Meet Apple Cider Caramel Cupcakes- the lightest, fluffiest, and moistest spiced apple cupcakes with salted caramel frosting.
Why These Cupcakes Work
- These cupcakes are made with spiced apple cider and all of your favorite fall spices. Therefore, they are the most flavorful cupcakes ever.
- You'll need 2 bowls and one whisk to make these cupcakes.
- You do not need to reduce the apple cider. This means that you will still have the gorgeous flavor without the extra time and effort most apple cider recipes require.
- In order to save you time, energy, and stress of making caramel sauce at home, you can use store-bought caramel sauce.
Apple Cider Cupcake Ingredients
All Purpose Flour: Plain, simple all purpose flour is the only flour you'll need for these soft and fluffy cupcakes! However, make sure to measure properly by using a kitchen scale or by using a spoon to scoop the flour into the measuring cups and leveling off the tops with a knife.
Baking Soda & Baking Powder: Both baking soda and baking powder are used to help these cupcakes get a beautiful rise and dome in the oven. Importantly, the two are not interchangeable, so make sure to follow the proper measurements of both!
Salt: In these cupcakes, salt brings out sweetness and truly completes the flavor.
Cinnamon & Nutmeg: The combination of cinnamon and nutmeg aids these apple cider cupcakes in being the most flavorful around! The cupcakes literally scream fall because of these two special spices.
Vegetable Oil: Vegetable oil is perfect for fluffy and moist cupcakes. If necessary, you can substitute vegetable oil with another unflavored oil like canola.
Granulated Sugar & Light Brown Sugar: Both granulated sugar and light brown sugar are used for sweetness, moisture, and structure.
Egg: You will need one egg at room temperature.
Vanilla Extract: Pure vanilla extract helps with the flavor, so do not skip it!
Apple Cider: The apple cider in this recipe provides extra moisture and TONS of flavor. Use room temperature apple cider for best results.
Step by Step Baking Instructions
- Step 1: First, preheat your oven. Then, line your cupcake pan with liners.
- Step 2: Next, in a medium bowl, whisk your dry ingredients together
- Step 3: In a large bowl, whisk vegetable oil, granulated sugar, light brown sugar, room temperature egg, vanilla extract, and room temperature apple cider together.
- Step 4: Carefully whisk dry ingredients into your wet ingredients.
- Step 5: Divide your batter between your cupcake liners and bake for 16-22 minutes. Allow the cupcakes to cool before frosting
Salted Caramel Frosting Tips
- Use cool butter: Room temperature or warm butter will likely lead to frosting that lacks structure, making it harder to pipe and messier to serve. Using butter that is on the cooler side means you do not have to think about leaving butter out far ahead of time... yay!
- Salted caramel: You can use store-bought caramel or homemade. Consequently, I, personally, use this caramel for ease!
- Frosting: You can use a knife, spoon, or spatula to decorate these cupcakes. However, if you'd like them to look like mine or have a slightly more professional look, use a plastic piping bag and large round piping tip to frost them!
FAQ
This recipe is designed for apple cider, which is very different in color, texture, and flavor from apple juice. Therefore, the two are not interchangeable in this apple cider caramel cupcakes recipe.
No! For this apple cider cupcake recipe, you only need two bowls and whisk. However, I do recommend a stand mixer or hand mixer for the frosting!
Bake these cupcakes until the tops are golden brown in color and slightly crusted. You should be able to tap your finger in the center of the cupcakes and have them spring back quickly. A toothpick inserted into the center should come out with moist crumbs... not fully clean!
Store the cupcakes at room temperature for up to 4 days in a covered or airtight container to preserve freshness.
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Apple Cider Caramel Cupcakes
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 12 cupcakes 1x
- Category: Cupcakes, Fall, Apple, Salted Caramel
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Description
Meet Apple Cider Caramel Cupcakes- the lightest, fluffiest, and moistest spiced apple cupcakes with salted caramel frosting.
Ingredients
For the Apple Cider Cupcakes
- 1 ½ (210g) cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon (6g) baking soda
- ½ teaspoon (2g) baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (5g) salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons (5g) cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ⅓ cup (70g) vegetable oil
- ⅓ cup (70g) granulated sugar
- ⅔ cup (160g) light brown sugar
- 1 large egg (50g), room temperature
- 1 teaspoon (4g) vanilla extract
- ¾ cup (190g) apple cider
For the Salted Caramel Frosting
- 1 cup (220g) unsalted butter, cool
- 2 cups (220g) powdered sugar
- ½ cup (175g) salted caramel sauce, room temperature
Instructions
For the Apple Cider Cupcakes
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a 12-count muffin tin with liners.
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk all purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg together until combined.
- In a large bowl, whisk vegetable oil, granulated sugar, light brown sugar, room temperature egg, vanilla extract, and room temperature apple cider together until the ingredients are smooth and fully incorporated with one another.
- Carefully, pour the dry ingredients into the wet and use a whisk to combine the ingredients. Only mix until just after you see all of the flour mixture disappear into the batter. Stir just a few more times to ensure the batter is smooth and there are no clumps of dry ingredients. Overmixing will lead to dry cupcakes.
- Evenly divide batter between the liners, between ¼ and ⅓ cup of batter in each liner. The liners should be about ⅔ full.
- Bake cupcakes for 16-22 minutes or until the tops spring back when poked quickly in the center, are slightly crusted, and golden brown in color. A toothpick inserted into the center should come out with moist crumbs.
- Allow the cupcakes to fully cool before frosting.
For the Salted Caramel Frosting
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or in a bowl with hand mixer, mix cool butter on medium speed until smooth. This should take between 2-3 minutes.
- Slowly and carefully, add powdered sugar in small increments to the butter, continuing to mix on medium/low speed.
- Add room temperature salted caramel sauce to the frosting and mix on medium speed for 2 minutes. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure the sauce is fully incorporated.
- Frost cooled cupcakes as desired. Store cupcakes at room temperature for 4 days covered or in an airtight container.
Keywords: Salted Caramel Cupcakes, Apple Cider Cupcakes, Caramel Apple Cupcakes, Spiced Cupcakes
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