Moist and fluffy high altitude gingerbread muffins, flavored with molasses, brown sugar and warm spices, sprinkled with crunchy lemon sugar. With the cozy flavors, these spiced gingerbread muffins with lemon sugar are like a warm hug on a cold winter morning.
You might also love these recipes for vanilla ginger layer cake, gingerbread whoopie pies, and chewy ginger molasses cookies.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Cozy Fall Spices. Warm fall spices, dark brown sugar and molasses give these muffins a classic gingerbread flavor, complemented by the brightness of the lemon.
Quick and Easy. The batter is easy to whisk up by hand, and from start to finish, you’ll have warm muffins in half an hour.
High Altitude Tested. I develop all the recipes on my site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet. If you’re at a lower or higher elevation, please see my FAQs for guidance on adjusting recipes for your altitude.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.
Ingredients
- Coarse Sugar. For a crunchy finish on top of the muffins, use coarse sparkling sugar or “sugar in the raw” (Turbinado sugar). You’ll be rubbing lemon zest into the sugar to give it a lemony zing.
- Lemon Zest. The fresh lemon zest adds brightness to complement the warm spices.
- Flour. All purpose flour adds structure and strength.
- Baking Powder. Leavening agent, so the muffins rise as they bake.
- Salt. Adds flavor and balances the sweetness.
- Spices. A blend of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves and allspice adds warmth and flavor.
- Sour Cream. Moisture and richness.
- Melted Butter + Vegetable Oil. Flavor and moisture.
- Dark Brown Sugar. Adds sweetness and moisture.
- Molasses. You can use light (“original”) or dark (“blackstrap”) molasses, depending on how intense you like the flavor of the molasses to be in gingerbread.
- Eggs. Moisture and strength.
- Vanilla Extract. Flavor.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Line a standard muffin pan with 12 paper liners (for bigger muffin tops, you can divide the batter between 9-10 cups instead of 12).
- In a small bowl, rub 1 tsp of the lemon zest into the coarse sugar, until moist. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and spices.
- Separately, whisk together the sour cream, brown sugar, molasses, eggs, melted butter, oil, vanilla and the remaining 1 tsp lemon zest.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and stir together just until moistened.
- Divide the batter between the paper liners. Sprinkle the lemon sugar over the batter.
- Set the pan in the oven, and immediately turn the temperature down to 375 F. Bake the muffins for about 18-20 minutes, until the tops spring back when gently touched or a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Remove the muffins from the pan and serve warm, with softened butter.
Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common baking questions, so that you can be successful in your own baking!
Frequently Asked Questions
How should I store leftover muffins?
Store leftover muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
What’s the best way to reheat muffins?
Reheat in the microwave for 30-45 seconds at 50% power.
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High Altitude Gingerbread Muffins
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup coarse sparkling sugar (such as brown Turbinado sugar or "sugar in the raw", coarse white decorating sugar, or a combination of both)
- 2 tsp fresh lemon zest, divided
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- 1 ¼ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- ¼ tsp ground allspice
- ¾ cup full fat sour cream
- ½ cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed
- ¼ cup light or dark molasses
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Line a standard muffin pan with 12 paper liners (for bigger muffin tops, you can divide the batter between 9-10 cups instead of 12).
- In a small bowl, rub 1 tsp of the lemon zest into the coarse sugar, until moist. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and spices.
- Separately, whisk together the sour cream, brown sugar, molasses, eggs, melted butter, oil, vanilla and the remaining 1 tsp lemon zest.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and stir together just until moistened.
- Divide the batter between the paper liners. Sprinkle the lemon sugar over the batter.
- Set the pan in the oven, and immediately turn the temperature down to 375 F. Bake the muffins for about 18-20 minutes, until the tops spring back when gently touched or a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Remove the muffins from the pan and serve warm, with softened butter.
I’m so grateful I found your page! We live in aurora and I had given up trying to bake because everything would turn out SO dense. I’ve tried about 10 recipes from your site and every single recipe that I’ve tried has turned out amazing! This one I tried today and it will be a family favorite. Thank you!!!
I’m so glad to help with your baking 🙂
Made these yesterday for the monthly teacher’s breakfast at my kids’ school, turned out perfect and didn’t need to make any adjustments (I live in SF). Next time, I’ll plan ahead and make them the morning of, so they are nice and warm, and add a jar of butter.
Made these for the monthly teacher’s breakfast at my kids’ school, turned out perfect, no adjustments needed (I live in SF). Next time, I’ll bake them the morning of so they’re nice and warm, and add a jar of butter for serving.