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These Caramel Apple Cupcakes are made with a spiced apple cupcake and topped with caramel buttercream. They melt in your mouth and are such a delicious apple dessert idea!
This recipe uses my Easy Salted Caramel Sauce as an ingredient. It’s the best caramel ever!
So today’s recipe is actually an update of a recipe from back in 2015. The older version was based on my very first vanilla cupcake recipe I shared on this site. It was a much denser cupcake. Today’s update is based on my new Easy Homemade Vanilla Cupcakes, which are light and fluffy and have been a favorite for a while now. Given that I love the new vanilla cupcakes so much, it seemed appropriate to update this wonderful fall dessert with my BEST version!
Despite the update, the flavors and such are quite similar. It’s the execution that’s a bit different. These cupcakes are still full of cinnamon, nutmeg, brown sugar, apples and caramel. But they now use the more traditional creaming method and ultimately come out quite differently in texture.
Cupcake Ingredients
While you don’t really need to hear all about every ingredient, I thought I’d highlight the more significant ones:
- Cinnamon and Nutmeg: For the perfect fall apple flavors.
- Butter and Oil: I like to use a combination of the two so that you have both the great flavor of butter and the added moisture of the oil.
- Brown Sugar: This recipe uses regular granulated sugar and brown sugar. The brown sugar adds extra flavor and warmth to these cupcakes.
- Sour Cream and Milk: The combination of sour cream and milk, as opposed to just milk, helps to thicken up the cupcake batter to keep the apples from sinking to the bottom while baking.
- Apples: You’ll want to peel your apples and then dice them so that you don’t have huge chunks in your cupcakes. I used Granny Smith apples, but other varieties such as Honeycrisp would work well too.
Caramel Buttercream Ingredients
Naturally, this buttercream has plenty of butter in it. Additionally, you’ll find:
- Powdered Sugar: I’m often asked about reducing powdered sugar amounts and it’s hard to answer that sometimes. For me, a thicker buttercream is preferred so I’d say don’t. But if you are ok with a thinner buttercream that doesn’t hold up as well to some piping, you can certainly reduce it. It’s kind of a preference thing, in addition to a consistency thing.
- Caramel Sauce: I mentioned before that I used a homemade caramel sauce and that’s definitely what I recommend here. Often store bought sauces are much thinner and will thin out your frosting more quickly without adding as much flavor. My homemade sauce is thick enough and has lots of flavor so that you’ll end up with a flavorful buttercream that still has a nice consistency to it.
- Cinnamon: Optional, but I do love my cinnamon.
How to make Caramel Apple Cupcakes
As mentioned before, these cupcakes use the creaming method. So to get started, you’ll combine your butter, oil and sugars and cream them together for about three minutes. Don’t skimp on that time! It adds air to the batter that helps the cupcakes rise. You’ll actually be able to see a noticeable difference in the color and texture of the mixture when it’s ready.
Next, you’ll add the vanilla and sour cream, then the eggs one at a time.
After that, you’ll alternate adding your dry ingredients and milk.
Finally, you’ll fold in your chopped apples. Pretty straightforward, right?!
When your cupcakes are baked and cooled, you’ll make your caramel buttercream. Beat your butter until smooth, then add about half of the powdered sugar.
Add some of the caramel sauce next, then add the remainder of the powdered sugar.
Now that you know just how thick your powdered sugar is, you can add more caramel sauce until you have both the consistency and flavor you want. If you’re adding the cinnamon, you can do that too.
Finally, pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes and decorate them with a caramel drizzle and apple slice.
For an even more detailed look at how to make these cupcakes, check out the video below where I walk you through the whole process.
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You might also like these apple dessert recipes:
Caramel Apple Cheesecake Blondie Trifle
Easy Caramel Apple Cheesecake
Caramel Apple Pecan Layer Cake
Caramel Apple Trifles
Caramel Apple Blondie Cheesecake
Caramel Apple Cookie Cups
Caramel Apple Pie Bars
Recipe updated 8/18/2020. For the previous version of the recipe, download the PDF.
PrintCaramel Apple Cupcakes
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 14-16 Cupcakes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
These Caramel Apple Cupcakes are made with a spiced apple cupcake and topped with caramel icing. They melt in your mouth and are such a delicious apple dessert idea!
