It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas - gingerbread in the air!

muffins, Santa visits our neighborhood, Lucky our elf and
those matching smells from the gingerbread house
SO much holiday fun (and it's just starting)

The holidays will be here before we know it. So, its a good time to do some festive baking. I was never a fan of gingerbread anything when I was little, but I have grown to love the warm and prefer what I would call mellow gingerbread flavors (not the over powering, too spicy almost). Your whole house will be filled with the great scents of Christmas. My son was eager to find the matching smell  with the gingerbread house we made the day before, as he put it once the muffins were baked.

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose gluten free flour - I use Trader Joes1 tsp xanthan gum (omit if your blend already contains it)1/4 teaspoon baking soda1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon1 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger1/4 teaspoon kosher salt1/2 c. brown sugar1/4 c. unsulphured molasses2 tbls honey6 tbls applesauce2 eggs at room temperature, beaten

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease or line a standard 12-cup muffin tin and set it aside.In a large bowl, place the flour, xanthan gum, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, salt and sugar, and whisk to combine well. In a separate, medium-sized bowl, place the molasses, honey, applesauce and eggs, and beat until well-combined. Create a well in the center of the large bowl of dry ingredients, add the molasses mixture and mix until just combined. The batter will be thick and sticky. Scoop the batter evenly into muffin tin using a ice cream scoop. They should be able 3/4 of the way full, making sure each is even.Place the tin in the center of the preheated oven and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean, or with a few moist bits (about 20 minutes). Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the muffin tin for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
• You can make an icing as well - extra sugar or not to extra sugar, that is the question. Mix 1/4 c. confectioners sugar with small amounts of water, start with 1/4 tsp and mix until thick consistency. Put in a resealable bag, snip the corner off and pipe out a little on muffins anyway you like.

Enjoy!