
Usually I think of making gingerbread during the winter holidays, but here’s a summerized version in muffin form! Fresh blackberries make these muffins moist and of course the ginger and molasses give these muffins that great gingerbread taste. I had clipped this recipe from an old issue of Victoria magazine and modified it slightly. The original recipe was supposed to have made 18 muffins; I added in extra blackberries, and came up with 24 to 26 muffins, or 24 muffins and 1 mini-loaf. Making the mini-loaf works out great because you can bake it right along with your muffins–it will just need about 5 to 10 minutes extra baking time.
I also added a creamy glaze with a blackberry on top, because without any glaze or garnish these flat-topped muffins look quite plain. In other words, they are not the prettiest-looking muffins without anything on top. But they do taste great plain, so if you don’t mind them looking that way, you can skip the glaze.
I never would have thought of combining blackberries and gingerbread on my own, but I liked it alot! If you like gingerbread, you’ll have to try this out!
BLACKBERRY GINGERBREAD MUFFINS by NancyC, adapted from Victoria Magazine
Makes 26 muffins (or 24 muffins and 1 mini loaf)
- 3 cups all-purpose unbleached flour
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 Tablespoon ground ginger
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon cloves
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon allspice
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1 cup unsulphured molasses
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 2 cups fresh blackberries
Preheat oven to 350˚F. Line muffin pans with 24 paper liners; set aside. Grease and flour a mini-loaf pan; set aside.
In a medium bowl, blend together flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and allspice.
In a large bowl, cream softened butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually add molasses, eggs (one at a time), and buttermilk and mix until everything is combined well.
Add the flour mixture all at once to the butter/molasses mixture and stir until just combined. Gently fold in the berries and mix to distribute evenly in batter.
Fill each muffin cup about 3/4 full, and put the rest of the batter in your mini-loaf pan. Bake muffins at 350˚F for 20 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean; your mini-loaf will need to bake about 5 to 10 minutes longer. Cool in pan for 5 minutes, then remove and cool completely on wire rack.
If desired, drizzle muffins with glaze…
CREAMY GLAZE and BERRY GARNISH
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 3 Tablespoons Half & Half (light cream)
- 26 blackberries for garnish
In a small bowl, blend powdered sugar and Half & Half until smooth and creamy. Drizzle over cooled muffins and top each muffin with a blackberry in the center.

A summery gingerbread is definitely a new thing for me! Have you tried any different twists on gingerbread?
Linked to Fiesta Friday at The Novice Gardener.