The recipe and photos for this post were updated in October 2020.
What better way to begin celebrating the Christmas season than with these Gingerbread Cupcakes. Gingerbread flavour and gingerbread men just scream Christmas, they make me feel so festive and ready to curl up under a blanket on the sofa. I’ve infused these gingerbread cupcakes with ground ginger and mixed spice for that classic gingerbread flavour, as well as golden syrup and treacle. There’s also ground ginger in the buttercream for extra yum!
These Gingerbread Cupcakes are absolutely yummy and just looking at them makes me so excited for Christmas! They taste just like gingerbread biscuits in cupcake form, and they look super cute with the little men on top.
How to make Gingerbread Cupcakes…
I started by melting the butter, light brown sugar, black treacle and golden syrup together in a pan on a low heat. I let it cool for 5 minutes. In a mixing bowl I whisked together the eggs and milk. Then I added the melted butter mixture to the eggs, whisking as I poured
In another bowl I stirred together the self raising flour, ground ginger and mixed spice. Then I added the butter/egg mixture and whisked everything together well.
I seperated the mixture into cupcakes cases and then baked them until they were golden brown and risen.
Tips for making the Gingerbread Cupcakes:
- The little gingerbread men decorations I used are from a brand called Culpitt. I got them on Amazon. You could also decorate with small gingerbread biscuits, or crushed gingernuts.
- You can freeze the cupcakes and buttercream, either assembled or separately. Wrap them well, and freeze for up to 3 months.
- If you would like to make a this recipe into a cake, check out my Gingerbread Cake recipe!
- I used a Jem 1E nozzle to pipe on the buttercream.
Recommended equipment & ingredients*
| Cupcake tin | Electric hand mixer | Piping bags |
| Jem 1E Piping nozzle | Red foil cupcake cases | Gingerbread fondant toppers |
| Mixed spice |
*I earn a small amount of money if you buy the products after clicking on the links. You will not be charged anything extra for this. Thank you for supporting The Baking Explorer!
More Gingerbread recipes…
Gingerbread Cupcakes
Gingerbread sponge, gingerbread buttercream and fondant gingerbread men
Ingredients
For the cupcakes
- 100 g Butter or baking spread
- 100 g Light brown sugar
- 115 g Golden syrup
- 35 g Black treacle (also known as molasses)
- 2 Eggs large
- 125 ml Milk
- 200 g Self raising flour
- 1 tbsp Ground ginger
- 1 tsp Mixed spice
For the buttercream
- 200 g Butter
- 400 g Icing sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp Vanilla
- 1 1/2 tsp Ground ginger
- 1/2 tbsp Milk optional, if the buttercream needs loosening
For the decoration
- Gingerbread man fondant shapes optional
- Sprinkles optional
Instructions
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Pre-heat your oven to 160C Fan/180C/350F/Gas Mark 4, and line a cupcake tin with cases
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Melt the butter, golden syrup, light brown sugar and black treacle together in a pan on a low heat. Once it is all melted and combined, leave to cool for 10 minutes
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Whisk the eggs and milk together in a mixing bowl
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Slowly pour the butter and syrup mixture into the eggs, whisking as you pour, until everything is combined
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In another bowl, stir together the self raising flour, ground ginger and mixed spice
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Slowly pour the egg and butter mixture into the flour, whisking as your pour, until everything is combined
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Divide the mixture equally between the cupcakes cases
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Bake them for 20-25 minutes until they are golden brown or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean, remove them from the tin and place them on a cooling rack to cool down fully
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To make the buttercream use an electric hand mixer to beat together the butter, icing sugar, vanilla extract and ground ginger until smooth. You may need to add a splash of milk to loosen it, depending on the type of butter you use
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Pipe or spread the buttercream onto the cupcakes, then add gingerbread man icing shapes and sprinkles if desired
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Leftovers will keep in an airtight container in a cool place for 2-3 days
Recipe Notes
Mixed spice is a British spice blend containing Cinnamon, Coriander Seed, Nutmeg, Clove, Pimento, Ginger. If you can’t get hold of it, use a Pumpkin Spice mix instead
If you like this, check out more of my Cupcake recipes!
