Ginger Molasses Cupcakes

More About This Recipe

• Growing up, making gingerbread houses during the Christmas season was all the rage.
  
  It was the cool thing to do with your friends after school, and if anyone had a gingerbread house-making party, well, I was done for. I could think of nothing else besides how I would construct my perfect, elaborate house – and then promptly devour it within minutes of making it.
  
  Now that I’m older, my affinity for gingerbread has not ceased, but the time I would need to make a gingerbread house is non-existent. So to get my gingerbread fix, I turn to these Gingerbread Cupcakes. They’re easy to make, taste just like gingerbread and are topped with sweet cream cheese frosting. It’s like eating a gingerbread house, but without all the effort.
  
  This recipe also makes a fantastic edible gift around the holidays. Who wouldn’t love getting a jar filled with most of the ingredients necessary to make these easy holiday treats? Here’s how you gift them:
  
  1)    Grab a 20-ounce glass canning jar (or any jar you have with a lid that can hold 2 ½ cups of dry ingredients) and whatever Christmas adornments you like – fabric, ribbon, etc.
  
  2)    Pack the bottom of the jar with flour. Top the flour with a layer of ground cinnamon and ginger; form a well in the center of the cinnamon/ginger layer and fill it with the salt and baking soda. Top that layer with sugar.
  
  3)    Seal jar and add a gift tag with the following written on it: "Mix jar ingredients in one bowl; mix 2 1/2 tbsp soft butter, 3 tbsp vegetable oil, 1/3 cup molasses & 1 egg in another bowl. Add dry ingredients to wet; stir. Add 1/2 cup boiling water; stir. Bake at 350 for 25 min. Cool & frost."
  
  4)    Decorate jar and give to a friend!
  
  While you are more than welcome to host your own gingerbread house-making party (can I come?), this recipe is an equally delicious way to share your love of a fun holiday flavor with friends and family.
  
  Stephanie (aka Girl Versus Dough) joined Tablespoon to share her adventures in the kitchen. Check out Stephanie’s Tablespoon member profile and keep checking back for her own personal recipes on Tablespoon!