Gluten-Free Gingerbread Cupcakes

It is almost here! Christmas day is slowly approaching. Makes me not want to work or do chores and just hide away cooking in the kitchen all day. The kids are out of school which makes getting my work done even harder. I have been doing the finishing touches on my new dog clothing line at http://www.purecountrypetboutique.com/. The line gets launched January 1st. Not necessarily great timing, but it is what it is. I have been working on this line for 6 months, so I am happy it is finally coming to an end. At any rate. I am burnt out and just want a week off.

Nothing smells like Christmas to me more than Gingerbread. There is something about having the tree all lit up, the Christmas music on and the house smelling like Gingerbread. So today, Gingerbread it is!
If you are not gluten intollerant, simply leave out the xanthan gum and use regular all purpose flour. As always I have a link to my all purpose flour blend. It is very easy to make it is just 2 parts rice flour, 1 part tapioca starch/flour, 1 part potato starch. I sift it together and make a huge bag of it so that it is ready for all of my baking needs anytime I want.

Here is the recipe!

Gluten-Free Gingerbread Cupcakes


2 teaspoons baking soda
2 1/2 cups Gluten Free all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup packed dark-brown sugar
1 cup unsulphered molasses
2 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten

Directions
1.Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 10 muffin tins with paper baking cups, and set aside. In a small saucepan, bring 1 cup water to a boil. In a bowl, combine boiling water and baking soda; set aside. In a large bowl, sift together flour, ground spices, salt, and baking powder; set aside.

2.In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter until light. Beat in the brown sugar until fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Beat in the molasses, baking-soda mixture, and flour mixture. Beat in the eggs.

3.Fill the cupcake papers three-quarters full, making sure that the batter is divided evenly.

Bake cupcakes until a toothpick inserted in the center of them comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Let cupcakes cool a few minutes,

then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before decorating.

Vanilla Frosting1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 pound (4 cups) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Directions

1.With an electric mixer, beat butter on medium-high speed until pale and creamy, about 2 minutes.

2.Reduce speed to medium. Add the confectioners’ sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down sides of bowl as needed; after every two additions, raise speed to high and beat 10 seconds to aerate frosting, then return to medium-high. This process should take about 5 minutes. Frosting will be very pale and fluffy.

3.Add vanilla, and beat until frosting is smooth. I put it in a large ziplock bag and cut off one corner with the scissors.

Then I squeeze the frosting out onto each cupcake. Sprinkle with a dash of cinnamon.