Apple Crisp Cupcakes

Does anybody else feel like they’ve been cheated out of enjoying fall? I
live between mountains, and when the leaves changed, it was breathtaking
driving over them. Then Halloween weekend, Pennsylvania got about six
inches of snow, and now most of the trees are bare. Then yesterday it went
up to 70F!! In November!! The week before Thanksgiving nonetheless. What is happening to my beautiful fall season? I didn’t even get a chance to take pictures of the trees to share.

To keep fall in my heart, I’ve been doing some fall baking with apples.
Today I have cupcakes for you. The last time I made a fruit cupcake, it
didn’t have much fruit flavor. I wanted to make sure these cupcakes
screamed apple, so in addition to the apple chunks in the batter, I paired
it with an apple frosting. The first recipe I found had me boil apple cider
and then cool to room temperature. Didn’t have time for that. I wasn’t
having much luck until I remembered a buttercream recipe that used pumpkin butter. What if I switched out the flavor and spices?



Perfect. Each bite was full of apple goodness. In the middle of each
cupcake is a streusel filling, so it was like eating an apple crisp in
cupcake form.

Apple Crisp Cupcakes with Apple Butter Frosting

1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled slightly
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup milk
1 apple, peeled, cored, and diced

Streusel
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
3 Tbsp butter, room temperature
Pinch of salt

Frosting
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 cup apple butter
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla
3 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a cupcake pan with 12 liners.

In a small bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl, whisk together sugar, butter, eggs, and vanilla until smooth. Alternately whisk in flour mixture and milk, beating until smooth. Fold in apple.

For the streusel, in a small bowl, whisk together brown sugar and cinnamon. Add butter in pieces and rub in with fingertips until mixture holds together in small, moist clumps.

Scoop half of the batter into each liner. Place some streusel into each one then top with the remaining batter. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean (watch the streusel). Let cool in pan for 10 minutes then remove to cooling rack.

For the frosting, beat butter until smooth. Beat in apple butter, cinnamon, and vanilla. Gradually beat in sugar until thick and smooth.

Makes 12 cupcakes
Source: Cupcake recipe from 125 Cupcakes by Julie Hasson; Frosting by me (adapted from Baking Bites)