Apple Pie Cupcakes

Half of an apple pie cupcake laying on a cake stand, surrounded by more cupcakes and red apples. The apple filling inside the cupcake is visible.

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5 from 3 votes

Apple Pie Cupcakes

Prep Time45

Cook Time28

Total Time1 13

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Dessert

Keyword: Apple Desserts, Cupcakes

Servings: cupcakes

Author: Stephanie Simmons

Ingredients

For the Apple Filling & Topping:

5 large honeycrisp apples, peeled and diced 705 grams
2 tbsp salted butter 28 grams
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed Light or dark. 80 grams
1 and 3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 tbsp boiled cider or apple cider 17 grams
1 tsp corn starch
1 tsp water

For the Cupcakes:

1 and 1/2 cups + 1 tbsp cake flour, spooned & leveled or weighed out 180 grams
1 cup granulated sugar 210 grams
3 tbsp light brown sugar, packed 36 grams
1 and 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
7 tbsp salted butter, softened at room temperature 100 grams
2 tbsp vegetable oil 27 grams
1/3 cup + 1 tbsp milk, at room temperature 90 grams
1/2 cup full-fat sour cream, at room temperature 120 grams
1 tbsp warm water 15 grams
1/2 tsp vinegar
1 tbsp vanilla bean paste See Note below
2 large eggs, at room temperature

Apple Cider Frosting:

1/2 cup + 2 tbsp salted butter, softened at room temperature 141 grams
3 and 1/2 cups to 4 cups powdered sugar 402 to grams to 460 grams- adjust to taste!
2-4 tbsp boiled apple cider See note below
2 tbsp heavy cream To help things combine (15-30 grams)
1 tbsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
pinch of salt, to taste
1/4 tsp cinnamon Adjust to taste

Instructions

Make the Apple Filling & Topping. Add all filling ingredients except the corn starch & water to a medium saucepan over medium high heat. Cook over medium high heat, stirring, for about 8-12 minutes – or until the apples are tender to your liking. Stir together cornstarch and water in a small bowl until dissolved, and stir into the apples while still over medium high heat. Cook for 1 minute or so until the juices thicken up. Remove from heat and pop in the fridge to cool.
5 large honeycrisp apples, peeled and diced, 2 tbsp salted butter, 1/3 cup brown sugar, packed, 1 and 3/4 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, 1/4 tsp allspice, 1/4 tsp ground cloves, 1 tbsp boiled cider or apple cider, 1 tsp corn starch, 1 tsp water
Prep: Preheat your oven to 350° F. Line two cupcake pans with paper liners, in preparation for 16-17 cupcakes.
Start the Batter: In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugars, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Add the softened butter and oil, and mix on low speed for about 30-60 seconds, just until the butter starts incorporating and you have a sandy mixture with some drier sandy bits, and some unevenly incorporated chunks of butter coated in flour.
1 and 1/2 cups + 1 tbsp cake flour, spooned & leveled or weighed out , 1 cup granulated sugar, 3 tbsp light brown sugar, packed, 1 and 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/8 tsp salt, 1 tsp cinnamon, 7 tbsp salted butter, softened at room temperature , 2 tbsp vegetable oil
Finish the Batter: In a 2-cup glass measuring cup, whisk together the sour cream, milk, water, and vinegar until combined. Add 2 tbsp of this mixture to the bowl of butter and flour. Mix on low speed just until the mixture starts to come together (no more dry bits!), but is still lumpy. (See photos in blog post above for a visual).
Then, add the vanilla and eggs to the remaining liquid mixture, lightly beating the eggs with a fork to break them up. Pour half this mixture into the bowl of batter with your mixer running on low. When it's almost incorporated, pour in the remaining liquid, mixing on low until just combined. Scrape the bowl to make sure everything is mixed in - a few small lumps is fine! Do not overmix.
1/3 cup + 1 tbsp milk, at room temperature, 1/2 cup full-fat sour cream, at room temperature, 1 tbsp warm water, 1/2 tsp vinegar, 1 tbsp vanilla bean paste, 2 large eggs, at room temperature
Bake: Divide the batter evenly among your 16-17 cupcake papers. Fill them about 2/3 full, or use 52 grams of batter per cupcake (I like precision!).
Bake for 14 to 17 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the center should pull out moist crumbs, not wet batter.
Immediately use a butter knife to pop the cupcakes out of the hot pan, and place them on a wire rack to cool completely.
Make the Frosting: While the cupcakes cool, make the frosting. In a medium bowl, beat the butter until creamy, 30-60 seconds. Add the powdered sugar and mix until combined, using the heavy cream as needed to help things along.
Mix in the remaining frosting ingredients, adjusting to taste. If for some reason your frosting is too soft or weepy, pop the bowl in the fridge or freezer to stiffen it back up.
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp salted butter, softened at room temperature , 3 and 1/2 cups to 4 cups powdered sugar, 2-4 tbsp boiled apple cider, 2 tbsp heavy cream, 1 tbsp vanilla bean paste, pinch of salt, to taste, 1/4 tsp cinnamon
Decorate: Make sure your cupcakes are completely cooled. Use a cupcake corer or a teaspoon to core each cupcake. Add 1-2 tsp of apple filling into each cupcake. Fill a piping bag fitted with an Ateco 1A tip, then pipe swirls of frosting onto the cupcakes. Use the back of an offset spatula or spoon to create a swirl in the center of the top of the frosting. Add another spoonful of apple filling on top and drizzle with the juices from the apple filling.
Serve + Store: Dig in immediately once the cupcakes are frosted! Store in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days. Let cold cupcakes come back to room temperature on the counter before enjoying (or eat them cold, if you like a denser texture!)
Freezing Instructions: These cupcakes freeze well without the filling and frosting. Let thaw on your counter for 1-2 hours before filling & frosting.

Notes

Boiled Cider – If you don’t want to boil your own cider, you can purchase boiled cider online. Just be sure the only ingredient is apple cider.

A note about "odd" measurements: I already know someone is going to complain that the recipe yields 17 cupcakes (yes, this number bothers me too, but think of it as a 16 cupcake yield with a bonus cupcake for the baker!) or that the milk measurement is 1/3 cup + 1 tbsp, or that the butter amount is 7 tbsp. I realize these are odd numbers but this is the reality of a real person testing a recipe until they've perfected it - sometimes the amounts that produce the best possible version of a recipe don't fit into nice tidy boxes. I started with 80 grams of milk in this recipe, which fits nicely into that 1/3 measurement, but the recipe needed just a tad more moisture - hence the extra 10 grams of milk and the wonky measurement.

In the "American" system of measuring for baking, we are used to seeing measurements that fit into pre-determined intervals of 1/4, 1/3, 1/2, and 1 cup. But when baking in grams (like most of the world does), your measurements don't have to fit into those pre-determined intervals! A recipe calls for 100 grams of butter? Great! Weigh out 10o grams of butter. Does it call for 90 grams of milk? Great, weigh it out. Do you see where I'm going with this? I hope you'll forgive the occasional odd measurement and know that it came out of thorough recipe testing and baking science, and I hope you'll consider switching to a scale for baking! It's much more accurate.

Nutrition