Ingredients
APPLE SPICE CUPCAKES
- 1 1/2 cups (195g) all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup (56g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/4 cup (60ml) vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup (52g) sugar
- 1/2 cup (112g) packed brown sugar
- 3/4 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 tbsp (43g) sour cream
- 2 large eggs
- 3/4 cup (180ml) milk
- 1 cup finely chopped apple
CARAMEL BUTTERCREAM
- 1 1/4 cups (280g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 5 cups (575g) powdered sugar
- 4–6 tbsp caramel sauce
- Pinch of ground cinnamon
- Additional caramel sauce, for drizzling
- Apple slices, for decorating
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (176°C) and prepare a cupcake pan with cupcake liners.
- Combine the flour, baking powder , cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a medium sized bowl and set aside.
- Add the butter, oil and sugars to a large mixer bowl and beat together until light in color and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Do not skimp on the creaming time.
- Add the vanilla extract and sour cream and mix until well combined.
- Add the eggs one at a time, mixing until mostly combined after each. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to be sure all ingredients are well incorporated.
- Add half of the dry ingredients to the batter and mix until combined.
- Slowly add the milk and mix until well combined. The batter might look a little curdled, but that’s ok.
- Add the remaining dry ingredients and mix just until well combined and smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to be sure all ingredients are well incorporated. Do not over mix the batter.
- Gently fold in the chopped apples.
- Fill the cupcake liners about 3/4 full and bake for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Remove cupcakes from the oven and place on a cooling rack to cool.
- To make the caramel buttercream, add the butter to a large mixer bowl and beat until smooth.
- Carefully add about half of the powdered sugar and mix until smooth and well combined.
- Add about 4 tablespoons of the caramel sauce to the frosting and mix until well combined.
- Add the remaining powdered sugar and mix until smooth. Add additional caramel sauce as needed to get the right consistency and taste.
- Pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes. Decorate with a drizzle of caramel sauce and apple slice
- Cupcakes are best when stored well covered in the fridge for 2-3 days. Serve at room temperature.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Cupcake
- Calories: 440
- Sugar: 50.3 g
- Sodium: 75.2 mg
- Fat: 21.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 61 g
- Protein: 2.8 g
- Cholesterol: 70 mg
Categories
Enjoy!
is there an ingredient missing in the buttercream recipe? with just butter powdered sugar and caramel it was a dry clumpy mess. i had to add milk to make it creamy
No, the caramel is meant to act as the “milk”. If your buttercream needed more, I’d just add more caramel sauce. But milk or cream works too.
Can I freeze these cupcakes until I’m ready to decorate them?
Sure, the apples may just get a touch more mushy after thawing.
I did the recipe twice I loved it my family loved it thank you for this recipe
I’m so glad they were a hit!
Is there a way to cut some of the sweetness without sacrificing flavor? It’s really good, but I can only do half of one.
You could try reducing the sugar in the cupcakes, but it can affect the moisture and texture of the cupcakes. You can also try reducing the powdered sugar in the frosting, but it won’t be as thick. You could also try another type of frosting that isn’t as sweet, such as ermine frosting.
Amazing recipe! I got so many compliments on these cupcakes!! Thank you!
Awesome! So glad they were a hit!
Loved this recipe, a quick thing I did was use a box grader to sherd the apples. This made it really fast and the apples were in very small pieces.
So glad you enjoyed them!
Do you need to need to peel the apple first? Thanks!
I would peel the apples in the cupcakes.
Hello! I’m going to make your beautiful apple cupcakes for a friends daughters 21st. I just wondered if they can be made ahead of time and frozen? Thank you. Shirley
That should be fine. I’d probably freeze just the cupcake and add the frosting before serving.
Can you make this as a cake if so how long should it bake
You should be able to make it as a cake. I’d double it and bake it in three 8 inch pans. Not sure of the exact bake time, but probably 25 minutes-ish.
This was an amazing recipe. I did add a Tbsp of heavy whipping to the buttercream and I made a white chocolate candy apple flavored with apple flavoring for the decoration. I took pictures but unable to show you mine
They sound beautiful! Glad you enjoyed them!
This is a keeper, really impressed by how yummy these cupcakes are! Would love some tips on how to get the icing looking as great as yours.
So glad you enjoyed them! There’s a video above the recipe card where you can watch me decorate them and here’s a post for How To Frost Cupcakes. I hope those are helpful!
So good and easy to make! I (teenager) was able to make them all on my own with not much prior baking experience. I got so many compliments from family and friends!! I’m being asked to bring these to every school party/event. I baked some two days ago and now I’ll have to bake some more next week! My father even wants me to make a cake version of this for his birthday. The best part is eating the leftover frosting and caramel after the hard work of piping!
