Irresistible Apple Pie Cupcakes: Your Ultimate Fall Dessert Recipe
This post may contain affiliate links.
If the comforting aroma of freshly baked apple pie makes your heart sing, then prepare to fall head over heels for these incredible Apple Pie Cupcakes! Imagine biting into a fluffy, moist apple-spiced cupcake, discovering a sweet, tender apple pie filling tucked inside, and finishing with a swirl of velvety vanilla buttercream. These delightful treats are more than just cupcakes; they’re an ode to everyone’s favorite autumn dessert, perfectly packaged for any fall or winter gathering.
This Apple Pie Cupcakes recipe truly captures the essence of fall in every single bite. Designed for all apple pie enthusiasts, these cupcakes are brimming with layers of rich, comforting flavors. The cupcake base itself is infused with natural applesauce and warm cinnamon, guaranteeing a wonderfully moist texture and an authentic apple taste. This robust flavor profile is perfectly complemented by the creamy vanilla frosting, which harmonizes beautifully with the spiced apple pie filling. They make an ideal dessert for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or any special occasion that calls for a touch of seasonal sweetness and homemade charm.
Looking for more delightful cupcake creations? Be sure to explore our other popular recipes like The Best Chocolate Cupcakes, the decadent Peanut Butter Chocolate Cupcakes, and our comforting Cinnamon Cupcakes with Cinnamon Buttercream.
WHY THESE APPLE PIE CUPCAKES ARE A MUST-TRY
These Apple Pie Cupcakes aren’t just delicious; they are specifically designed to deliver maximum flavor and enjoyment with a thoughtful combination of elements. Here’s why this recipe stands out:
- Moist Apple Cupcakes: Our apple cupcakes are made with real applesauce, which not only imparts a rich, natural apple flavor but also ensures an incredibly moist and tender crumb. This secret ingredient makes them exceptionally soft and flavorful, surpassing typical apple-flavored baked goods.
- Luxurious Vanilla Buttercream: The crowning glory of these cupcakes is the smooth, luscious vanilla buttercream. It’s light, airy, and perfectly sweet, providing a delightful contrast to the spiced apple filling and a classic, comforting finish.
- Homemade Apple Pie Filling: The star of the show! Each cupcake is generously filled with a homemade apple pie filling, bursting with tender apple chunks and fragrant cinnamon. This filling is not overly sweet, allowing the natural apple flavor to shine, and it adds an exciting textural surprise in the center of every cupcake.
ESSENTIAL INGREDIENTS & HELPFUL NOTES
Understanding the role of each ingredient is key to baking perfect Apple Pie Cupcakes. These are some of the crucial components for this recipe. For a complete list of all ingredients with precise measurements, please refer to the detailed recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- All-Purpose Flour: This forms the structure of our cupcakes, providing a light and airy texture. For optimal results in baking, I generally recommend using all-purpose flour with a protein content between 10-11%. This ensures the perfect balance of tenderness and structure.
- Sugars (Granulated & Brown Sugar): We use a combination of sugars to achieve the ideal sweetness and moisture. Granulated sugar contributes to the overall sweetness and helps create a fine crumb, while dark brown sugar adds a deeper, richer flavor with delightful toffee notes, and significantly enhances the cupcakes’ moistness.
- Baking Powder and Baking Soda: These two leavening agents work in tandem to give the cupcakes their characteristic lift and fluffy texture. Baking soda reacts with acidic ingredients (like sour cream and applesauce), while baking powder provides consistent rise, ensuring your cupcakes are beautifully domed and airy.
- Salt: A crucial ingredient often overlooked, salt doesn’t just make things salty; it profoundly enhances and balances the flavors of all the other ingredients, making the apple and cinnamon notes pop.
- Eggs: For the best emulsification and a smooth batter, it’s vital to bring your eggs to room temperature before baking. This typically takes 30 minutes to 1 hour, depending on the warmth of your kitchen. Room temperature eggs blend more easily and create a more uniform batter.
