'Tis the Season Muffins #MuffinMonday

Last year I saw a post from one of my favorite bloggers - Wendy at A Day in the Life on the Farm - and I realized that they've been having a muffin party for years without me. LOL. I emailed the host, Stacy of Food Lust People Love and got the scoop: "...last Monday of the month and no themes. We've been baking together since August 2015! Only one rule, you must use the muffin method (folding wet ingredients with dry - no creaming butter and sugar, etc.) to bake muffins." 

I wasn't very good about joining in this year, but this month, I couldn't resist. This is the December #MuffinMonday line-up...

• Blueberry Orange Muffins from Food Lust People Love
• Chocolate Clementine Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Cranberry Apple Muffins from Zesty South Indian Kitchen
• Cranberry Gingerbread Muffins from Jolene's Recipe Journal
• Egg Nog Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Samosa Muffins from Magical Ingredients
• 'Tis the Season Muffins from Culinary Adventures with Camilla

If you've followed me through any holiday season, you know my family is a little gingerbread crazy. I mean just look at my husband's gingerbread house from several years ago! Yes, those are lights inside. 

Me? I have a gingerbread scarf that comes out this time every year...

The boys always help with some version of gingerbread cookies. One year D made Chewbacca Gingies for his Secret Santa buddy. R helped me decorate the Krampus Gingerbread Minions.

And one gingerbread recipe that makes an appearance every single year, however, is Gingerbread with Lemon Curd.

So, when I thought about a seasonally appropriate muffin, I landed on gingerbread. I wanted to start my journey on this year's gingerbread-lined path with ontbijtkoek, a Dutch spice bread. While Danish honningkagehjerter dough ages in the refrigerator for two days before it's baked, the Dutch ontbijtkoek age for one day after it's baked. This is delicious with a small glass of eggnog! If you're curious, you can read about our eggnog tasting from a few years ago...and which one won 'best overall.' I whisked together some cream cheese with eggnog to make a festive drizzle for the muffin.

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup organic dark brown sugar
• 1/3 cup molasses
• 1 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1 teaspoon ground all-spice
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 pinch salt
• Also needed: paper liners, cream cheese, eggnog

Procedure

Line muffin pan with paper liners and preheat the oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Combine all ingredients into a smooth batter. Drop 1/2 cup batter into each hollow and place in preheated oven. Bake for about 1 hour. When cooled, cover in tin foil for 24 hours before serving. 

Before serving I whisked together cream cheese and eggnog and drizzled it over the muffins. 'Tis the season, after all, for a little bit more decadence. Stay tuned for next month's creation.