Awesome! So glad they’ve been a hit!
Can I make them in small bite size cup cake pan? If so how long do you suggest cooking and at what temperature?
Yes, that should be fine. You may just want to chop your apples up fairly small. The temperature should be the same and the bake time would probably be around eight minutes, give or take.
These cupcakes have the PERFECT texture! Not too sweet. They didn’t rise a ton but that’s probably my baking powder’s fault. I filled them with a little homemade caramel sauce and it was a great addition!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
Sooo goood
You said they are best if in fridge 2-3 days well covered so if I want them for Saturday I should make the one Wednesday
No, they stay good or at their best for 2-3 days. After that, they will be getting stale.
Can I substitute apple juice for the milk
You could try it. Apple juice doesn’t contain the same amount of fat as milk though so your cupcakes could have a little less fluffy texture.
I loved the taste of the cupcakes. But the recipe is far too sweet!
What type of apples do you recommend?
Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, Gala are all good options.
Can I make these ahead of time and freeze them to frost later?
I haven’t tested them but sometimes fruit can be mushy after freezing it.
Could you double this recipe and turn it into a 3 layer 8 inch cake?
Yes, that should be fine.
I love this recipe the first time I made it it was by fluk . I was making these horrible apple cider vinager cupcakes and they didn’t turn out so I had this wonderful brown sugar buttercream and came across this recipe . WOWZERS what a hit thank you and the buttercream made it 100 times better ( brown sugar butter cream ) thank you Lindsey ❤️🧁
How long do I bake if I want to make this into mini cupcakes?
I generally bake mini cupcakes for 7-10 minutes.
Hi, I was wondering if it’s ok to use unsweetened vanilla almond milk?
I haven’t tried it. I’m sure it’s fine, but with less fat in that milk, it can change the outcome a bit.
Can I double the recipe? I would like to make this for Thanksgiving. I have three places to visit so I would like to double the recipe. Would that be okay or should each batch be made separately?
You should be able to double it without a problem.
Help! I’m trying to make these for a wedding and they are a huge fail. They didn’t rise at all and they completely pulled away from the wrapper. They taste fine but look awful. I followed the directions exactly except I doubled it. I can’t imagine why this happened or what to do to prevent it.
It’s very hard to say from a distance. If they didn’t rise properly, I would check your baking powder and make sure you used baking powder and not baking soda and that you used the correct amount.
I used a vanilla box mix and followed the direction for everything else(all dry ingredients except I added brown sugar. I had the same problem with another scratch recipe two days ago and I think it’s my baking powder!! I forgot to pick some up so used a box at the last min this morning. Very delicious!!!
Hello! these look so yummy! what can I do to keep the apple from turning brown?
You could sprinkle a little lemon juice on it, but they will turn brown. I would add the apple decoration shortly before serving.
Hi, can I use buttermilk for the cupcake?
I have made these cupcakes a few times, and they are always a hit! I love how soft the cupcakes are, like eating a delicious apple caramel cloud, but I don’t know which ingredients (or combination thereof) contribute to that. I’d like to make a cake with this same softness for my daughter’s birthday alternating vanilla and chocolate layers. You have several recipes for vanilla and chocolate cakes, but I don’t know which ones to use. Can you recommend one?
These look sooo tasty!!! Definitely adding them to my list of food to make!
How long can I keep frosting? I have had in fridge 3 days, what should I do to it to reuse it once I take out of fridge. I made cupcake but I failed at recipe for some reason but plan to retry and use frosting
The frosting should be fine in the fridge for about a week or in the freezer for about three months. When you are ready to use it again, bring it back to room temperature and give it a good stir.
You are a baking queen! Thank you so much for sharing your talent! These turned out perfectly!!!
Wonderful! So glad you’re happy with them!
Hi, just wanted to check. The recipe above says it yields 14-16 cupcakes but in the comments you tell someone it makes 22-24. Which is it? Looks yummy by the way. I am planning to try it for my Halloween party this weekend.
The recipe has been updated recently. What you see in the recipe is correct – 14-16 cupcakes.
This recipe and especially the explanation of ingredients were spot on! it really helped me understand what role each ingredient plays! I love it! I actually found caramel bits which i put in the batter. i think next time i will cut them down further. instead of putting a slice of apple i put diced apples which were awesome!
So glad you enjoyed them!
Lindsay,
These cupcakes are fantastic and so fun to make! I shared them with some friends and they quickly voted these cupcakes as their favorite! Thanks again for a great recipe!
