Gingerbread chocolate chip muffins - it's Christmas time around here!

Spices are ingredients I love – to the point of buying a cookbook devoted to them – and I use them throughout the year, but this time of the year is when I reach for them the most: lots of ginger, cinnamon and cloves to set the mood for Christmas. My holiday series starts now, with super tender muffins perfumed with ginger, both fresh and ground – and to make everything even more delicious, there’s chocolate, too.

Gingerbread chocolate chip muffins
slightly adapted from the super beautiful More from Macrina: New Favorites from Seattle's Popular Neighborhood Bakery

1 cup dark chocolate chips
1 ½ cups (210g) all purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
½ cup (113g/1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/3 cup (58g) brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon peeled, grated fresh ginger
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup molasses
¾ cup (180ml) buttermilk*

Preheat the oven to 165°C/325°F (I baked my muffins at 180°C/350°F). Line 8 cups of standard muffin pan with paper cases.
Toss the chocolate chips with 1 tablespoon of the flour. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, sift together the remaining flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ground ginger, cinnamon and cloves. In the large bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter, sugar and fresh ginger until light and fluffy. Add the egg, beat well, then add the yolk, beating well – if the mixture looks curdled, beat in ¼ cup of the dry ingredients. Scrape the sides of the bowl. Beat in the vanilla.
At low speed, drizzle in the molasses and mix until combined. With a spatula, fold in the dry ingredients in three additions alternating with the buttermilk – do not overmix. Fold in the chocolate chips. Divide the batter among the prepared pans. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until risen and golden and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

* homemade buttermilk: to make 1 cup buttermilk place 1 tablespoon lemon juice in a 240ml-capacity measuring cup and complete with whole milk (room temperature). Wait 10 minutes for it to thicken slightly, then use the whole mixture in your recipe

Makes 8 – I made the exact recipe above using this pan and got 8 muffins