Celebrate the holidays with a delicious batch of flourless chocolate chip gingerbread muffins! They’re so soft and tender that you’ll never believe they’re made without flour, oil, or refined sugar!
I don’t remember being very fond of gingerbread as a little kid. That’s not to say that I hated it like I did brussels sprouts, fava beans, and sauerkraut, but it definitely wasn’t very high up on my list of favourite Christmas cookies. In fact, it ranked somewhere near the bottom; a small step above peanut butter blossoms, which were only demoted because of their very unfortunate association with peanut butter (read: I’m allergic to peanuts).
I think what I disliked most about gingerbread was the fact that, 99.9% of the time, the cookies were hard and crunchy — and that’s not okay for a girl who likes her cookies soft and chewy. That and I wasn’t keen on the idea of cookies being spicy; but then again, I wasn’t keen on the idea of anything being spicy. Heck, my definition of a perfectly good meal back in the day was a huge bowl of mashed potatoes or plain buttered noodles. Mmm hmm. I was a tad bit picky as a kid.
Fast forward a handful of years and… I’m still not overly fond of gingerbread cookies; but this time it has nothing to do with the spice (which I’ve grown to love) and everything to do with the texture. Crunchy chips and crackers are fine; crunchy cookies are not (no offence if they’re your thing!)
So what’s a girl to do if she wants to enjoy the festive flavour of gingerbread without the potential teeth-crackery that goes along with it? Make soft and fluffy gingerbread muffins instead!
But these aren’t just any gingerbread muffins — they’re flourless gingerbread muffins. With a handful of chocolate chips thrown in for good measure. Because chocolate chips make everything better, obviously.
Just like all of my other flourless muffins, these gingerbread ones are made without any flour, oil, or refined sugar. They’re gluten free as long as you use certified gluten free oats, and can easily be made vegan by swapping out the egg with 1 flax egg. Hands on time is about 5 minutes if you use the blender method, or 10 if you mix everything by hand. Either way, you only need one bowl to get the job done.
As far as taste and texture goes, you’ve got the rich and festive spiciness of gingerbread in a soft and doughy muffin. I do want to point out, though, that flourless muffins aren’t exactly like traditional muffins. The texture is slightly denser, and while they’re still doughy, they’re more of a melt-in-your-mouth kind of doughy. Oh, and if you’re wondering about the banana, it’s main purpose is to give the muffins shape and substance — you can’t taste it at all. The only thing you do taste is a festive blend of spices that screams Christmas and make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. So here’s to an awesome (and delicious) holiday season!
I’d love to know if you make this (or any!) recipe! Tag @runwithspoons on Instagram and Twitter, and be sure to subscribe to our mailing list to receive more healthy and delicious recipes straight to your inbox!
Print
Flourless Chocolate Chip Gingerbread Muffins
- Total Time: 17 mins
- Yield: 9 muffins 1x
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup creamy almond butter
- 1 large banana
- 1 large egg*
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 1/2 cup quick oats**
- 2 Tbsp. almond milk
- 2 Tbsp. ground flax
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
- 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp. ground cloves
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips, plus more for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F and prepare a muffin pan by spraying 9 cavities with cooking spray. Set aside.
- Add all ingredients except for chocolate chips to a high-powered blender*** and blend on high until oats are broken down and batter is smooth and creamy. Stir in chocolate chips by hand.
- Pour batter into prepared muffin pan, filling each cavity until it is about ¾ full and sprinkling more chocolate chips on top, if desired.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes, until the tops of your muffins are set and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Allow muffins to cool in pan for ~10 minutes before removing. Store in an air-tight container for up to a week.
Notes
* You can also sub out the egg with one flax egg to make these vegan. Simply combine 1 Tbsp. of ground flax with 3 Tbsp. of water.
** Make sure to use certified gluten free oats if you need these to be gluten free.
*** If you don’t have access to a high-powered blender, you can simply grind the oats into a flour and mix everything together by hand.
