gingerbread time!

At the Craft Party last weekend, it may have been warm outside and most of the guests were wearing shorts and sundresses …. that doesn’t mean we can’t begin to dream about and enjoy the fun and flavors of fall and winter!

What the heck!??! We were making fall and winter crafts so we may as well eat food associated with the season! With that in mind, I made these tasty gingerbread muffins.

Gingerbread Muffins

• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 8-ounces sour cream
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped crystallized ginger

Grease 12 muffin cups; set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, ginger, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Add butter pieces and use a pastry cutter, two forks, or your fingers to cut the butter into the flour mixture until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

In another medium bowl, stir together the milk, egg, sour cream, brown sugar, and molasses.

Add egg mixture all at once to the flour mixture. Stir just until moistened. The batter will be lumpy and sticky.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spoon batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling until almost full.

In a small bowl combine the sugar and crystallized ginger. Sprinkle sugar mixture over the muffin batter. Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes or until golden and a wooden toothpick inserted near the centers comes out clean.

Cool in muffin cups on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Remove from muffin cups; serve warm or at room temperature

Makes 12 muffins