barb's gingerbread

I'm gonna level with you guys. I'm usually not one for holiday baking. I rarely bake, and I'm not a big fan of the holidays. There, I said it. I find this time of year to be stressful, and emotionally charged. Plus winter isn't exactly my favorite time of year. So yeah, I admit I can be kinda grinchy. I'm not exactly the type to do anything as Christmas-y and conventional as writing a post about gingerbread on December 25th. Yet here are.

The whole thing came about because we were putting together some gifts for the kitchen guys at work. I made some infused tequila for some of them, but we wanted a nice gift for those who didn't drink. My Dear Friend Al said she would try to get her Mom's gingerbread muffin recipe. So, she texted Barb, Barb sent the recipe, Al took a screen shot, sent it to me, and I got busy. I was originally thinking maybe I'd make mini muffins but I found my mini bundt pan and thought that seemed festive, so I gave it a whirl.

Damn. Barb knows what's up. Her gingerbread recipe was incredible. Ever since I made that first batch I've been stuffing my face with them and baking more and more batches, mostly in the middle of the night. So, I just had to share the love. These things are way too dang good. I gave my boyfriend a batch to take to his family, I made a (gluten free) batch for my family for tomorrow, and I made another batch that's waiting for me at home. Good stuff. Anything that has me baking almost every day for a week has got to be exceptional- like I said, I rarely bake.

A few notes on the recipe. It's a simple, super easy recipe. It's naturally vegan, which is great if you're into that kind of thing- and if you're not it's still pretty cool because it means you can eat as much of the raw batter as you like without a care in the world. The original recipe just calls for "oil." I used coconut oil because I had it, and it's delicious, and good for you n stuff. I used fresh ginger, because I'm obsessed with ginger and I couldn't resist. I also used freshly grated nutmeg, cuz that's how I roll. I ran out of molasses at one point and made a batch using half regular baking molasses and half blackstrap molasses- I was worried it would be too bitter, so I added a little extra brown sugar. It turned out to be one of my favorite batches. So, feel free to replace some of the molasses with blackstrap molasses and up the brown sugar a bit. I also added a pinch of salt because it just seemed wrong not to. So, without further adieu, here is (my adaptation of) Barb's recipe.

Barb's Gingerbread Mini Bundts

Preheat oven to 375.

In a large bowl, combine:

1 cup molasses (you can sub blackstrap for up to half)

1/2 cup brown sugar (if you use blackstrap, add 1/4-1/2 cup additional brown sugar)

1/2 cup coconut oil, melted

3/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

2 Tablespoons freshly grated ginger (or sub 1 teaspoon ground ginger)

pinch kosher salt

Stir in 1/2 cup boiling water.

Add 2 1/2 cups of flour and 1 teaspoon baking soda, stir until mixed.

Pour into a mini bundt pan that was been brushed generously with melted coconut oil. Fill each bundt mold 2/3 full. Bake 15 minutes, turning once. Use a toothpick to check for doneness- when it comes out clean after being inserted into the center of the bundt, they're done! Take care not to burn, they will get too crunchy on the outside. When slightly cooled, use a skewer to help pop them out of the pan. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Devour.

So there ya have it. And as an extra bonus treat, I'm going to include the original screenshot of Barb's recipe. Happy holidays y'all.

Zoe Rose