- Vegetable Oil: Using a flavor-neutral oil, such as canola or avocado oil, is important as it allows the natural flavors of the apple and cinnamon to shine without interference. Oil also contributes to a wonderfully moist and tender cupcake crumb.
- Applesauce: For these apple cupcakes, opt for pure applesauce with no added sugar. This ensures you control the sweetness level and prevents the cupcakes from becoming excessively sweet. Applesauce also adds a natural apple flavor and extra moisture, contributing to that irresistible softness.
- Cinnamon: The quintessential spice for fall baking! Cinnamon is generously used in both the apple cupcakes and the apple pie filling, infusing them with its warm, aromatic, and comforting essence.
- Apples (for filling): Choosing the right apples for the filling is key. I highly recommend using firm, slightly tart varieties like Gala, Honeycrisp, or Fuji apples. These varieties hold their shape well when cooked and offer a balanced sweetness and tartness. However, any good quality red baking apple will work beautifully.
MASTERING YOUR APPLE PIE CUPCAKES: A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE
Creating these delightful Apple Pie Cupcakes is a rewarding process. This recipe is designed to be straightforward, requiring just two mixing bowls, a hand whisk, and an electric mixer for that perfectly fluffy buttercream. Follow these steps for an unforgettable baking experience:
Before you begin, ensure your oven is preheated to 160ºC/ 320ºF (conventional oven setting). Line a 12-cup cupcake tin with standard cupcake paper liners. This preparation ensures a smooth baking process.
HOW TO BAKE THE MOIST APPLE CUPCAKES
STEP 1: Prepare Your Dry and Wet Ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, combine all of your dry ingredients: both granulated and dark brown sugar, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and ground cinnamon. Whisk them thoroughly to ensure everything is evenly distributed and no lumps remain. In a separate, medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients: sour cream, applesauce, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla extract. Mix until they are smoothly combined.
STEP 2: Combine and Bake. Gently pour the wet ingredient mixture into the bowl containing the dry ingredients. Using a spatula or a whisk, mix everything together just until no dry streaks of flour remain. Be careful not to overmix, as this can lead to tough cupcakes. The batter should be smooth but not overworked. Divide the cupcake batter evenly among the 12 prepared cupcake liners. Bake them in your preheated oven for 20-23 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Once baked, let the cupcakes cool in the hot pan for about 5 minutes. This helps them set. Then, gently transfer them to a wire rack to cool down completely before frosting and filling.
CRAFTING THE APPLE PIE FILLING AND VANILLA BUTTERCREAM
STEP 3: Prepare the Apple Pie Filling. While your cupcakes are baking and cooling, you can start on the star filling. Begin by cutting your chosen apples into tiny, uniform cubes. In a medium saucepan, combine the diced apples, granulated sugar, fresh lemon juice, and ground cinnamon. Heat this mixture over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Once it starts to bubble, let it simmer for about 5 minutes, or until the apples become tender but still retain a slight bite. Meanwhile, prepare a cornstarch slurry by mixing cornstarch and water in a small bowl until smooth. Once the apples are tender, reduce the heat to low, pour in the cornstarch slurry, and stir continuously for 1-2 minutes until the mixture thickens beautifully. Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the vanilla bean paste. Transfer the apple pie filling to a separate bowl and place it in the refrigerator to cool completely. Cooling is crucial for the filling to set properly.
STEP 4: Whip the Butter for Buttercream. For the luscious vanilla buttercream, ensure your butter is at cool room temperature (still slightly firm but pliable). In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or using an electric hand mixer, beat the butter on medium-high speed for 4-5 minutes until it becomes light, pale, and fluffy. This step is essential for incorporating air and achieving a smooth buttercream texture. Don’t forget to scrape down the sides of the bowl periodically to ensure even mixing.
STEP 5: Add Sugar and Flavorings to Buttercream. Gradually add the sifted powdered sugar to the whipped butter in two parts. Mix on low speed after each addition until the sugar is fully incorporated and there are no dry pockets. Then, add the vanilla extract (or vanilla bean paste) and whole milk, mixing again on low speed until everything is smoothly combined. Increase the speed to medium-low and beat for another 2 minutes, scraping the bowl one last time, to ensure your buttercream is perfectly smooth and airy.
