Easy, From-scratch spiced apple cupcakes are a fall dream come true!
Learn how to make these easy apple spice cupcakes, complete with a delicious maple brown sugar frosting.
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One of the best parts of fall is the abundance of fresh apples! My family loves to visit a nearby apple orchard and wander the endless rows of apple trees.
We end up coming home with bushels of apples, and dreams of the many ways we’re going to use them with some of our favorite apple recipes.
We love apple blondies, old-fashioned country apple cake, apple cider bundt cake, and these delicious apple spice cupcakes!
Baked goods loaded with apple flavor are one of the hallmarks of fall, if you ask me.
The good news is, you can enjoy delicious apple baked goods even without a bushel and a peck of apples!
Spiced apple cupcakes are one of those classic desserts that instantly elevates an experience.
They’re lovely, delicious, and a simple sweet treat that everyone will love. It’s like apple pie cupcakes!
Don’t be intimidated by a from-scratch cupcake. Basic ingredients transform into the perfect cupcake, topped with a maple brown sugar frosting that is to die for!
How to Make This Easy Apple Spice Cupcakes Recipe
It’s really easy to make these apple cupcakes from scratch!
Ingredients You’ll Need:
- Butter
- Sour cream
- Eggs
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Ground cinnamon
- Ground ginger
- Ground cloves
- Brown sugar
- Shredded apple
- Powdered sugar
- Maple syrup
How to Make It:
Combine wet ingredients. To start, you’ll combine eggs, melted butter, and sour cream in a large bowl. Use an electric mixer (or you can mix by hand with a whisk) to combine until smooth.
Combine dry ingredients. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients, including all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground cloves, and brown sugar.
Mix the batter. Gradually add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, mixing well to combine into a thick batter. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Add the apples. Next, you’ll add shredded apple to the batter, mixing just until combined.
Bake the cupcakes. Divide batter into a muffin tin lined with cupcake liners. Bake for about 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcakes comes out clean.
Remove the spiced cupcakes from the muffin pans and transfer to wire racks.
Make the frosting. While the cupcakes cool, prepare the frosting.
Use an electric mixer to beat butter, brown sugar, and maple syrup together until smooth.
With the mixer on low speed, gradually add in the powdered sugar. Once incorporated, increase speed to high for a few minutes until light and fluffy.
Decorate and serve. Transfer the frosting to a piping bag fitted with the tip of your choice. Use the decorating bag to swirl frosting onto the top of cooled cupcakes.
Notes and Adaptations:
- You can use any type of apples you have on hand, but I do prefer using a tart apple, such as granny smith apples. These bake well and give great apple flavor. Honeycrisp would be a great choice, too.
- Turn these into caramel apple cupcakes by topping them with a caramel drizzle! You could certainly make a homemade caramel sauce, but I’d spring for jarred caramel topping instead.
- Cupcakes can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature until serving.
- These would also be delicious with the cinnamon cream cheese frosting on these churro cupcakes.
- If you don’t have all of the warm fall spices on hand, you could substitute with apple pie spice blend instead.
Recommended Equipment:
Delicious Apple Spice Cupcakes
Spiced apple cupcakes are topped with maple brown sugar frosting, for a fall dream come true!
Ingredients
- For the Cupcakes:
- ½ cup butter, melted
- ½ cup sour cream
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 cups shredded apple
- For the Frosting:
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- ⅓ cup maple syrup
- ½ cup butter
- 2 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and add cupcake liners to a muffin pan.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine melted butter, sour cream, and eggs. Mix by hand or with an electric mixer until smooth.
- In a separate medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and brown sugar.
- With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients to form a thick batter.
- Stir in shredded apple, mixing to combine.
- Scoop batter into prepared pan. Bake for about 15-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
- Transfer cupcakes to a wire rack to cool.
- Meanwhile, prepare frosting. Use an electric mixer to beat together brown sugar, maple syrup, and butter until smooth.
- Gradually add powdered sugar, mixing to combine, then increase mixer speed to high for about 5 minutes, until light and fluffy.
- Transfer frosting to a piping bag fitted with the tip of your choice. Pipe swirls of frosting onto completely cooled cupcakes.
Notes
You can use plain greek yogurt instead of sour cream, if desired.
You can use any type of apples you have on hand, but I do prefer
using a tart apple, such as granny smith apples. These bake well and
give great apple flavor. Honeycrisp would be a great choice, too.
Turn these into caramel apple cupcakes by topping them with a caramel
drizzle! You could certainly make a homemade caramel sauce, but I’d
spring for jarred caramel topping instead.
Cupcakes can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature until serving.
If you don’t have all of the warm fall spices on hand, you could substitute with apple pie spice blend instead.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
12Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 383Total Fat: 18gSaturated Fat: 11gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 77mgSodium: 312mgCarbohydrates: 54gFiber: 2gSugar: 39gProtein: 3g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated and is not guaranteed for accuracy.
