Gingerbread Cupcakes

My 14 yr old son requested gingerbread cake as a treat for his class party, we decided on cupcakes and topped them with creamcheese frosting YUM!! This is a super easy recipe that everyone seemed to enjoy. His classmates thought we bought these cupcakes from a bakery....


Gingerbread Cake or Cupcakes
(Printable Version)

INGREDIENTS

½ cup shortening or butter

1/4 cup sugar

1egg

1 cup molasses

1 cup very hot water

2 1/3 cups all purpose flour

1 ½ teaspoons baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger

1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons orange zest (optional)

whipped topping garnish (optional)



DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350*. Grease and flour 9-inch square pan. In a large mixing bowl, cream shortening and sugar together and combine until smooth.

Stir dry ingredients together, add to liquid mixture, and combine until smooth. Pour into prepared pan, bake for 45 minutes or until inserted knife comes out clean.

Serve warm or cold, and garnish with whipped topping if desired.

I made mine into cupcakes and topped with cream cheese frosting. I doubled the batch and made 43 cupcakes I bake them in a 350* oven for 17- 18 minutes.