If I use cake flour will these still turn out and hold the weight of the apples and frosting?
I didn’t test them with cake flour, so it’s hard to say for sure.
This recipe was a huge hit last weekend! But I shouldn’t be surprised, because all of your recipes are keepers in my house!
Lindsey, these are stunning cupcakes!! Almost too pretty to eat….almost! LOL!
These look scrumptious–I definitely need to make them as soon as we some more apples 🙂
Every time I make these people fall in love! I can’t tell u how many time someone has said “Are you bringing those apple cupcakes?” with a big hopeful smile one their face. lol
Oh my gosh these are delicious! My family and I are obsessed with cinnamon/spice so we added extra brown sugar & cinnamon. Everyone needs to make these!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
What type of milk is best? I tend to always use buttermilk.
I used 2%
Can I make the cupcakes ahead and freeze and then Frost at a later date
That should be fine. Just make sure they are well covered when you freeze them and then saw them in the fridge.
Made these as minis. Delicious! Didn’t use caramel sauce in recipe. Substituted with a high end brand, but then frosting was too thick. Added milk to thin and turned out great! Can’t wait for the teens at youth group to try them!
The youth group LOVED them!
Awesome! I’m so glad!
I love this recipe, but your website is so overrun with ads, ones that even my adblockers can’t take care of, that it makes me not want to come back to this page. They’re actually interfering with reading the recipe. I’m glad that you can get paid for your work, but wow, there are just so many ads.
Hi! I love your frsoting. Which tips do you use?
Thanks
I used Ateco tip 844
I had a request to make some type of cupcakes for my aunt. They didn’t order a specific type. They said “she likes caramel.” So I did a search for recipes and came across these. They only ordered a dozen, so I had a dozen left over. I had to taste them of course because I don’t want to give my customers anything that doesn’t taste good. I must say, I AM IN LOVE with this recipe. Possibly one of the best cupcakes I’ve ever tasted. I’m currently on a weight loss journey, and after tasting one I had to tell myself no more! So so good!
I’m so glad to hear that! Thanks Alauna!
Is it salted butter in the butter cream or unsalted?
Salted butter
I have made these cupcakes for a silent auction before, and they were a BIG hit. I don’t have anything to criticize on these, and they were moist, sweet, apple-y, and just downright delicious. When I made these for the silent auction, I added a cinnamon-apple filling, and the extra one that I did get to try was like taking a bite out of heaven. Today, I’m actually going to make these as a cake, with the apple filling I used last time as a filling in between the layers, and enter it in the local Texas Austin County Fair. I’d like to know if you have a recommended time to bake the cake layers for, and any tips and pointers that could possibly help me. Also, would the cake fair well if it was left out at room temperature for several hours-overnight?
I’m so glad you enjoyed them! I actually just posted a Cinnamon Apple Cake today that might be a good one to reference. These cupcakes as a cake will be quite dense, if I remember correctly. The new recipe I posted will be a little lighter. It also has a wonderful apple filling (which is very caramel-y), if you’re interested in trying that one. You could still use the caramel frosting from the cupcakes, if you wanted. I’d just double it or so, depending on how much frosting you like to use.
Are the apples inside the cupcake Supposed to be like eating a hard apple vs. poked apple (apple pie)?
The apples should soften when baking. If they didn’t, try chopping them a little smaller. You could also cook the apples prior to adding if you wanted them to be really soft.
I made these last week, but eliminated the nutmeg because I don’t like it. Seriously, the best cupcake ever!!! I had leftover icing which I froze. I’d like to turn this recipe into a cake to use the rest of the icing. Do you think it will turn out ok as a cake?
I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe! Yes, it can be turned into a cake, but keep in mind that it is fairly dense. Check out my recipe for Caramel Apple Pecan Layer Cake. This is very similar to the Caramel Apple Cupcakes, just leave out the pecans.
With the buttercream recipe you said 8 cups of powder sugar but with the directions you on say to add 4 cups. Do you need 8 cups.
In step 9 you add 4 cups, and in step 11 you add the remaining. It’s 8 cups total.
Do you think you could use a little of the Carmel sauce as a cupcake filling? Would it be a huge mess, or too much Carmel?
My guess is that it would just soak into the cupcake and leave a hole. You could try poking the cupcake with some small holes and brushing some caramel on top to let that soak in.
Can I use store bought caramel ice cream topping as the caramel sauce?
