Salted Caramel Apple Cupcakes

Autumn is a season of coziness and indulgence, and these salted caramel apple cupcakes are a clear first choice when it comes to fall goodies! Silky caramel cream cheese frosting sits atop a rich apple cake made with brown butter, freshly grated apples, and a hint of molasses, all topped with a sweet and salty caramel drizzle. It truly is like taking a bite right out of autumn itself.

For more cupcake recipes, try Coconut Cupcakes, Lemon Meringue Cupcakes, Fudgy Gluten Free Chocolate Cupcakes, and Chocolate Cupcakes with Burnt Sugar German Buttercream.

Why you'll love these salted caramel apple cupcakes

• Moist, Dense Apple Cupcake: The brown butter apple base bakes up rich and dense, adding to the decadence of these cupcakes.
• Silky Smooth Cream Cheese Frosting: There's nothing better than a silky smooth topping to an already rich cupcake–it's the ultimate indulgence!
• Sweet & Salty Combination: These cupcakes are both salty and sweet, creating the perfect flavor balance to get the best of both worlds.

Ingredient Notes

• Apples: Use both applesauce and freshly grated apples for the best flavor and consistency.
• Molasses: Be sure to use unsulphured molasses! I highly recommend Grandma's Molasses.
• Sugars: You'll need both granulated sugar and either dark or light brown sugars.
• Cream Cheese: Use cold block cream cheese for the frosting.
• Heavy Cream: Use a high quality heavy cream for optimal flavor.
• Unsalted Butter: Use high quality European-style butter for best overall flavor.
• Flour: Use high quality unbleached all-purpose flour best results.
• Eggs: Bring your egg to room temperature quickly by placing it in a bowl of warm water for 10 minutes.
• Vanilla: Add a high quality vanilla extract for optimal flavor.

See recipe card for full information on ingredients and individual quantities.

Step by Step Instructions

Here are step by step photos and instructions on how to make this salted caramel apple cupcake recipe! For the full ingredient list and method, see the recipe card at the end of this post.

STEP 1: Make the caramel sauce. Brown the butter on the stovetop, then slowly pour in the heavy cream and stir to combine. Set aside until ready to use. In a separate small saucepan, combine the sugar, salt, cream of tartar, and water. Place over medium high heat, stirring often, then when it comes to a boil reduce the heat to medium and continue stirring. After about 10 minutes, slowly stream in the butter heavy cream mixture, quickly mixing until fully combined. Continue cooking and stirring with the rubber spatula for one more minute. Remove the caramel from heat, mix in the vanilla, then and pour into a glass jar. Stir in a pinch or two of flaky sea salt, then chill in the fridge overnight or until ready to use.

STEP 2: Mix dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and spices. Set aside.

STEP 3: Brown butter. Brown the butter, then immediately pour into a large bowl, scraping out the fat solids at the bottom, and weigh out to 113g (½ cup). To the brown butter, whisk in the sugars, then the large eggs, vanilla, and molasses until fully combined. 

STEP 4: Start combining. Then, mix in half of the flour mixture until barely combined, followed by the applesauce.

STEP 5: Add rest of dry ingredients. Add in the remaining dry ingredients and gently fold with a rubber spatula until just combined.

STEP 6: Add apples. Lastly, fold in the grated apples until evenly dispersed. 

STEP 7: Fill. Transfer the batter to a cupcake pan prepared with cupcake liners, filling the paper liners about ¾ full each. 

STEP 8: Bake. Bake the apple cupcakes for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow the cupcakes to cool in the pan for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

STEP 9: Make frosting. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and cream cheese on medium-high speed until smooth. Slowly add the sifted powdered sugar and mix on low speed until fully combined. Drizzle in the salted caramel sauce and continue beating on low speed until no more lumps or pockets of air remain and the frosting has a smooth texture.

STEP 10: Decorate. Transfer the caramel frosting to a piping bag, then decorate the cupcakes as desired and serve for dessert!

Expert Baking Tips

• Make the caramel sauce ahead of time: I recommend making the caramel sauce at least an hour (or up to a week) before making the cupcakes to give it time to cool down and thicken up. 
• A note on browning butter... Start with a few extra tablespoons of salted butter, since water evaporates as it browns. Also, keep in mind that European-style butter has less water content, so if you're using American-style butter you might want to start with even more butter.
• Use cold cream cheese & room temperature butter. In order to create a sturdy, pipeable cream cheese frosting, pay close attention to the temperature of the ingredients. Cold cream cheese will ensure it's thick enough, while room temperature butter will ensure all of the ingredients cream together properly.

All of the recipes on this blog are carefully developed with gram measurements so you can easily recreate them in your own kitchen with success. Volume measurements are extremely inaccurate and leave room for significant errors. Not all measuring cups are made equally, so your one cup of flour will be different from my one cup of flour. By providing precise measurements in grams (aside from minor ingredients, which are given in tsp/tbsp), you can make these recipes accurately and with less cleanup! All you need is this kitchen scale. 

If this still isn't enough to convince you, I have provided volume measurements in the recipe card. If you are interested in understanding the conversions, this is the best conversion chart.

But trust me, once you try baking in grams you'll never turn back!

Happy baking! x