Gingerbread Muffins

One afternoon a few weeks ago, I suddenly found myself craving the warm and comforting smell and flavour of gingerbread. Gingerbread or molasses cookies was definitely on my list of things to make, but I also wanted to try a little something different. Something in the form of a muffin perhaps?

The following weekend, we picked up a fresh container of molasses at the grocery store and I immediately started creating in the kitchen.  My first attempt at a gingerbread muffin was ok, but something was missing.  I’ve been trying to make my new baking recipes as healthy as possible and as a result, the first batch was just a bit too dense.  Thankfully I knew exactly what needed to be done, so this past Sunday I made another attempt.

Success!

What you need:

1 C whole wheat pastry flour
1 C unbleached all-purpose flour
1/3 C brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/3 C molasses
1 egg
3/4 C skim milk (or whatever milk you have)
1 apple – peeled, cooked and mashed into a sauce (peel & dice then microwave 1 min 30 sec – mash with fork)

What to do:

– In a large bowl mix together flours, baking powder, salt and spices – set aside

– In a medium bowl mix together sugar, molasses, egg, apple and milk

– Pour your wet mixture into the large bowl with the dry and stir until combined – don’t over stir

– Line a muffin tin with papers (to save from having to grease your pan) and spoon in the mixture until the cups are about 2/3 full

– Bake at 400 degrees F for approximately 15-18 minutes

This recipe yielded me 16 muffins. They go great with coffee or tea, but even better on oatmeal. Seriously, I am addicted to having one of these on my morning oats along with almond butter, banana and black berries. Mmmmmmm.. 🙂