Gingerbread Muffins ~

Christmas is moving quickly toward us, and my mind moves toward food automatically. I put a lot of recipes for muffins on here, because muffins are one of my favorite desserts. There are two good reasons: one is that they're little cakes, and another is that they're so quickly made. So it didn't take long for me to decide--when I saw this recipe in Victoria magazine (Nov/Dec issue) for gingerbread muffins--to put it on here for you.

Here's what the magazine had to say about these muffins: "Perfect for breakfast or with a cup of your favorite afternoon tea, these gingerbread muffins are made with dark molasses and pure cane sugar to naturally enrich the recipe's irresistibly fragrant spice blend. The muffins are seasoned lavishly with ground ginger and sweetened with a crumbly and buttery streusel topping made with brown sugar and cinnamon." The smell alone would make you drool. So here is a recipe suitable for devouring anytime during the holidays--on Christmas, on New Year's,  or just on a cold winter's night. 

Gingerbread Muffins with Streusel Topping

Makes about 18 muffins

2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon coarse salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup dark molasses
1/2 cup fine cane sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup boiling water
1 large egg, room temperature
1 large egg yolk, room temperature
1 recipe Streusel Topping (recipe follows)
Garnish with confectioner's sugar

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees, and line 18 muffin cups with liners. 
2. In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, ginger, salt, cinnamon, allspice, and cloves.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together molasses, cane sugar, oil, water, egg, and egg yolk. Add molasses mixture to flour mixture, and whisk until well combined. Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups.
4. Crumble the Streusel Topping evenly over batter in each muffin cup. Bake 18 to 24 minutes, or until wooden pick inserted in the centers of muffins comes out clean. Remove muffins from oven, and cool.
5. Sprinkle muffins lightly with confectioner's sugar, if desired.

Streusel Topping

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup packed light brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

In a medium bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and ginger. Slowly pour melted butter over flour mixture, and stir until mixture is well-combined and crumbly.

If this appeals to you, I hope you'll try it. As I said, the smell alone is worth the effort. Happy holidays!

Blessings...Mimi