Gingerbread Muffins

Prep time: 15 minutes

Bake time: 20 minutes

Recipe makes: 12 servings

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• ½ cup reduced-fat buttermilk
• ½ cup unsulfured molasses
• ½ cup canola oil
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon grated or finely minced fresh ginger
• ¾ cup all-purpose flour
• ¾ cup whole-wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon ground cloves
• ¼ teaspoon ground or grated nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup chopped crystallized ginger

Equipment and supplies:

• Muffin pan
• Measuring cups and spoons
• Medium and large mixing bowls

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF (176ºC).
2. Lightly oil a muffin pan or line a baking pan with paper muffin cups.
3. Beat the eggs in large mixing bowl. Stir in the buttermilk, molasses, canola oil, brown sugar, and ginger. Mix until smooth.
4. In a medium-sized bowl, mix together the flours, baking soda, cloves, nutmeg, and salt. Add to the buttermilk mixture along with the crystallized ginger. Mix well.
5. Divide the batter among the cups of the muffin pan. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.
6. Serve the muffins warm with sliced fresh pears on the side.

Tip: You can keep the batter tightly covered in the fridge for a couple of days and bake small batches each morning to enjoy warm, fresh-baked muffins. You may need to add a couple of minutes to the cooking time when using refrigerated batter. Just be sure to check that the muffins are fully cooked and not runny inside.

Reviewed by: Meredith Parkinson, RD, LDN
Date reviewed: November 2012