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Gingerbread Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

5 from 5 votes

Gingerbread Cupcakes - robust ginger flavored cupcake with a sweet lemon buttercream frosting topped with a cookie for a fun presentation!

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Gingerbread Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

 

We had a holiday pot-luck lunch at work today and everyone signed up to bring a dish to share.  I made these fun little Gingerbread Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting and got very positive reviews.   I also picked up a few new readers … so welcome to SRFD!  I love the spices in gingerbread; the warm cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and the tang of the molasses.  These homemade cupcakes are easy to make, and just for fun, I topped them with a tiny gingerbread cookie using THIS recipe.

Gingerbread Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting and gingerbread cookies – a real crowd pleaser!

Gingerbread Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

The hardest part was coming up with a frosting that would compliment, and not smother, the gingerbread.  I whipped up a lemon flavored cream cheese buttercream and that did the trick.

 

Gingerbread Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

A couple of squirts of Royal Icing and a sprinkle of coarse sanding sugar, we’re good to go!

 

 

Gingerbread Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

 

Don’t forget to PIN to your favorite holiday board!

Gingerbread Cupcakes - A robust ginger flavored cupcake with a sweet lemon buttercream frosting. Topped with a gingerbread cookie these make a fun presentation for the holidays! www.savingdessert.com

 

Gingerbread Cupcakes with a Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 28 minutes
Total Time: 48 minutes
Yield: 24 cupcakes
Course: Dessert
Author: Tricia
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5 from 5 votes
A robust ginger flavored cupcake with a sweet lemon buttercream frosting. Topped with a gingerbread cookie these make a fun presentation for the holidays!

Ingredients

For the Cupcakes:

  • 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
  • 1 cup packed brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup unsulphured molasses
  • 2 ⅔ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ½ teaspoon ground allspice

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

  • 1 8- ounce package cream cheese room temperature
  • ½ cup unsalted butter room temperature
  • Zest of 1 large lemon
  • 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 5 cups sifted powdered sugar
  • 1 to 2 teaspoons milk as needed

Instructions

For the Cupcakes:

  • Preheat oven to 350°F.
  • In a large bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing until the yolk disappears. Add the water and molasses. The mixture will appear curdled, this is normal. Mix on low 1-2 minutes.
  • In a medium mixing bowl whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice.
  • With the mixer set on low speed, add the flour mixture to the creamed butter and molasses a little at a time until combined. Once incorporated, beat on medium for 2 minutes.
  • Fill paper-lined muffins cups two-thirds full and bake for 20-23 minutes for until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pan, then cool on a wire rack. Frost as desired.

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

  • In a medium mixing bowl combine the cream cheese, butter, lemon zest and vanilla. Blend until smooth.
  • Add the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, blending after each addition.
  • Add 1 teaspoon of milk and blend for desired consistency. Add additional milk as needed, 1 teaspoon at a time.
  • Frost the cupcakes as desired. Store cupcakes and left over frosting in refrigerator. Remove cupcakes to room temperature 2 hours before serving.

Recipe Notes

  • Gingerbread Cupcakes adapted from a recipe by Nancy Beckman, Taste of Home.
Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate. When multiple ingredient alternatives are given, the first listed is calculated for nutrition. Garnishes and optional ingredients are not included.

Nutrition

Calories: 370kcal | Carbohydrates: 56g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.5g | Cholesterol: 55mg | Sodium: 210mg | Potassium: 258mg | Fiber: 0.5g | Sugar: 44g | Vitamin A: 518IU | Vitamin C: 0.02mg | Calcium: 67mg | Iron: 2mg

 

Each year during the Christmas holidays, our local volunteer fire department comes through the neighborhood with sirens and lights and Santa on top!  Elves (firemen) share candy with the kids and all our neighbors run outside to wave at Santa.  When I hear the sirens I don’t think about fire or emergencies, I suddenly turn into a 6 year old girl that can’t wait to get a glimpse of Santa!  Isn’t that so cool?  I love this time of year!  I hope your baking and wrapping are going well.  I still have shopping and wrapping to do but hope the baking is winding down.  My hands are in terrible shape from washing dishes, I only have one semi-serious burn, and still have all ten fingers.  It’s a good year!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Tricia

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23 Comments

  1. Karen Frame

    5 stars
    Absolutely the best ! I’m not a baker so your wonderful directions were so helpful !! I thought they were even better the next day after refrigerating! So I can make a day ahead ! Thank you for this perfect gingerbread cupcake recipe !

    Reply

  2. Daniela

    I think these are one of the cutest Christmas cupcakes I’ve seen in a long time.
    And the combination of ginger and lemon is a perfect match.
    Happy 2015, Tricia!

    Reply

  5. Wendy

    These are so pretty, Tricia! Gingerbread is my favorite and I can’t get enough of it. Gingerbread cookies, loaf, cake, and now these lovely little cupcakes! What a wonderful way to decorate them with cookie snowflakes. Since snowflakes are a winter motif, we can eat these all winter long, right?! I plan to. 🙂

    Reply

  7. Becky Green

    These cupcakes sound WONDERFUL, Tricia! And my hands are getting where yours are! LOL LOTION! LOTION! LOTION! (I have to tell our daughter this all the time in this cold weather!) AND, what a NICE THING for your Fire Dept. to do this for the kids in the neighborhood! (Especially, when there are Grinches about…!) LOL I LOOOOVE “Tradition!” ;D DEFINATLY, will have to try these cupcakes!:)

    Reply

  9. sue|theviewfromgreatisland

    I think lemon and gingerbread is such a great combination…I have a favorite cookie from Britain that is a lemon filled gingerbread sandwich cookie, yum! But the best part of these cupcakes has to be those mini cookies on top— they are adorable!

    Reply

  10. Monica

    Oh boy! Tricia, this looks incredible! I was just watching a show the other day and there were these lemon ginger cupcakes that looked really good and got me thinking about that combo of lemon and ginger! It makes total sense when I think about it – sort of like ginger lemon tea, for example. Your cupcakes must have stolen the show at the potluck. : ) They were lucky to have them and what a special treat to have the cookies on top. So, so pretty!

    Reply