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 12 mins
Looking for more flourless muffin recipes? Try one of these!
Flourless Pumpkin Pie Muffins
Flourless Apple Cinnamon Muffins
Flourless Banana Bread Muffins
A half cup oats seems low. Is this a typo or correct amount? Thx 🙂
Nope that’s the correct amount, Mike! It’s mostly the nut butter and egg that give these muffins their shape and texture — the oats are just an afterthought 🙂
Can I sub honey for the molasses?
You can, but it would change the flavour a lot since the molasses is what makes these gingerbread.
Alright, after flying through 1.5 muffins and forcing myself to stop so I won’t ruin dinner – I have to say that these are A.M.A.Z.I.N.G
Awesome
Moist
Aromatic
Zestful
Intense {flavour}
Nutritious
Gratifying
All in all, these are really very good. Thanks for a great, easy recipe! I’ll definitely be starting to experiment with the flavours of gingerbread in my baking!
I’m glad you enjoyed them, Mandie! Thanks so much for letting me know 😀
A half batch of these are in the oven as I type. The batter tastes SO dang good, and the smell is heavenly. This is my first time baking anything gingerbread, and I chose your recipe for the very reason that it’s flourless and refined sugar free, and I’m limiting carbs. I’ll be commenting again after a taste of the freshly baked treats!
I love these, and I can’t wait to make some! Thanks for linking up with SNF! Pinned to our party board!
Hey Amanda these look terrific!!! I featured you as one of my weekly faves too!!! Thanks for linking with us at #foodiefridays!
Your definition of good when you were a kid: mashed potatoes and butter noodles was right up my alley. Those are some of the foods I would actually eat. I was so picky back then it’s a wonder my parents were even able to feed me. They are still surprised I have a food blog.
These muffins look beautiful. I’m a fan of ginger for it’s healing effects as much as the taste, and then you toss chocolate chips into the mix. I swoon.
These are awesome!!!! I made a batch today. And I see many more batches in my future. Seriously awesome. I have a good feeling most people wouldn’t guess they are “healthy” bc the taste and texture aren’t negatively impacted. They are perfect. I did use peanut butter in place of the almond butter (due to my pantry inventory).
I’m glad you liked them, Jennifer! Thanks for letting me know 🙂
I never liked hard and crunchy cookies either, but I love that gingerbread flavor, and your muffins look absolutely delicious! I can’t wait to try them out! 🙂
Hello! I found your delicious looking Flourless Chocolate Chip Gingerbread Muffins at #FoodieFridays! These look really good. I look forward to trying the recipe. Also, I love your blog name and tagline. I got a good chuckle when I came to your site and read it. 🙂
This looks amazing!! I want them in my belly!
You know, I was never fond of gingerbread for the same reason but I feel like I could totallllly get behind these because they are so fluffy!!! Now if only I had cloves and nutmeg and ground ginger and molasses lol… the pains of moving!
I can not wait to put these in my mouth!!! I will be making these this week!!! Pin, Pin, Pin!!
Thanks Cynthia! I hope you like them!
They look amazing!!!
These choc chip gingerbread muffins are definitely on my Christmas baking list now.. they look so delicious and festive!
Thanks, Thalia!
oh I die…. I want these right now!
Great combo – perfect for Christmas morning I think!
These actually look waaay too good. Wow. Too bad I don’t have time to make them before school!
My daughter and you would have been food besties if your younger self met up with her younger self ! She loved everything plain and bland at one time too!
But these muffins are anything but plain and bland – fantastic job incorporating chocolate and ginger – and it’s FLOURLESS!!!!
I Love anything gingerbread flavoured! Yumm!! I’m just wondering is there something I could use that I may have on hand instead of almond butter? If so, how much? Thanks!
Unfortunately, you’d only be able to sub the almond butter in for another nut or seed butter. Because they’re flourless, the nut butter helps keep them together.