Stout Gingerbread Muffins #MuffinMonday

I had to miss last month's Muffin Monday and it really distressed me. I don't bake much anymore and so I really look forward to this once a month bake. It's easier to do than my other groups because I'm not restricted to ingredients that are difficult to get in my area. Plus, baking muffins takes very little time and I am really bad at time management these days. I want to rant about the class that is taking up all my time and the poor administration that never communicates but let's focus on the muffins.

This stout gingerbread muffin is wonderful. These are not sweet muffins - add more sugar if you want it sweet. The stout flavour isn't subtle but it isn't overwhelming. Look, the only gingerbread I've had were some cookies that I made 3 years ago so I'm not a gingerbread expert. But authentic or not, this stuff is good and worthy of several repeats in my kitchen. I just need to pick up some more molasses.

Stout Gingerbread Muffins

Yield 10 - 12 muffins

Ingredients 
1/3 cup stout
1/2 cup molasses (not Blackstrap)
2 tablespoons grated ginger
1 egg
1/3 cup oil
1/4 cup sugar
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons ground ginger 
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions 

Preheat the oven to 425 F and line a muffin tin with liners.
Heat the molasses and stout until bubbling. Turn off and stir in the grated ginger. Set aside to cool.
In a small bowl whisk egg, oil, and sugar.
In a separate bowl whisk flour, ginger, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, cloves and salt.
When the molasses is cool, whisk in the egg mixture.
Gently fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.
Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin pan.
Bake the muffins for 5 minutes then lower the oven temperature to 350 F. Bake another 10-12 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.
Cool and enjoy.

Notes
I used Guinness Foreign Extra Stout but next time I'll use Dragon Stout's Spitfire. It's a bit sweeter and has a higher alcohol content.

• Carrot Ginger Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Garlic Bread Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Mini Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins from Making Miracles
• Sausage Honey Cornbread Muffins from Food Lust People Love
• Stout Gingerbread Muffins from Passion Kneaded

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all of our lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday can be found on our home page.