You can, just keep in mind that it’ll be a thinner sauce (probably, depending on brand) and you might not need to add as much to the frosting or it’ll thin out too much. Also, if you have to add less caramel, you may not have as strong of a caramel flavor in the frosting.
I was just wondering how many cupcakes does this recipe make?
22-24 cupcakes
Is there a way to use apple sauce vs chopped apples? If so how much apple sauce would I substitute?
Thanks so much!!
I’m not sure exactly without trying it. You could try swapping out some of the milk for the applesauce.
can I make them two days before? Wonder if the cooked apple will make them get soggy or go bad. I’ve made them once before they were amazing! Thanks!
The cooked apples should be fine. Glad you’ve enjoyed them!
THIS WAS A DISGRACE TO THE CUPCAKE LORDS!! i threw up in my mouth and the flavor is still taunting me. Trust me when I saw to NOT USE THIS RECIPE!!
I love your cake plate! Where did you get it?!
It’s from Home Goods
These look amazing, can’t wait to try them next week! Quick question.. if I wanted to make mini cupcakes, how should the temperature and cooking time be adjusted? And do you think it would double the yield? Thanks!
I would probably leave the temp the same, but reduce baking time to 8-10 minutes. You’ll have to try it though. I would think it would at least double the yield.
Shouldn’t there be some sort of liquid in the frosting? Once everything was mixed, it was all crumbly. I ended up adding milk slowly to get an actual consistency. Great recipe otherwise, everyone loved them and i’ve had two people ask me for it!
In this case, the caramel was my “liquid”. If it was too thick for you though, adding the milk is how I’d thin it out. 🙂 Glad you enjoyed the cupcakes!
I made these for work today and have just a couple comments. Recipe made 18 cupcakes only for me. If you use this caramel recipe watch it closely as it gets done more quickly than you think… mine was a touch overdone I think and had a few lumps, but worked fine yet thankfully. I have about 3.5 cups of frosting leftover and I was generous, frosting similar to those pictured here. They were very tasty, moist and I received a few compliments so far.
What can I use in place of shortening?
Just use additional butter.
We recently had a family reunion/picnic. I was in charge of desserts. I decided on taking all cupcakes. I baked almost 100 cupcakes (five different kinds). Top 2 favorites were these caramel apple pie and a lemon meringue cupcake. The apple was my favorite. Mine were a little messy but who cared. Made about 2 dz and they just disappeared in a couple of minutes. Kinda’ messy but oh so good.
8 cups powdered sugar sound like an awful lot…..how many pounds is that? 2 two lb. bags?
Thanks
Yes, that’s correct. It would be a 2 lb bag. Four cups is one pound.
I halved the frosting recipe and was able to pipe all my cupcakes and still had leftovers.
Just curious? Do you peel the apple?
Yes, you do.
These looking amazing, I can’t wait to make them! Can I switch out the sour cream for something else? My husband can’t eat yogurt or sour cream.
They should be fine if you use additional milk in place of the sour cream.
Do you have to use shortening in the icing? Is there a substitute I could use? Thanks!
You could replace it with additional butter.
These look amazing! My best friend loves anything apple related – can’t wait to make these for her party this weekend!
I hope they were a hit!
Ha ha! This really made me laugh, because my husband is the absolute KING of dork mouth. And it just gets worse and worse once he starts, it’s like his brain explodes and he can’t stop. I sometimes have to declare a “No more talking!” Ah, love it.
Caramel apple is one of my favorite fall combinations! These cupcakes look so good!
Looks great! What kind of apple did you use for the batter, and did you use salted butter for the buttercream as well? Thanks!
I believe I used red delicious apples, but any should be fine. And yes, I used salted butter in the buttercream too. Enjoy!
Ah well at least, unlike Jessica, your blonde moment wasn’t caught on television! 😉 These cupcakes look marvelous Lindsay! Your pipping is perfection!
HA! I laughed out loud about Jessica Simpson. She will never live that down. Also cupcakes, need them, want them, must have them.
I am in LOVE! caramel and apple just belong together
I always say ridiculous things too! Look yummy!
nice top decoration, the idea of using caramel on the top make me crazy, hope oneday I try them too
Oh wow!!! These cupcakes are beautiful ^_^ I would love to take a big bite out of one <3
Toodles,
Tammy<3
I’m making these for a Halloween party tomorrow but am trying to do as much as I can today. If I make the cupcakes today and the frosting tomorrow, how should I store the unfrosted cupcakes for 1 day? Would room temperature be fine? I’m so excited to try them!
Yes, you can store them at room temperature for the day. I hope you enjoy them!