Gingerbread Muffins

Gingersnaps are one of my favorite cookies, but it's always hit or miss when I make them. They either turn out rock hard or taste funny. I found this recipe and wondered if it would be too good to be true.

As it turns out, I did not like these at first, but they grew on me. I've never actually had gingerbread, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I think the trick to these, that I did not make sure to do, is make sure everything is incorporated together at the end. As I was filling my muffin cups I noticed there were some big streaks of the molasses mixture, and those muffins turned out kind of weird!

In the end, most of the muffins turned out great! These were very moist, fluffy and full of gingerbread flavor. I was hesitant to make these because I had to buy buttermilk, but stay tuned to see how I used the rest of the carton:)

Gingerbread Muffins
Source: Vintage Victuals, adapted from Nathalie Dupree's recipe for Old-Fashioned Gingerbread

Ingredients:
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 egg
1 cup molasses
2 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
 2 1/2 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup coca cola, apple cider or apple juice
1 tsp. brandy flavoring or vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line or grease well a muffin tin, and set aside.

In a large bowl of an electric mixer, beat the sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add the egg and the molasses and mix well.

In a separate bowl, sift together the dry ingredients. In another bowl, mix together the buttermilk, the coke or juice, and the brandy or vanilla flavoring. Add these two mixtures to the molasses mixture alternately, beginning and ending with the dry mixture. Beat until the batter is smooth.

Fill each muffin cup about 3/4 of the way full. Bake for approximately 18-20 minutes, or until the muffins spring back when lightly touched with a finger. Yield about 18 muffins.