2%)
- For the frosting:
- 8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 stick butter, room temperature (1/2 cup or 4 oz.)
- dash of salt
- 2 teaspoons molasses (or pure maple syrup)*
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- dash of allspice
- 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream or milk
- 4-5 cups powdered sugar
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners and set aside.
- Begin making graham cracker crust. Mix together graham cracker crumbs, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and salt until evenly combined. Pour in melted butter and mix until crumbs are all moistened. Add about a tablespoon of mixture to each cupcake liner and gently press down to fill bottom of liner. Set aside.
- Begin making cupcake batter. In a large mixing bowl or stand mixer, beat together butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating for 30 seconds after each addition and scraping down sides of the bowl as needed. Add vanilla and molasses and mix until combined.
- In a separate mixing bowl, sift together salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ground ginger, allspice, nutmeg, xanthan gum (if needed), and gluten free flour (or my preferred blend).
- Alternate adding dry ingredients and milk into cupcake batter in three batches, beating until smooth each time. Once incorporated, beat on high for 1 minute, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.
- Fill cupcakes liners ⅔ way full and bake, one tray at a time, for 22-24 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center of cupcakes comes out clean with very few moist crumbs.
- Remove cupcakes from oven and set on cooling rack for 3-5 mins. Gently remove cupcakes from pan and continue cooling directly on rack until completely cooled.
- While cupcakes are cooling, begin making frosting. In a large mixing bowl or stand mixer, beat together cream cheese and butter. Add salt, molasses, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and 2 cups of powdered sugar. Beat until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add heavy cream or milk and beat until smooth. Add additional 2 cups powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Add remaining 1 cup of powdered sugar if desired to achieve thicker piping consistency. More powdered sugar will result in a thicker frosting.
- Once cupcakes are completely cooled, pipe frosting and decorate. Store cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, in fridge for up to 1 week, or in freezer for up to 3 months. Allow cupcakes to come to room temperature before serving.
