Gingerbread Muffins with Salted Caramel Sauce

I’ve decided I’m going to live in a gingerbread house. Marry a gingerbread man. And keep baking gingerbread.

Mainly because I can’t get enough of these muffins. And this sauce.

Christmas is basically here. And there’s no better way to say hello.

It shocked me how good these muffins turned out because they’re so easy. Just as delicious as this Gingerbread Bundt I made last Christmas. The recipe comes from here, same place as the inspiration for the salted caramel and the bundt.

As always, some alterations were called for. I didn’t have any molasses, but I did have honey. I used lesser than called for though; by now you know I obsessively under-sweeten what I make 🙂 I only used cinnamon and ginger, my two favourite spices and I missed none of the others. And I forgot the vanilla and realised the muffins don’t really need it anyway.

Soft, moist, festive flavoured muffins. The gingeryness is strong, but not overpowering. And the smell is just oh my god. The salted caramel is not critical, but is recommended. Sweet and spicy all at once.

These muffins would be a terrific Christmas morning or afternoon treat. Best eaten warm and somehow, I’m thinking vanilla ice cream would go great with them! Anyone?

The proportions below will make 8 large muffins. I made 6 but found a couple of them overflowing a bit!

What you’ll need:

1/2 cup butter (plus 1/4 tsp salt if using unsalted butter)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg at room temp

1/2 cup milk at room temp

1/4 cup honey

1 and 1/3 cup flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

Salted caramel sauce to drizzle

What to do:

1. In a large bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and ginger. Set aside. Preheat the oven to 175 C and line or grease 8 muffin moulds.

2. Cream the butter and sugar till fluffy and creamy. Add the egg and beat again. Add the milk and honey. The mixture will be lumpy and not fully combined. That’s fine.

3. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing the two slowly till you have a smooth batter.

4. Pour the batter into the moulds, about 3/4ths full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes till the tops are golden and a toothpick poked in the center of each muffin, comes out clean.

Cool for 5 minutes, and preferably eat warm with the salted caramel 🙂 Or try cream cheese frosting, a festive buttercream or even chocolate?

Happy eating!