Gingerbread Muffins with a Cream Cheese Cinnamon Drizzle
A healthier gingerbread muffin with a cream cheese cinnamon drizzle, packed with oats and bran to help keep you full and running through your busy mornings.
Servings 12muffins
Author Tasia ~ twosugarbugs
Ingredients
½cupold-fashioned oats
1cupunsweetened almond milkany milk can work
½cupwheat branI like Bob’s Red Mill
1 ½cupswhole-wheat flourI like King Arthur’s White Whole Wheat
1teaspoonbaking powder
1teaspoonbaking soda
1teaspoonground cinnamon
¾teaspoonground ginger
¼teaspoonground clove
¾cupunsweetened applesauce
¼cupGreek yogurtcan substitute sour cream
2tablespoonsmolasses
2tablespoonshoneyI prefer local honey
2tablespoonsbuttermelted and slightly cooled
1teaspoonpure vanilla extract
2large eggs
Cinnamon Cream Cheese Drizzle
1ouncecream cheeseroom temperature
¼cuppowdered sugar
½teaspoonground cinnamon
1 -3teaspoonshalf and half or milk
Instructions
Combine the oats with the milk and set aside for 20 minutes so the oats can soak up some of the moisture.* Don’t go longer than 30 minutes with this step! Old-fashioned oats work best. Instant or quick oats are too small and will dissolve as the muffins cook.
Preheat oven to 425°F and line your muffin pan with paper liners or coat with non-stick spray.
In a large bowl, whisk together the wheat bran, whole-wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and cloves. Set aside. In another bowl, combine the applesauce, Greek yogurt, molasses, honey, cooled melted butter, vanilla extract and eggs. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir a few times before adding the soaked oats and milk mixture. Gently combine it all together.
Spoon batter into muffin wells (I like to use an ice cream or cookie scoop), filling them up to the top. Bake for 5 minutes at 425°F, then turn the oven down to 350°F* (keeping muffins in the oven the whole time) and bake another 12-14 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffin comes out clean.
Allow muffins to cool about 5 minutes in the pan and then transfer to a wire rack to cool further.
If you want a sweeter muffin, make the cinnamon cream cheese drizzle while the muffins cool. In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese, powdered sugar and cinnamon. Once well combined, slowly add half and half or milk until the glaze is thin enough to drizzle. Drizzle over cooled muffins.
Notes
Muffins will stay fresh covered at room temperature for a couple days (I refrigerate from day one if they have glaze on them), then transfer to the refrigerator for up to one week. They also freeze well.*This method learned from Sally at Sally’s Baking Addiction