Apple Pie Cupcakes

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Apple pie cupcakes give apples and cinnamon the opportunity to wow your tastebuds in a whole new way. Top apple butter cupcakes with a cinnamon brown sugar buttercream and homemade apple pie filling to capture the flavors of a classic American pie.

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Recipe Development

With apple pie in mind, I knew I’d want to incorporate both apples and cinnamon into nearly every element of this dessert. There’s cinnamon in the cupcakes, buttercream, and apple pie topping. Apples shine in the cupcakes and pie filling that crowns the cupcakes.

I considered adding a pie crust element, but it just didn’t work with the final rendition of my apple pie cupcakes. If you’d like, roll out some pie crust scraps (or a whole dang pie crust) and cut out some shapes. Bake until they are flaky and golden brown and use them to decorate the cupcakes.

Apple Butter Cupcakes

Whenever I create a new recipe, I try to start with a tried and true recipe and go from there. I took my vanilla cupcakes, scaled down the recipe, and added more flavors. Instead of canola oil, I used apple butter. I threw in a healthy dose of cinnamon as well as some crushed freeze dried apples.

The final cupcakes were soft and packed an impressive amount of cinnamon apple flavor. If you can’t find freeze dried apples, or don’t like chunky bits in your cupcakes, you should be fine to omit them.

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Top Tips for Cupcakes

• Make sure all of your ingredients are at room temperature.  This will help everything blend nicely and give your cupcakes a nice texture.
• Scrape down your bowl often.  Butter and sugar can hide out at the bottom of your bowl.  Make sure everything gets blended!
• Do NOT over mix.  Once you add the wet and dry ingredients, keep the speed on stir and only mix to combine.  
• Place some dried rice (½ – 1 teaspoon) in the bottom of each cupcake cavity before adding your paper cases.
• Use a large cookie scoop to perfectly portion your cupcake batter.
• Use the Ateco 888 piping tip for the perfect swirl and frosting to cupcake ratio.

Cinnamon Brown Sugar Italian Meringue Buttercream

My apple pie filling doesn’t use any brown sugar, but I love the molasses vibes it brings to the party, so instead of white sugar, I used brown sugar in my Italian meringue buttercream. Since there’s a good bit of cinnamon in the cupcakes and pie filling, I went a bit lighter on the cinnamon as well. Feel free to taste and adjust to your own personal preferences.

Unlike white sugar, the brown sugar will bubble up quite high when you make the sugar syrup for the meringue. Keep an eye on the pot and the candy thermometer. If it bubbles too high or the temperature rises too quickly, remove the pot from the burner for a bit.

Related Reading: FREE Buttercream Course for Beginners

Top Tips for Italian Meringue Buttercream

• Beat the meringue until thick and glossy, but don’t worry about getting it to room temperature.
• Use one stick (4 oz) of cold, cubed butter to bring the meringue’s temperature down.
• The buttercream will be an ugly mess until after the last piece of butter. Don’t panic!
• Still soupy after mixing in all the butter? Chill for 15 minutes, then whip again.

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Apple Pie Filling

I used Envy apples for my pie filling because I like the balance of sweet and tart, plus it’s nice and crisp. As long as you don’t use a red or golden delicious, you should be fine to pick any apple(s) you prefer.

Chop them into a small dice so that you can easily make a small mound on top of the apple pie cupcakes. Be careful though, if they are too small, your filling could overcook and become mushy.

All Together Now

Feel free to combine these three elements however your heart desires. I chose to pipe a generous blob of buttercream on my cupcakes, make an indent with the back of a warm tablespoon, then piled on the pie filling. It created tall, fun looking apple pie cupcakes!

I had initially wanted to put the filling inside the cupcakes, but opted for a nice pile on top of the cinnamon brown sugar buttercream. This showcased the flavor of the cupcakes and made them look unique. 

Enjoy!

Warm cinnamon, fresh apples, and buttery frosting come together to create apple pie cupcakes you will want to make over and over again. These would be a perfect Fall treat to celebrate apple season, or whip them up for a 4th of July celebration.

If you make this recipe for apple pie cupcakes, I’d love to hear what you think! Leave a comment down below and let me know if you loved them as much as I did.

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Apple Pie Cupcakes

Apple butter cupcakes topped with cinnamon brown sugar buttercream and apple pie filling deliver the flavor of a classic pie in cupcakcupcakes form!