Or you might like my Christmas recipes!
Pin it for later!
Oh how so absolutely adorable. My son loves gingerbread men (we just had to watch the dvd & yes it is really a thing – totally different to the story with the fox!) I think these might have to appear at our afternoon tea next weekend! Thanks so much for sharing (& linking) to Fiesta Friday ☺
Thank you! I do hope you enjoy them 🙂
These are super cute and love the flavours of ginger and mixed spices. Perfect for the coming holidays… Thank you for sharing with FF. 🙂
Thank you Trupti! I agree, they are a perfect holiday bake.
These are just adoreable Kate! I couldn’t agree more – they really do shout out Christmas and festive yumminess 🙂 Thankyou so much for joining in with #BakingCrumbs again this month 🙂
Angela x
Thanks for hosting Angela!
These are so incredibly cute and sound like they would be delicious x
Thank you Cat!
So cute Kat! gorgeous Autumn flavours too. I love them and your piping always looks so perfect. x
Awh thank you Kate!
These cupcakes are so cute Kat – I adore the little gingerbread men on each one. I love a ginger cupcake or muffin or cake actually lol. A ginger cake is on my to do list funnily enough! Thank you for linking to #Bakeoftheweek x
Me too Jenny, I love anything gingerbread!
How cute are these! simply adorable. Im pinning for later
Thanks Jacqui!
Oh, my goodness! Ginger in the buttercream?! That sounds absolutely delicious. These do just scream Christmas. I love gingerbread and so does the hubster, so these are HAPPENING.
Thanks Michelle! Let me know what you think!
These incredibly festive gingerbread cupcakes are adorable, how could anyone resist. Commenting as BritMums Baking Round-up Editor. 🙂
Thank you so much Julie!
So cute!
Greets from Greece 🙂
https://dinamighty.com/
Thanks Dina!
These are adorable!!! Love love gingerbread any time of year but especially now and especially in cake form! YUM!
Thank you so much! Me too, I love gingerbread!
Hi Kat! These are adorable and they look super delicious! My fiancé loves anything gingerbread. I bet he’d love these! Thank you so much for sharing with us at Dishing It & Digging It & congratulations on being featured this week!
Thank you so much for featuring me!
Oh Kat what cute little cupcake toppers! These cakes sound so good, we all love gingerbread! Thank you for sharing with #CookBlogShare x
I couldn’t resist them! Thank you!
These cupcakes are seriously cute. Love gingerbread.
Thanks Jere!
these are really cute – never seen those sprinkles but would be so tempted if I did – and I love the way your used them on these cupcakes
hi there – i would love to try out your recipe! but im not sure if i know what golden syrup is, or mixed spice? could you help me out with those two? i dont live in the states and would have to hunt for those ingredients in my neck of the ….cant say woods…more like tropics – LOL!
Hi there! Mixed spice is a blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, ginger and mace. You could just put a 1/4 tsp of cinnamon, nutmeg and ground cloves instead. For the golden syrup you can use honey, maple syrup or corn syrup instead. I hope that helps!
I made these for my mum at Christmas and she loved them!
Aww that’s great, thank you!
Made these cakes today and they are DELICIOUS! Not too sweet, not too gingery. Perfect!
Made these at the weekend, they are incredible! So light and fluffy! Even my ginger skeptical husband loved them! Delicious! Great recipes from the baking explorer! I love your site, well done!
Thank you so much for the lovely feedback Emma! I’m so pleased you both enjoyed the cupcakes 😀
hi – love the recipe – can you freeze these cupcakes ? will they stand up to being defrosted and still be as yummy ?
Hi, yes you can freeze them with or without the buttercream 🙂