Classic Gingerbread Muffins #MuffinMonday

Cinnamon, ginger, cloves and molasses give these classic gingerbread muffins their traditional flavor. Tender and light, they make a perfect snack or breakfast.

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate! 

This month’s Muffin Monday snuck up on me! I was certain that there was one more Monday next week still in December. When I realized I was wrong, I knew immediately that I wanted to make gingerbread muffins. I love the wonderful aroma when gingerbread is baking. It smells like Christmas to me. 

Classic Gingerbread Muffins

This recipe makes 15 regular sized muffins. If you don't have a nine cup muffin pan, I suggest you use a 12-cup and a six cup. Simply add a half cup of water to the empty cups when baking to keep the heat distribution even. 

Ingredients

2 ½ cups or 313g all-purpose flour

1 ½ teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

½ teaspoon ground cloves

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup or 113g unsalted butter, softened

½ cup or 100g white sugar

1 large egg

1 cup or 240ml unsulphured molasses (not blackstrap)

1 cup or 240ml hot water

Optional for serving: a sprinkle of icing sugar

Method

Preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C. Prepare 9-cup and 6-cup muffin pans by greasing them or lining them with paper muffin cups. 

Whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and salt in a large bowl.

In another mixing bowl, whisk the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the egg and whisk again. 

Whisk in the molasses until smooth and homogeneous.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and fold until almost completely combined. 

There may still be a little flour showing. Whisk in the hot water until smooth.

Divide the batter between the muffin cups in your prepared pans. 

Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes. Insert a toothpick in the center of a muffin at 20 minutes; it should come out clean. If not, cook for a few additional minutes.

Allow the gingerbread muffins to cool before serving. 

Sprinkle with a little icing sugar, if desired, to serve.

Enjoy! 

Welcome to the last Muffin Monday for 2023! Check out the links below:

• Buttermilk Herb and Fontina Cheese Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Classic Gingerbread Muffins from Food Lust People Love
• Honey Yogurt Muffins from Palatable Pastime

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all of our lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday can be found on our home page.

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Rough Puff Pain au Chocolat #BreadBakers

These rough puff pain au chocolat beauties are so much easier than regular puff pastry but still have the requisite flaky layers we all love so much.

When our host for this month’s Bread Baker event chose laminated dough as our theme, I really hoped to have time to make actual puff pastry. It’s something my son-in-law used to make and, in true Dai fashion, he made it look easy. I know it wasn't!

Time got away from me, as it does to most of us this time of year so I resorted to rough puff yeast dough. No regrets though. It was delicious. 

Rough Puff Pain au Chocolat

If you have access to the special chocolate batons that French bakeries use instead of chocolate bars, by all means, use them. As you can see from the photos, the chocolate does melt out somewhat but my taste testers all agreed that there was still plenty of big chocolate flavor from the dark 70 percent cocoa.

This recipe was adapted from one on Baking a Moment. 

Ingredients for 10

For the rough puff dough:

2 2/3 cups or 333g flour

1/4 cup or 50g sugar

2 3/4 teaspoons active dry yeast

3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

1/2 cup + 1/3 cup or 188g unsalted butter, cold

2/3 cup or 160ml milk, (add up to 2 – 3 tablespoons more if needed)

For the egg wash:

1 large egg beaten with a teaspoon or two of water

For the filling: 

4 3/4 oz or 135g good quality chocolate (I used Lindt 70% cocoa dark chocolate. Bought 2 bars, used about 1 1/3.)

Method

Place the flour, sugar, yeast, and salt in a large bowl and whisk together until combined. 

Slice the butter into 1/8-inch or 1/3 cm thick slices and toss in the flour mixture to coat.

Add the milk and stir together until a shaggy dough forms. 

If you still have too much dry flour showing, add the extra tablespoons of milk, one at a time, mixing well in between. 

Wrap the dough tightly in cling film and chill for at least 1 hour. This can also be an overnight rest without any problems. 

On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a wide rectangle.

Fold it into thirds (like a letter), turn 90 degrees, and roll the dough out again. 

Repeat 4 to 6 more times, folding and rolling, until the dough has large streaks of butter in it but it is smooth and flat. If your kitchen is warm, chill the dough folded and wrapped in the refrigerator or freezer until stiff, before rolling out again. 

Wrap tightly and chill for 1 more hour, then roll it out to a rough square shape about 12 inches or 30cm wide.

Trim off any uneven edges. (Bake these rolled in cinnamon sugar for an easy treat.)

 Cut the dough into 10 rectangles (about 5x3 inches or 13x7.5cm.) I have a very hard time cutting things evenly when you can't cut halves then halves again but it's easy if you fold the two sides in and leave an equal part in the middle. 

Simply cut that middle piece out, then cut the other two pieces on the fold lines. Voilá, five reasonably even pieces! 

Cut your chocolate bars into short lengths and line a large baking pan with parchment. 

Place one piece of chocolate near the short end of each rectangle. Place another piece of chocolate about 1 1/2-inches from the other short end of the rectangle.

Roll the dough up around the chocolate pieces. Place the pain au chocolat seam side down in your prepared pan.

Cover them loosely with cling film and put the pan in a warm place. Prove until doubled in size. Alternatively, you can prove them overnight in the refrigerator then allow them time to rise at room temperature before baking the next day.

Preheat the oven to 375°F or 190°C and gently brush the pain au chocolate with the egg wash.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until puffed, golden brown, and flaky.

Enjoy! 

It’s the second Tuesday of the month so that means it’s Bread Baker time! Today we are sharing baked goods made with laminated dough. Check out the treats below! Many thanks to our host Kelly from Passion Kneaded.

• Cranberry Brie Appetizer Pinwheels from A Messy Kitchen
• Croissant Bread from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Herbed Cheese Scrolls from Sneha's Recipes
• Kakaós Csiga from Passion Kneaded
• Rough Puff Pain au Chocolat from Food Lust People Love

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

Pin these Rough Puff Pain au Chocolat! 

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