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Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword Apple, Birthday, Boozy, Brown Sugar, Cinnamon, Cupcakes, Fall, Frosting, Holiday, Meringue, Pie, Whiskey

Prep Time 45 minutes minutes

Cook Time 50 minutes minutes

Assembly Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 2 hours hours 5 minutes minutes

Servings 17 cupcakes

Calories 300kcal

Author Colleen

Ingredients

Cinnamon Brown Sugar Italian Meringue Buttercream

• 7 oz brown sugar
• 2 fl oz water
• 3 egg whites room temperature
• ⅛ tsp cream of tartar
• Pinch of salt
• 9 oz unsalted butter, softened* see note
• ½ tsp cinnamon

Apple Pie Filling

• 1.5 oz sugar
• 1 Tbsp all- purpose flour
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• Pinch of salt
• 2 apples peeled, cored, and diced
• 1 Tbsp whiskey optional

Apple Butter Cupcakes

• 4 oz all- purpose flour
• 1 ½ oz cake flour
• 2 Tbsp dried buttermilk
• 1 ½ tsps baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• ¼ tsp salt
• 3 ½ oz unsalted butter softened
• 6 oz white sugar
• 1 Tbsp cake enhancer optional
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
• 2 eggs
• 4 fl oz water
• 3 Tbsps apple butter
• ½ oz freeze dried apple slices crushed

Instructions

Cinnamon Brown Sugar Italian Meringue Buttercream

• Place the sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cover the pot for the first 2 minutes to help prevent crystallization. You will heat the sugar syrup to 240°F.
• While the sugar heats, place the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. When the sugar syrup hits 200°F, begin whipping the egg whites on low. Once they start to foam, add the salt and cream of tartar.
• Bump the speed up to medium (4 on a KitchenAid) and beat until you reach soft peaks. The whites should be ready right when your sugar syrup is ready. If they whip up quicker, just bump the speed to the lowest speed to prevent them from over whipping.
• Once the sugar is 240°F, the egg whites should be at soft peaks. Slowly and carefully drizzle the syrup into the bowl, being careful to avoid the whisk. Continue to beat the meringue on a medium speed until it forms thick, glossy peaks, about 10- 15 minutes.
• When the meringue is ready, you can begin adding the butter one tablespoon at a time. Start with the cold stick of butter to bring the temperature of the meringue down. Wait about 10 seconds between additions. The mixture will deflate and look loose, but it will thicken up again.
• Once the butter has been added, scrape down the bowl and whip on a medium high speed for 3 minutes. If it still looks soupy, place the bowl in the fridge for about 5- 15 minutes, then whip again. Scrape the bowl down, add cinnamon, and whip to combine. Taste the buttercream. If it tastes too buttery or thick, whip on a medium high speed for a few more minutes.

Apple Pie Filling

• Combine the sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt in a small bowl. Add the diced apples and dry ingredients to a saucepan and stir until all of the dry ingredients have coated the apples. There should be no dry spots left. Let the mixture sit for 5 minutes to allow the sugar to start pulling some of the moisture from the apples.
• Add the whiskey (if using) to the apple mixture, stir to combine and place the pan over a medium- low heat. Stir occasionally as the apples begin to warm up.
• Continue to cook the pie filling until the apples have softened slightly and the juices have thickened. If needed, increase the heat to medium. This should take about 15- 20 minutes.
• Set the pie filling aside to cool to room temperature. Then, if not using immediately, cover and place in the fridge until needed.

Apple Butter Cupcakes

• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line cupcake pans with paper cases and set aside.
• Sift the flours, dried buttermilk, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt into a bowl. Whisk to combine, then set aside.
• Add the butter, sugars, and cake enhancer (if using) to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Cream on a medium speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Make sure to scrape the bowl down once or twice during the process.
• Add the vanilla to the bowl and beat on medium until well combined, about 1 minute. Scrape the bowl down.
• With the mixer on the lowest speed, add an egg and mix for about 15 seconds before bumping the speed up to the next lowest setting. Mix until combined, about 15 seconds more. Repeat the process with the remaining egg, scraping the bowl down occasionally.
• As the eggs finish incorporating, combine the water and apple butter, then set aside.
• Alternate adding dry and wet ingredients. Begin with a third of the dry and mix on the lowest speed until just combined. Drizzle in half of the liquids and beat on low until nearly combined. Scrape the bowl down and repeat this process with another addition of dry, then wet ingredients. Scrape the bowl down and finish with the final bit of dry ingredients and the crushed freeze dried apples. Mix until just combined.
• Use a cupcake scoop to divide the batter among the cupcake pans. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the cupcakes spring back when tapped on top and a skewer comes out clean.
• Cool in the pans for about 5 minutes before transferring the cupcakes to a cooling rack.

Assembly

• Pipe a swirl of buttercream on top of a cupcake. Use the back of a hot tablespoon to create an impression on top of the swirl. Fill the dent in with a tablespoon of pie filling.

Notes

Buttercream

• One stick (4 oz) of your butter should not be softened. Keep it slightly cold and mostly firm. This will bring the temperature of the meringue down for the rest of the butter.
• The sugar syrup will bubble up, keep an eye on it. If needed, remove the pan from the heat to allow it to come down.