Melt butter over medium heat in a small skillet until it turns a golden brown. Whisk occasionally. Remove from heat. This is our brown butter.
1
Stir together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl. These are our dry ingredients. Set aside.
2
Whisk together the brown butter, eggs, grated apples, white and brown sugars, applesauce, vegetable oil, vanilla extract and maple extract until combined. These are our wet ingredients.
3
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 chopped pecans.
4
Spoon the batter into the muffin liners. Fill about half way to two-thirds the way up the liners. Bake.
5
If desired, fill each cupcake with a pecan praline sauce and top with a fluffy, decadent brown sugar buttercream frosting.
6