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–+ servings
Apple cupcakes decorated like apples with red sugar and green leaves.

Apple Cupcakes

Bree Hester
4.67 from 3 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Additional Time 20 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Course cupcakes
Cuisine American
Servings 12
Calories 339 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon fresh nutmeg
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 2 sticks butter at room temperature
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cups brown sugar
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 1/2 cups applesauce
  • 1 cup toasted pecans chopped

For the Brown Sugar Buttercream:

  • 1 stick room temperature cream cheese
  • 1 stick room temperature butter
  • 1 cup brown sugar

To decorate:

  • Red jimmies or red sanding sugar
  • Thin pretzel sticks
  • Green Fruit Roll Ups

Instructions
 

  • Cream together both sugars with the butter until light and fluffy. (I totally made a mistake and only used 1 stick of butter. The recipe was great, but would have been even better with that extra stick. Oops.)
    Creaming white sugar, brown sugar, and butter for Apple Cupcakes in a stand mixer.
  • Put the dry ingredients in a bowl and whisk together. I cannot stress enough what a difference freshly grated nutmeg makes.
    Baked Bree, father and child mixing ingredients in a kitchen for baking.
  • Add the eggs one at a time. Look very serious while your sister is adding the eggs. Serious = adorable.
    Baked Bree, kids baking in the kitchen with mixer and ingredients, family baking recipe, children helping in the kitchen, kids cooking at home.
  • Add the applesauce.
    Boy helping baking with adult in kitchen, mixing batter in stand mixer.
  • Mix it all together.
    Kids baking with a stand mixer in a bright kitchen, making delicious homemade treats.
  • Add in the dry ingredients. Fold in the nuts by hand. Put the cupcake batter into lined muffin tins. We used red liners to make them look even more like apples. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 18 to 20 minutes.
    Adding dry ingredients to the wet batter for Apple Cupcakes in a stand mixer.
  • Beat the cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Add the brown sugar and beat until combined. Now that I am thinking about it, a sprinkle of cinnamon in that frosting would have been a really good idea.
    Beating cream cheese, butter, and brown sugar in a stand mixer for Apple Cupcakes frosting.
  • Using a sharp knife or a cookie cutter, cut some leaf shapes out of the Fruit Roll Up.
    Cutting leaf shapes from green Fruit Roll Up for Apple Cupcakes.
  • Frost the cupcake with the Brown Sugar Buttercream.
    Apple cupcake with brown sugar buttercream frosting.
  • Sprinkle the red sanding sugar generously on the cupcake. (I think that it works better to dip the cupcake in the sugar, it covers the cupcake better that way.) Stick the pretzel in for the stem and add a leaf.
    Sprinkling red sanding sugar on an Apple Cupcake, adding a pretzel stem and green leaf.

Nutrition

Calories: 339kcalCarbohydrates: 65gProtein: 5gFat: 8gSaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 268mgFiber: 2g
Keyword apple cupcakes, apple week recipe, apple-themed dessert, applesauce cupcakes, baking with kids, brown sugar buttercream, buttercream frosting whipped, cinnamon cupcakes, easy cupcakes, fall baking recipes, family baking, fun cupcakes, kid-friendly baking
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