These Gingerbread Cupcakes with White Chocolate Pudding Frosting are to die for! The cupcakes are so soft and filled with all the glorious gingerbread flavors. And don’t even get me started on the incredibly tasty frosting!
Gingerbread Cupcakes with White Chocolate Pudding Frosting
So this frosting, you guys.
It’s sort of perfect.
It’s way different from my usual kill-me-now frosting. So if you’re looking for a really stable buttercream, this isn’t for you.
But if you want something a little lighter (not necessarily healthier) you’re barking up the right tree.
It’s fluffy, it’s sweet, it’s got pudding in it.
Here’s how this happened…last week I was innocently shopping and came across this…
I didn’t even know Hershey made pudding…so of course I tweeted, instagrammed and obsessed over it. Typical.
Within a few minutes of tweeting it, Maria tweeted me back saying she had just made Oreo White Chocolate Pudding Cookies...so I decided I needed to make something different.
I saw this frosting a while back and knew it would be the perfect vehicle for the pudding. I mean, Pudding Frosting? Hello…yes!
Deciding on a cupcake for this frosting to sit on was easy peasy.
So here’s what I did…
How to Make The Best Christmas Cupcakes
I started by making the cupcakes. Which required me to break out my very lonely jar of molasses. Homeboy doesn’t get much play.
The batter is super easy…I filled up some cute cupcake liners about 2/3 full and baked away!
While they were baking I made the frosting…
Note, this frosting requires about an hour in the fridge before frosting, so leave a little time for that!
You’ve got cream cheese, milk, pudding, and powdered sugar in there. Beat it until it thickens…
I transferred mine into an airtight container to chill for a bit.
When the cupcakes were cooled and the frosting was chilled, I did some piping and I ate.
Seriously.
And I’m just gonna say this, I bet this frosting would make a great “mousse” served in cups or jars topped with fruit, or chocolate. Nothing like frosting you can eat straight.
Now hop over and check out Maria’s (Two Peas and Their Pod) Oreo White Chocolate Pudding Cookies.
I’ve also done some Oreo Pudding Cookies with Oreo Pudding, so check those out too!
PrintGingerbread Cupcakes
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 18 minutes
- Total Time: 43 minutes
- Yield: 10 cupcakes 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
These homemade gingerbread cupcakes are bursting with holiday cheer! They’re soft, spiced, and topped with silky white chocolate cream cheese frosting made from pudding mix.
Ingredients
For the Cupcakes
- 1 1/4 cups flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 cup butter (4 Tbsp), room temp
- 1/3 cup dark brown sugar
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup very hot water
For the Frosting
- 1 box white chocolate instant pudding (3.5 oz box – 4 servings)
- 1 cup cold milk
- 1/3 cup powdered sugar
- 4 oz cream cheese
- 8 oz tub Cool Whip, thawed
Instructions
For the Cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.
- In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Set aside.
- With your mixer, beat butter, brown sugar, and molasses together until creamy and smooth.
- Add egg and mix well.
- Turn the mixer to low and alternately add the dry mixture and water, starting and ending with the dry mixture. Mix until smooth.
- Fill liners 2/3 full and bake for 18-20 minutes.
- Cool completely before frosting.
For the Frosting
- In your stand mixer beat cream cheese until smooth and light, 1-2 minutes.
- Add in pudding mix, milk, and powdered sugar, beating until blended and thickened, about 2 minutes. Fold in the Cool Whip until evenly incorporated.
- Chill the frosting for an hour before frosting cupcakes to firm.
Notes
- Store frosted cupcakes in the refrigerator, or frost just before serving.
- Frosting recipe adapted from Confessions of a Cookbook Queen, cupcake recipe adapted from McCormick.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 317
- Sugar: 23.8 g
- Sodium: 224.8 mg
- Fat: 12.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 46.3 g
- Protein: 5.8 g
- Cholesterol: 43.2 mg
I would love to use this, but I’m allergic to cool whip, don’t ask me what It just makes me feel hella sick. Is there someone I can use instead of cool whip?
You could use whipped cream in it’s place!
Cool whip is deadly don’t ever feed to your loved ones! Just read the ingredients nothing real in it!!
I made the frosting last night. I could literally eat it with a spoon it is sooooo good. Perfectly light and fluffy and not too sweet. I hope it freezes well because I only needed to frost about 18 cupcakes and I have left over. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
So, I made the cupcakes. The cupcakes are delicious and possibly the most moist spice cake that I’ve ever had. I also made the frosting and followed the recipe to a tee. However, it was a soup like texture. I refrigerated for several hours and it was still soup. I added 7 cups of powered sugar. Still soup. Delicious soup, but nothing that would hold form. I ended up making a classic buttercream and added some of the soup in lieu of milk along with another box of pudding mix. Tasted awesome and love the concept, but the first batch following the original recipe didn’t work for frosting cupcakes.
Ahhhh… I went to 2 grocery stores in Milwaukee,WI. They only sell JELLO sugar free + fat free white chocolate pudding. Would instant vanilla work? I really want to make these this weekend for a holiday party..
You could really do this with any flavor pudding.. But I bet vanilla would be great!!
Those are so pretty, the frosting is perfect!
I was sold on the photographs alone! Yum! 🙂
Um, yeah, this frosting pretty much rocks… I want to dig right in. No joke.