Let's make the best gingerbread pumpkin muffins! These are moist and flavorful with cinnamon, ginger, and cardamom! This is a cozy weather recipe just like my healthy pumpkin cheesecake with gingerbread crust, and these gingerbread energy balls.

I've been making muffins for over 15 years and this is one of my favorite recipes! Love baking muffins? Check out more healthy muffins for snack time here.

Dark brown muffins with coarse sugar on top sitting on a plate with rosemary and a candle beside it.

Jump to:

Ingredients needed
How to make ginger molasses muffins
Tips for gingerbread muffins with pumpkin
Storage for healthy gingerbread muffins
Other healthy muffins you may like
Gingerbread Pumpkin Muffins
Danika Vanderpyl, C.H.N

Ingredients needed

Molasses, pumpkin puree, orange juice, olive oil, cane sugar, eggs, whole wheat flour, cardamon, cinnamon, ginger, baking powder, baking soda, salt, vanilla, coarse sugar, eggs, and cane sugar all measured out to make pumpkin ginger muffins.

Things to note about some of the ingredients:

Whole wheat flour: This recipe uses whole wheat flour to increase the nutrient density in each bite. I use organic whole wheat flour because as someone who has studied nutrition, I feel this is best for our bodies and our kids. Read more on this here.
Molasses: Use regular unsulphured molasses, as blackstrap molasses is quite strong and bitter-tasting.
Sugar: My go to sugar is organic cane sugar, however any sugar will work for these muffin.
Coarse sugar: This is also called turbinado sugar, it is sprinkled on top of the muffins in this recipe. If you do not have this sugar, you can use regular sugar or skip the sugar on top.
Pumpkin puree: Canned pumpkin puree or homemade pumpkin puree works for this recipe (not pumpkin pie filling).
Spices: I think ginger is essential, cinnamon makes the pumpkin pop, and cardamom is so fun! However, cardamom is optional.

For the full details, and quantities scroll down to the recipe card for these ginger molasses muffins.

How to make ginger molasses muffins

Follow along with these step-by-step photos from my kitchen. It's kinda like we are making these muffins together!

Molasses, orange juice, olive oil, eggs, pumpkin in a large mixing bowl.

Preheat & wet ingredients: Set the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Place all the wet ingredients in a bowl,
pumpkin, molasses, eggs, olive oil, vanilla and orange juice, stir together well.

Whole wheat flour in a bowl with spices for ginger molasses muffins with pumpkin.

Dry ingredients: Place the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cardamon if using, in a bowl. I believe using a whisk to mix everything together well is key to good distribution of the spices, baking powder and soda.

The wet ingredients and the dry ingredients being mixied together.

Fold batter together: Pour the flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture. Use a spatula to fold the batter together just until combined, about 12 -15 folds. It's important not to overmix the muffin batter so they rise well and become fluffy rather than dense.

A muffin tin with muffin batter in muffin liners with a ⅓ cup measuring cup and coarse sugar beside it.

Scoop & bake: Line a muffin pan with liners or grease the pan well. Place about ⅓ cup of batter in each muffin cup to fill them all the way up. Sprinkle with coarse sugar as desired.
Place the muffin tin in the preheated oven (425 Fahrenheit) to bake for 9 minutes, then turn the oven down to 375 Fahrenheit and bake for another 9-11 minutes until the muffins are no longer gooey. Let the muffins sit in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove them from the pan (this prevents the muffins from breaking when removing them).

Tips for gingerbread muffins with pumpkin

Use fresh spices for the best flavor! Sniff your spices and take a second to see how old they are.
Make sure the baking soda and baking powder is fresh to get a good rise in your muffins.
Bake at a high temperature to start, 425 Fahrenheit, to create a higher muffin dome, then turn the oven down to 375 Fahrenheit and finish baking them completely without drying them out.
Use cupcake liners. With the big bakery-style tops it makes them easier to remove from the pan without breaking them! I have used silicone liners or paper liners for this recipe. I find when the muffins are in silicone liner the muffins will need to bake 2-3 minutes then when in a grease pan or with paper liners.

Nutritionist looking at her cupboards full of healthy food in jars.

Storage for healthy gingerbread muffins

Storing muffins: Place these healthy gingerbread muffins out of direct sunlight in an airtight container. They will last three days on the counter, if you want to make them last longer place them in the fridge for another 4 days. Here are all the details on keeping muffins fresh.
Freezing muffins: These muffins are freezer-friendly. Place muffins in an airtight bag or container, remove as much air as possible and freeze. To dethaw leave muffins on the counter at room temperature for a few hours or overnight. Enjoy within 3 months of freezing, after that they won't go bad, they just may not taste as fresh. Read more details about the best tips on freezing muffins here.

Three gingerbread muffins sitting on a round plate with a candle behind them with one bite out of one muffin.

Other healthy muffins you may like

Did you make these gingerbread pumpkin muffins? Would you take 5 seconds to give a star rating and review just below the recipe? That means a lot to me and helps the growth of the Beside the Mountain blog (your email address will not be shown).

A dark muffin with coarse sugar on top with a little rosemary beside it.

Gingerbread Pumpkin Muffins

Danika Vanderpyl

These soft and moist pumpkin gingerbread muffins are INCREDIBLE! The flavor is delicate with hints of orange and cardamon and bold with fall flavors like ginger and pumpkin. You will not regret making these easy muffins!

No ratings yet

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 20

Total Time 35

Course Breakfast, Snack

Cuisine American

Servings muffins

Calories 233 kcal

Equipment

1 muffin pan

Ingredients

Wet Ingredients:

1 ⅓ cup pumpkin
⅓ cup molasses
2 eggs
⅓ cup olive oil
2 teaspoon vanilla
3 tablespoons orange juice

Dry Ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat flour
¾ cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons powdered ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon cardamon (optional)

Optional Topping:

¼ cup turbinado sugar (coarse sugar)

Instructions

Start by preheating the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
In a large mixing bowl, place the pumpkin, molasses, eggs, olive oil, vanilla, and orange juice. Whisk together until well combined.
Place the whole wheat flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cardamon if using, in a bowl. Use a whisk of everything together until well combined.
Pour the flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture. Use a spatula to fold the batter together just until combined, about 12 -15 folds.
In a muffin pan lined with muffin liners or greased, fill each muffin cup all the way up (about ⅓ cup). Bake at 425 Fahrenheit for 9 minutes, then turn the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and bake for another 9-11 minutes until the muffins are no longer gooey. Let the muffins sit in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove them from the pan.

Notes

For notes about the ingredients I used and to see step-by-step photos scroll into the blog post above.

If you love ginger make these energy balls.

And for another moist pumpkin baking try this snack cake.

Here's the recipe for my healthy pumpkin cheesecake with a gingerbread crust.

Nutrition

Calories: 233kcalCarbohydrates: 40gProtein: 4gFat: 7gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0.003gCholesterol: 27mgSodium: 228mgPotassium: 283mgFiber: 2gSugar: 25gVitamin A: 1148IUVitamin C: 3mgCalcium: 76mgIron: 2mg

Keyword Fall Recipe, Freezer Friendly, Ginger, Healthy Muffins, Pumpkin Puree

Did you love this recipe?Make sure to leave a comment below!