Spiced Apple Cupcakes Recipe
TIME/SERVINGS
Total: 35 mins
Active: 10 mins
Makes: 24 cupcakes
By Aida Mollenkamp
Adorned with maple frosting, these cupcakes are autumn made bite-sized!
This recipe was featured as part of our Sexy Vampire Halloween Party photo gallery.
INGREDIENTS
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick), at room temperature
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup low-fat buttermilk, shaken and at room temperature
- 3 cups Gala or other baking apples (about 4 medium apples), shredded on the large holes of a box grater
- Maple Buttercream
INSTRUCTIONS
- Heat the oven to 350°F and arrange a rack in the middle. Line 2 (12-well) muffin pans with paper liners. Alternatively, coat the wells with butter; set aside.
- Combine flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and ginger in a medium bowl and whisk to aerate and break up any lumps; set aside.
- Place butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat on medium-high speed until very light in color, about 2 minutes. Add sugar and vanilla and continue beating until mixture is airy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs one at a time and mix until well combined, about 1 minute.
- Turn off the mixer and scrape down the paddle and the sides of the bowl. Set the mixer on low speed, slowly pour in buttermilk, and mix until combined, about 15 seconds (he batter will look curdled, but it’s fine). Add reserved flour mixture and mix until just combined, about 15 seconds. Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold in shredded apples and any accumulated liquid until just combined, about 1 minute.
- Fill the muffin wells about 3/4 full (about 1/4 cup per well). Place muffin pans side by side on the rack and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcakes comes out clean, rotating the pans front to back and side to side halfway through the baking time, about 20 to 25 minutes total. Remove cupcakes from the pans and let cool completely on wire racks before frosting.
COMMENTS | ADD YOUR OWN
These are really tasty. But I had to cook them a lot longer than the recipe calls for. They stay a very light color even though they "pass" the toothpick test. They also stay very moist on the inside - though maybe that's due to the apples I used (winesap) which seemed very liquid-y (and the recipe said to include the liquid).
Sounds good, can't wait for the weekend to make them
Was just getting ingredients together to make these and noticed theres no call for baking soda in the recipe, only baking powder? Unless baking formula's have changed lately, a recipe that calls for buttermilk as a wet ingredient will always call for a wee bit of baking soda besides the baking powder for proper levening.
Will alter the leveners myself before making the muffins but thought I'd point out the missing BS as I believe the 2 teaspoons BP is a misprint.
Joyfull - Thanks for the observation. Baking powder actually contains baking soda, so the leavening is correct in the recipe.
- CHOW kitchen staff
they look like perfection.
I want to use the frosting on the vegan carrot cake--think it'll freeze ok?
I'll be making these this next week. What a perfectly festive treat to have around the house for my guests.