Gingerbread Cupcakes w/ Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

These are fun for Christmas parties - bite-sized and delicious! I got this recipe from another food blog that I follow. Check out the original recipe HERE.

You'll need:

For the cupcakes:

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened (1 stick)

1/2 cup molasses

2 eggs

2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 tsp. ground ginger

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. allspice

3/4 cup water

For the frosting:

1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup butter, softened

2 tsp lemon zest

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla extract

4 cups powdered sugar

2 tsp. milk

First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. 

Cream together sugar and softened butter.

Add molasses.

Beat in eggs one at a time.

In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, and allspice.

Stir in water. The mixture will look a little like dough.

Gradually blend the flour mixture into the wet ingredients, one cup at a time, until all the clumps are gone.

Line cupcake pan with paper liners, and fill 2/3 full with batter. I used a mini-cupcake pan for this batch, and baked them about 12-14 minutes. If you make regular-sized cupcakes, bake for 16-18 minutes.

Now time for frosting!

Blend together the cream cheese, butter, lemon zest, cinnamon, and vanilla.

Add powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time. When you're done adding the sugar, blend in the couple teaspoons of milk.

Be sure to cool the cupcakes completely before frosting. Piping frosting makes me happy...

So do sprinkles...

Enjoy!