Spiced Apple Cupcakes Recipe
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Adorned with maple frosting, these cupcakes are autumn made bite-sized!
This recipe was featured as part of our Sexy Vampire Halloween Party menu.
INGREDIENTS
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon fine salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick), at room temperature, plus more for coating the muffin pans if needed
- 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 shredded 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 the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and ginger in a medium bowl and whisk to aerate and break up any lumps; set aside.
- Place the 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 the sugar and vanilla and continue beating until the mixture is airy, about 2 minutes. Add the 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 the buttermilk, and mix until combined, about 15 seconds (the batter will look curdled, but it’s fine). Add the reserved flour mixture and mix until just combined, about 15 seconds. Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold in the shredded apples and any accumulated liquid until just combined, about 1 minute.
- Fill the muffin wells about three-quarters full (about 1/4 cup per well). Place the muffin pans side by side on the rack and bake until a toothpick inserted into 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 the cupcakes from the pans and let cool completely on wire racks before frosting.
Yummy! I made these but I made a few changes -added about a teaspoon of calvados -squeezed juice out of the apples -replaced half the maple syrup with maple flakes (sugar) -also let them to cook longer so there was a nice crunchy little crust on the top. delicious with the accompanying icing!
I made these earlier today for Christmas. They are super delicious/tender/moist/etc.-- but they did not rise enough. The centers are mushy, though cooked since there is no doughy taste. I wonder, however, whether three cups of shredded apple might be too much. Of course, it may all be my fault for doing something wrong. Cooking meals is my thing; I generally leave the baking to my mother.
Very fattening and unhealthy - the thought of buttercream makes me feel nauseas. I'm sure that the actresses who started this cupcake craze never let a morsel pass their lips or if they do it's for the camera and then they spit it out.
I'll be making these this next week. What a perfectly festive treat to have around the house for my guests.
they look like perfection. I want to use the frosting on the vegan carrot cake--think it'll freeze ok?
Joyfull - Thanks for the observation. Baking powder actually contains baking soda, so the leavening is correct in the recipe. - CHOW kitchen staff
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.
Sounds good, can't wait for the weekend to make them
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).