STEP 6: Pipe the Buttercream. Transfer the prepared vanilla buttercream to a piping bag fitted with your preferred round piping tip (a Wilton 1A is an excellent choice for a classic look). Pipe a generous swirl of buttercream onto each cooled cupcake, making sure to create a small concave (a well or dip) in the center. This little hollow will be the perfect nest for your apple pie filling.
STEP 7: Fill and Serve. Spoon the cooled apple pie filling into the concave center of each buttercream-topped cupcake. Once filled, your Apple Pie Cupcakes are ready to be admired and, most importantly, enjoyed! The combination of flavors and textures is truly divine.
EXPERT BAKING TIPS FOR PERFECT CUPCAKES
Achieving consistently amazing results in baking often comes down to a few key techniques. Keep these expert tips in mind for your Apple Pie Cupcakes:
- Use a Kitchen Scale for Precision: My recipes, including this one, typically list ingredients in grams as the default. This is because a kitchen scale offers the most precise and consistent way to measure your ingredients, leading to more reliable baking outcomes. Volume measurements (cups) can vary greatly, but grams are always exact. Investing in a good kitchen scale will elevate your baking significantly.
- Avoid Overmixing Your Batter: Once you’ve combined your wet and dry ingredients, mix just until no streaks of flour are visible. Overmixing develops the gluten in the flour too much, resulting in dense, tough, and chewy cupcakes rather than light and fluffy ones. A gentle hand and a spatula for a final fold ensure everything is just combined without overworking the batter.
- The Right Baking Pan Matters (Light vs. Dark): For the best cupcake texture and even baking, I highly recommend using an aluminum baking pan. Aluminum pans are light in color, which means they reflect heat and bake more gently. This gentle baking leads to a softer, more tender cake crumb and prevents over-browning. Darker baking pans absorb more heat, which can cause the outside of the cupcake to bake faster and potentially dry out before the center is cooked through, often resulting in a darker, tougher crust. Always grease your pan or line with cupcake papers appropriately.
- Ensure Room Temperature Ingredients: Beyond just eggs, make sure other dairy ingredients like sour cream and milk are also at room temperature for the cupcake batter. Room temperature ingredients emulsify more effectively, creating a smoother, more uniform batter that bakes up more consistently and with a better texture.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT APPLE PIE CUPCAKES
Absolutely! To make your baking day less stressful, you can prepare each component of these cupcakes a day ahead. Bake the cupcakes and store them at room temperature in an airtight container. The apple pie filling and vanilla buttercream can also be made in advance; simply cover them tightly with plastic wrap (ensuring the wrap touches the surface of the buttercream to prevent a crust forming) or store in airtight containers in the refrigerator. On the day of assembly, take the apple pie filling and buttercream out of the fridge about 30-45 minutes beforehand to allow them to come to room temperature. Give the buttercream a good whisk or mix to restore its creamy texture before piping and assembling as instructed in the recipe card.
The most reliable method to check for doneness is the classic cake tester or toothpick test. Once the minimum baking time specified in the recipe has passed, gently insert a thin cake tester or a clean toothpick into the center of one of the cupcakes. If it comes out clean, with no wet batter clinging to it, your cupcakes are perfectly baked. If there are still moist crumbs, bake for another 2-3 minutes and test again. Avoid overbaking, as this can lead to dry cupcakes.
Yes, absolutely! A drizzle of caramel sauce would be an incredible addition to these Apple Pie Cupcakes, enhancing their fall flavor profile even further. You can either use a high-quality store-bought caramel sauce for convenience or elevate them with a homemade caramel. For a truly decadent touch, try lightly warming the caramel sauce before drizzling it over the finished cupcakes just before serving.
STORAGE RECOMMENDATIONS
To maintain their freshness and deliciousness, store your Apple Pie Cupcakes in an airtight container in the refrigerator. When you’re ready to indulge, simply take them out of the fridge and allow them to come to room temperature for about 15-20 minutes. This brings out the best flavors and softens the buttercream to its ideal texture. They are best enjoyed within 2-3 days of baking.
