Apple Pie Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Buttercream
These delicious Apple Pie Cupcakes are stuffed with an apple pie filling, and topped off with salted caramel buttercream frosting and a caramel drizzle.
Hi everyone! I’m Kelly, and I share family favorite recipes over on my blog, Life Made Sweeter. I am so excited to be guest posting here today as part of Amber’s new contributor team.
I love whipping up sweet treats with fun and creative flavor combinations, so today I am sharing these Apple Pie Cupcakes which are a cross between a cupcake and an apple pie.
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Since Amber and I both share a love for this classic dessert, I thought it would be fun to combine all of the comforting flavors of apple pie into a delicious cupcake.
These are as easy as pie to whip up too! Well — they may be even easier since you won’t have to roll out any dough. Plus cupcakes take way less effort to share with a crowd.
First we start off with these spiced apple pie cupcakes that are a breeze to make. You’ll love how easy it is to whip up the batter and best of all, you won’t need your mixer!
There’s Greek yogurt and buttermilk in the batter which keeps the cupcakes light and fluffy. Oh and be prepared for the sweet aroma of sugary cinnnamon and apple spices that will fill up your house while they’re baking in the oven — it seriously doesn’t get any better than that!
After they’ve cooled off, we’ll cut out a circle at the top of the cupcakes and stuff them with a homemade apple pie filling.
And then there’s an oozy layer of salted caramel sauce which we’ll pour over the cupcakes.
A piping of salted caramel buttercream frosting gives these the perfect combination of salty and sweet. It’s like creamy caramel bliss and goes perfectly with all the cinnamon and apple-y flavors.
And finally – we’ll top these off with an additional drizzle of salted caramel sauce, apple filling, and pecans. One bite of these cupcakes will have you ready to welcome all the fall flavors with open arms!
You may also want to try these other apple recipes from Life Made Sweeter:
- Apple Pie Pecan Cinnamon Rolls with Salted Glaze {GF}}
- Baked Apple Cinnnamon Doughnuts with Maple Glaze
Apple Pie Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Buttercream
Ingredients
Spiced Apple Cupcakes
- 1 ½ cups (180 g) all-purpose flour, (stir, spoon & level)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp apple pie spice, {or substitute with a pinch of each of these spices: nutmeg, ground ginger, ground cloves}
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter, melted
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup (80 ml) buttermilk, (or combine ⅓ cup milk + 1 teaspoon white vinegar and let sit for 5 minutes)
- ¼ cup (64 g) Greek yogurt , (I used non-fat)
Apple Pie Filling
- 2 medium sized apples, peeled, cored and diced
- 2 Tbsp (28 g) unsalted butter
- ¼ cup (50 g) light brown sugar, gently packed
- lemon juice from a quarter lemon
- ½ Tbsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp apple pie spice, {or substitute with a pinch of each of these spices: nutmeg, ground ginger, ground cloves}
Salted Caramel Buttercream Frosting
- ¾ cup (170 g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ cup (82 g) salted caramel sauce, at room temperature (I used store-bought)
- pinch salt
- 1 ½ to 2 cups (180-240 g) powdered sugar
- 1 Tbsp heavy cream
Optional Toppings
- Chopped pecans or walnuts
- Salted caramel sauce for garnish
- Apple pie filling for garnish
- Apple slices for garnish
Instructions
- For the cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line cupcake pan with paper cups.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, apple pie spice, and salt.
- In a large microwave-safe bowl, melt butter in the microwave in 20 second increments until melted. Whisk in sugar. Mix in eggs one at a time until well mixed. Pour in vanilla, buttermilk, and yogurt until combined. Slowly stir in dry ingredients until no lumps remain. Batter will be thick.
- Divide batter among cupcake liners, filling each ⅔ full.
- Bake in preheated oven for about 17 to 19 minutes or when a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool in muffin tin several minutes before transferring to a wire rack. Allow to cool completely before filling and frosting.
- Make the apple pie filling: In a medium saucepan, place chopped apples, butter, brown sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon, and apple pie spice together. Cook over medium heat for about 5 to 8 minutes, until apples are tender. Stir occasionally. Allow mixture to cool.
- Make the frosting: In the bowl of an electric stand mixer or with your hand mixer, cream butter on medium high speed for about 3 to 4 minutes. Add vanilla extract and salted caramel sauce; mix until combined, scraping down the sides as needed.
- Add 1 cup of powdered sugar and salt; beat on low until powdered sugar is incorporated. Add heavy cream and then add more powdered sugar until desired consistency is achieved.
- Increase speed to medium, and beat until smooth and well combined for another 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
- Prepare a piping bag and fill with frosting.
- Assembly: Using a small knife, cut and remove a circle in the center of each cupcake.
- Fill with apple filling.
- Pour a layer of salted caramel over the apples.
- Pipe frosting on top. ( I used a Wilton 1M tip )
- Drizzle with more salted caramel sauce and add optional toppings if desired.
Notes
Did you make this?
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So delicious!
Thank you Laura 🙂
Oh these SCREAM Fall and are beautiful to boot!
Thanks so much Veronic, so glad you like them 🙂
This looks delicious, Kelly! A couple of years ago I made a similar cake (apple pie cake with caramel buttercream) and it was one of my all time favorites, but these cupcakes look even tastier! Nomnomnom
Thanks so much Sarah! You can never go wrong with apple pie cake or cupcakes in my opinion – I have a feeling yours was totally amazing!:)
These cupcakes are honestly next level – stuffed with apples and then topped off with caramel and buttercream?! Amazing!! 🙂
Gourmet cupcakes that’s for sure! Kelly did a fabulous job on this recipe!
Yay, so glad you like them, I had a lot of fun putting everything together 🙂
These look wonderful! Kelly has some mad frosting skills! 🙂
Aren’t they gorgeous?! Kelly totally rocked the piping bag!
Aaw, thanks so much sweet lady 🙂
The cupcake batter, apple filling, salted caramel sauce, and frosting all look completely sublime! Love the photos. These are some serious cupcakes and so perfectly timely. Great job, Kelly! 🙂
Aaw thanks so much Monica, I had a fun putting all the components together too. So glad you like them and hope you enjoy the rest of the weekend:)
Isn’t Kelly so talented?! She hit it right on the nail with this post!
Wow! I’m swooning over these fabulous cupcakes! I can think of no better way to welcome in fall. And your photography is simply gorgeous.
These definitely got me ready for fall when I was making them. Thanks so much Jen 🙂
All y’all are throwing down some sweet recipes! I have the BEST contributors in the world!
Aaw thanks so much Sarah!! So glad you like them since I know what a big caramel apple fan you are:) Can’t wait to see your gorgeous post, I know it’s gonna totally rock!! Thanks so much Amber for this awesome opportunity to post here today!:)
I’ll be welcoming these cupcakes with open arms, open hands, and an open mouth! Gorgeous!
Thanks Julia! So glad to hear that you like them 🙂
Sounds like a plan! 😉
Gahhh! KELLY I don’t think words can even describe how awesome these cupcakes are sounding (and looking!) to me right now. Great first post, girl!
P.S. I’m dying over that salted caramel buttercream. DYING. 🙂 Pinned!
I totally agree! Kelly did an AWESOME job! Like, incredible!