Can we all agree that there's no better time for baking than the fall? Don't get me wrong. I love baking every month of the year. Whether it's June or October, I'm not one to turn down a baked good, but there's something extra special about fall treats. I love the rich, warm flavors that come with so many fall desserts, and these apple spice cupcakes with a praline filling and brown sugar frosting are the perfect example.
I created this recipe a few years ago for a day of tailgating, and these apple spice cupcakes immediately became one of my favorite fall desserts that must make an appearance at least once a season. First of all, these cupcakes flew off the tray and received rave reviews. Isn’t that the exact reaction we hope to receive when baking for a crowd? Call me needy, but that’s what I like to see and hear after I set down a tray of cupcakes.
Second, everything I love is in one miniature dessert —- a soft, moist cake full of apple flavor with a nutty, gooey center and a fluffy frosting to bring it all together. See? These apple spice cupcakes are nothing but love in a muffin tin.
Step-by-Step Instructions
I realize baking a from-scratch cupcake, cooking praline sauce and whipping up frosting may sound a bit labor intensive, but I promise you'll be happy you took the time to make each element of this recipe. Plus, it's actually helpful to make the praline sauce ahead of time, so it has a chance to thicken. You can get the recipe for my praline sauce on my previous blog post, and it takes little time to make.
For these cupcakes, we start by browning some butter and then letting it solidify, so we can cream it. You can either take care of this step ahead of time and let it soften as you would regular butter, or if you brown the butter first and pop it in the freezer, it should be nearly solid yet soft by the time you measure the rest of the ingredients. Just make sure you don't use it until it's solid. Brown butter has a wonderful nutty quality that goes so well with these cupcakes, so it's definitely worth the extra effort.
Once the brown butter is ready and creamed, mix in oil, white sugar, dark brown sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, maple extract and applesauce. We now add the dry ingredients, which includes all-purpose flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg, in batches.
When the batter is good and mixed, stir in some chopped pecans and grated apples. I like to use a combination of Honeycrisp and Granny Smith apples for a mix of sweet and tart. We’re now ready to bake.
How to Make Brown Sugar Buttercream Frosting
After the cupcakes bake and we set them aside to cool, it's time to start on the brown sugar frosting. The recipe for this brown sugar frosting makes a huge batch for piping. If you don't plan on piping and prefer to spread frosting on with a knife, you can half this recipe.
We start by beating some butter until it turns fluffy and then add some dark brown sugar with a touch of molasses and vanilla extract and beat until they incorporate into the butter. From there, we add a little powdered sugar at a time with a periodic splash of heavy cream. Be sure to occasionally stop mixing to scrap the butter off the edge of the bowl and reintroduce it into the mix.
How to Make a Filled Cupcake
Now that our frosting is ready, we simply cut a small hole with a paring knife in the center of the cupcake, fill it with praline sauce, and pipe or spread on the frosting. There's no need to put the cake top back on. The frosting will seal the hole and lock in the cake's moisture.
You can also use one of those fancy cupcake corers to cut the hole. I used to have one, but it broke shortly after I bought it. Maybe they usually have a longer life span, but I figure cutting the hole with a paring knife is plenty easy and one less gadget to store. But do whatever method makes the process more convenient for you.
Perfect Pairing
With the apple spice cupcake, praline filling and brown sugar frosting, this is a decadent little bite full of bold, rich flavors. To stand up to everything going on in this cupcake, a Belgian quad is just what you need. Belgian quads are full bodied and typically show off plenty of dried fruit and brown sugar notes from the sweet malt, which is a lovely match to each element of this apple spice cupcake.
Not feeling beer? No problem. These cupcakes pair well with a glass of sweet Madeira. Most Madeiras feature nutty, caramel-like flavors with a touch of orange --- all of which are perfect complements.
Oh, and for you cocktail lovers, these apple spice cupcakes were made for a bourbon-spiked apple cider cocktail. Promise.
Now that fall baking is well underway, I hope you whip up a batch of these apple spice cupcakes with praline filling and brown sugar frosting. Please leave me a comment if you try these delightful cupcakes and don't forget to sign up for my newsletter.
Cheers!
Love Fall Baking?
- Buttermilk pumpkin pound cake
- Apple cinnamon rolls with maple cream cheese glaze
- Ginger-maple cookies with fresh orange zest
- Brown butter pumpkin cupcakes
Apple Spice Cupcakes With Praline Filling and Brown Sugar Frosting
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
- Yield: About 24-26 cupcakes 1x
Description
These apple spice cupcakes with praline filing and brown sugar frosting are the perfect fall dessert. Everyone who tries them instantly falls in love.
Ingredients
For Praline Sauce
See recipe here or use store-bought
For Apple Spice Cupcakes
½ cup butter
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg, preferably freshly grated
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
3 eggs, room temperature
½ cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon maple extract
2 cups apples, peeled and grated
1 cup pecans, chopped
For Brown Sugar Frosting
2 cups butter, softened
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon molasses
1 tablespoon vanilla bean extract or paste
2 pounds powdered sugar, about 7 ½ to 8 cups
¼ cup heavy cream
Instructions
- Prepare the praline sauce. Take care of this step first to give the sauce time to thicken. You can even make the sauce a few days ahead of time.
- Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place liners in muffin pan. Bonus points for festive fall-themed liners.
- For the cupcakes, melt butter over medium heat until it turns brown. Whisk occasionally. Remove from heat and pour butter with sediment into a small bowl. Allow the mixture to solidify. You can either leave it out in room temperature or speed along the process by placing in the refrigerator or freezer. If you allow the brown butter to solidify in the refrigerator or freezer, just make sure you soften it before using. You can take care of this step ahead of time as well.
- Whisk together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl.
- With either a stand or hand mixer, cream the butter until fluffy. Add the sugar, oil, eggs, vanilla extract, maple extract and applesauce. Mix until it's all incorporated.
- Spoon about a ¼ cup of dry ingredients into the batter and mix to fully blend. Repeat this process until you mix in all the dry ingredients. Stir in grated apples and chopped pecans.
- Spoon the batter into the muffin liners. Fill about half way to two-thirds the way up the liners. Bake for 18 minutes. Insert a toothpick into a cupcake. If it comes out clean, remove from oven and allow to cool on a wire rack.
- For the frosting, beat the butter until fluffy. Add the dark brown sugar, molasses and vanilla extract. Beat until the dark brown sugar is incorporated.
- Add powdered sugar and heavy cream as needed.
- Once all the powdered sugar is incorporated, beat for a couple additional minutes.
- To finish the cupcakes, cut a hole in the middle of the cupcakes and spoon in a dollop of praline sauce. Finish by either piping icing onto the cupcake or spreading it on with a knife. Enjoy!
Notes
- About four or five apples should be enough to grate 2 cups. I like to use half Honeycrisp and half Granny Smith apples. You can use a box grater to grate the apples.
- The frosting recipe makes enough to pipe on cupcakes. If you plan to spread frosting on using a knife instead, you can cut the frosting recipe in half.
- Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
- Category: Desserts
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cupcake
- Calories: 430
- Sugar: 56
- Sodium: 231
- Fat: 17
- Saturated Fat: 0
- Unsaturated Fat: 0
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 68
- Fiber: 0
- Protein: 3
- Cholesterol: 24
Keywords: apple spice, apple, apple cupcakes, praline sauce, brown sugar frosting
That frosting is perfect! I love that you used applesauce in these cupcakes too. 🙂
★★★★★
Oh my gosh! Apples. spice. cupcakes. and brown sugar frosting?! What more could we ask for! These are making an appearance at our halloween party!
★★★★★
Yessss! Hope y'all love them. ?
OMG that photo with the oozing filling is just beyond words - what a great treat with seasonal flavors!
★★★★★
Thank you kindly!
THIS!!!! You had me with the frosting and then just blew me away with that decadent oozing centre. Jesus,take the wheel! Bookmarking. This looks like a dream!
Haha, thank you so much!
I NEED to make these cupcakes TODAY! I love the lava effect. This is perfect for the kids to enjoy. The frosting looks very soft and silky. Great recipe!
Thanks so much! It's a fun way to spend a fall afternoon. Hope you love them!
My mouth is watering over these cupcakes! And that praline filling is like a perfect surprise when you bite into it. I can definitely see why these fly off the tray at tailgates. I'm saving this one for sure
For sure! It really does add an extra oomph. ?
What a perfect autumn treat. I love the flavours in these cupcakes and they're so pretty too!
★★★★★
Awww, thank you so much!
I always love your baking, the pics make them look so mouth watering also. Have a kids party coming up soon so I may have to make it!
Thank you! That's so appreciated. Hope you and the kids love them!
Now, these are the PERFECT fall dessert. I would for sure use these as a BIRTHDAY cupcake for all fall celebrations. I would love one right now, and it is morning here.
★★★★★
I mean, there's fruit in the cupcakes, so I think it's perfectly acceptable for breakfast. ?
My goodness, I wish I had one right now! I am definitely saving this for later, it sounds absolutely delightful! I love how the praline just oozes out in one of the photos
★★★★★
The praline really puts it over the top for me. Hope you enjoy it!
You always have so many good ideas and this is another winner in my book. Lovely way to use the fall flavors and apples. The brown sugar frosting sounds delightful.
★★★★★
Thank you so much for the sweet comment!
These cupcakes look absolutely divine. I agree with you that fall baking is the best. There is nothing better than baking with apples and spices.
★★★★★
Thank you! Fall baking just puts me in the best mood. Hope you get a chance to try them!
Wow these look delicious! The gooey center really shows off in your pictures. Great work!
★★★★★
Thanks so much!
My stomach grumbled AND my mouth-watered looking at these photos...haha. They look so good and would be a perfect Fall treat.
★★★★★
I find cupcakes have a tendency to do that. ?
My stomach grumbled AND my mouth-watered looking at these...haha. They look so good and would be a perfect Fall treat.