OTHER DELICIOUS FALL RECIPES TO TRY
Embrace the cozy flavors of autumn with these additional delightful recipes, perfect for any fall gathering or a comforting treat:
- Cranberry Orange Coffee Cake
- Gooey Pecan Pie Brownies with Brown Butter
- Giant Cinnamon Rolls (Soft, Gooey Tangzhong Milk Bread Rolls)
- Chocolate Coffee Pie – Silky Chocolate Coffee Pastry Cream and Whipped Mascarpone Cream
If you adored this recipe, please make sure to leave a STAR REVIEW to let us know! We love seeing your creations, so don’t forget to tag me on Instagram @juliemarieeats. For even more baking inspiration and delicious ideas, be sure to follow me on Pinterest.
Apple Pie Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream and Apple Pie Filling
Pin Recipe
Equipment
- 12-cup cupcake pan
- Stand Mixer
- Hand Mixer
Ingredients
APPLE CUPCAKE
- 100 g granulated sugar
- 100 g dark brown sugar
- 210 g all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 75 g vegetable oil
- 120 g sour cream room temperature
- 120 g apple sauce room temperature
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
APPLE PIE FILLING
- 150 g apples cut into tiny cubes
- 75 g granulated sugar
- 1 ½ tablespoon lemon juice
- ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 ½ teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon water
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla bean paste
VANILLA BUTTERCREAM
- 200 g butter cool room temperature
- 330 g powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- 2 tablespoon whole milk room temperature
Instructions
APPLE CUPCAKES
- Preheat the oven at 160ºC/320ºF conventional oven and line a 12-cup cupcake tray with 12 cupcake liners.
- In a large bowl, add all of the dry ingredients. Give it a stir to make sure everything has been combined.100 g granulated sugar, 100 g dark brown sugar, 210 g all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- In another mixing bowl add the sour cream, apple sauce, vegetable oil, eggs and vanilla extract and mix it all together until combined.75 g vegetable oil, 120 g sour cream, 120 g apple sauce, 2 large eggs, 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and gently stir it all together. Make sure there are no lumps left in the batter.
- Divide the cake batter into the 12 cupcake liners and bake them for 20-23 minutes. Let the cupcakes cool in the hot pan. After 5 minutes, gently remove the cupcakes from the cupcake pan and let them cool down completely on a wire rack.
APPLE PIE FILLING
- While the cupcakes bake, make the apple filling.
- Start by cutting the apples into small cubes. In a sauce pan heat up the apples, granulated sugar, lemon juice and cinnamon. Once it starts bubbling, let it simmer on medium heat for about 5 minutes or until the apples are tender but still have a little bite to them. While it cooks, give the apples a stir once in a while.150 g apples cut into tiny cubes, 75 g granulated sugar, 1 ½ tablespoon lemon juice, ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- When the 5 minutes have passed, or they feel tender, make the cornstarch slurry by mixing the water and cornstarch together until the cornstarch has dissolved. Turn down the heat to low and add the slurry. Stir it together and continue stirring for about 1-2 minutes, until thickened.1 ½ teaspoon cornstarch, 1 tablespoon water
- Take it off the heat and add the vanilla bean paste. Pour it into a bowl and place it in the refrigerator to cool down.¼ teaspoon vanilla bean paste
VANILLA BUTTERCREAM
- When ready to assemble the cupcakes, sift the powdered sugar. Mix the butter in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or with a hand mixer for 4 minutes on medium/high speed. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix for an additional 2 minutes.330 g powdered sugar, 200 g butter
- Add the powdered sugar, vanilla paste and milk in 2 parts. Mixing on low speed until each addition is fully incorporated.1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste, 2 tablespoon whole milk
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl and give the buttercream a final mix, on low speed, for 2 minutes.
- Add the buttercream to a piping bag with a round piping tip e.g. a Wilton 1A. Then pipe the buttercream on the cupcakes, creating a small concave with the buttercream. Add the apple pie filling into the middle of the buttercream and they are ready to be enjoyed.