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These Caramel Apple Cupcakes taste just like I was biting into a caramel apple. You could taste the apples in the cupcake and it is perfectly moist.The caramel on top is heaven. 
If you love the combination of caramel and apple then this Caramel Apple Slab Pie, Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls or The Best Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars are the perfect sweet and savory desserts for you.
Caramel apple on a stick in a photo.

Caramel Apple Cupcakes

The perfect solution when you are craving something sweet lies within this recipe. This dessert embodies the fulfilling fruity taste along with the sweet and salty flavor of caramel. The idea of this is absolutely genius. Transforming all the taste you get from a caramel apple and baking it into a cupcake has never been easier. This dessert is made with an apple flavored cupcake topped off with a thick and creamy caramel layer.

What Do You Need To Make Caramel Apple Cupcakes:

Sugar and spice and everything nice help you prepare these delicious cupcakes. Here are the ingredients you need to make these caramel apple cupcakes!

  • Flour
  • Baking powder
  • Cinnamon
  • Salt
  • Eggs
  • Brown sugar
  • Sugar
  • Vegetable oil
  • Vanilla extract
  • Granny Smith or Rome apples about 1 pound, peeled and shredded
  • Caramel candies
  • Heavy Cream

How Do You Make Caramel Apple Cupcakes:

These cupcakes taste just as good as they look. Perfect for fall parties and a fun alternative to your typical carmel apple. Amaze your guests by preparing this sweet and salty dessert. 

  • Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a cupcake pan with baking liners. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Grate your apples to ensure you’ll get apple with every bite of caramel. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, brown sugar and granulated sugars until smooth. Whisk in the oil and vanilla. Stir into the flour mixture until just combined; stir in the apples
  • Spoon the batter into the prepared pan until almost full. Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely.
  • In a small, microwavable bowl, combine the caramels and cream. Microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring between each one until caramel is melted and smooth. Dip cupcakes upside down into caramel and let cool.
The process of making caramel apple pops.

Tips and Tricks For Making Caramel Apple Cupcakes:

When you have been doing baking for a long time you start to pick up on little things you can do that make all the difference in your desserts! Here are a couple of little tips and tricks that I have found useful to know when it comes to making this recipe.

  • Use the best quality ingredients available: Sometimes all we have to work with is what we already have on hand and that is totally fine. However, for instance when the recipe calls for pure vanilla extract and you use imitation vanilla extract there can be a difference in the quality of taste. So just keep this in mind when you are baking if you feel like you want to try something different! 
  • Try to make sure your ingredients are brought to room temperature: As crazy as it sounds, doing this can make a big difference when combining all your ingredients. Things like eggs and milk tend to have a hard time mixing with dry ingredients when you take them straight out of the fridge. Especially when you use margarine or butter right away. This tends to lead to clumps of one ingredient sticking together and making an appearance in one unfortunate bite. It can also cause things to bake more dense rather than light and fluffy
  • Don’t over-mix the batter: You might hear people sometimes refer to baking as a science and the truth is, it is. You measure out all the ingredients to mix together. And when it comes to mixing them you have to be aware of a couple of things. If you mix it too long it can crush some of the air bubbles 
  • Wait for the oven to pre-heat: I know we are all guilty of it sometimes. As soon as we turn on the oven we go ahead and stick whatever we are cooking/baking right in. This can cause multiple problems. Putting cupcakes in before the oven is ready can mess up the baking process. The oven not being at the right temperature can affect the amount of time needed to bake the cupcakes
  • Do not leave the cupcakes in the pan: When you first take them out of the oven it is okay to leave them in there for a couple of minutes, however no longer than that. You should let them cool off on a wire rack because leaving them in the hot pan can cause them to continue to cook longer than the necessary time and lead to them getting over baked and dried out.
Caramel apple sticks.

Storing Cupcakes:

  • Storing: These lush cupcakes can be stored at room temperature for up to 2 days or refrigerated for up to 5 days.
  • Freeze: To freeze first let the cupcakes cool completely. Do not coat them in the caramel sauce. Then freeze un-frosted cupcakes in a freezer safe container or zip top bag for up to 2 months. When ready to eat, thaw at room temperature or overnight. Once thawed you can coat the cupcakes in the caramel sauce.
Three caramel apple sticks placed together.

More Delicious Cupcakes:

Cupcakes are the best party cakes, everyone gets their own individual cake! Try these favorites.

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Caramel Apple Cupcakes

By: Alyssa Rivers
This tasted just like I was biting into a caramel apple. You could taste the apples in the cupcake and it was perfectly moist. And the caramel on top was heaven. I mean seriously, don't these look delicious!?
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Servings: 12 cupcakes

Ingredients 

Instructions 

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cupcake pan with baking liners. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Grate your apples to ensure you'll get apple with every bite of caramel. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, brown sugar and granulated sugars until smooth. Whisk in the oil and vanilla. Stir into the flour mixture until just combined; stir in the apples.
  • Spoon the batter into the prepared pan until almost full. Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely.
  • In a small, microwavable bowl, combine the caramels and cream. Microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring between each one until caramel is melted and smooth. Dip cupcakes upside down into caramel and let cool.

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 228kcalCarbohydrates: 32gProtein: 2gFat: 11gSaturated Fat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 6gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 29mgSodium: 135mgPotassium: 149mgFiber: 1gSugar: 27gVitamin A: 79IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 58mgIron: 0.4mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Tried this recipe?Mention @alyssa_therecipecritic or tag #therecipecritic!

About Alyssa Rivers

Alyssa Rivers is the author of 'The Tried and True Cookbook', a professional food photographer and experienced recipe-developer. Having a passion for cooking, her tried and true recipes have been featured on Good Morning America, Today Food, Buzzfeed and more.

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38 Comments

  1. I did go with a Carmel dipping sauce instead of melting Carmel squares, and used cut down skewers for the sticks, turned out amazing! I love fall comfort treats! Thanks so much

  2. Hey just wanted to give you a quick heads up and let you know a few
    of the images aren’t loading properly. I’m not sure why but I think its a linking issue.
    I’ve tried it in two different browsers and both show the same results.

  3. Oh my goodness I’m making these yummy treats today! They look sinful! Thanks so much for linking up to Creative Thursday. Can’t wait to see what you share this week! Have a wonderful week.
    Michelle

  4. Easy fix for the “too hard to eat” caramel.. I used caramel dipping sauce which is already in the delicious, creamy state (although I did still add a little cream) and stays that way. No microwaving. No broken teeth. Just a delish fall treat!

  5. My wife made these yesterday. They were super delicious!! The only thing I didn’t like was that the caramel becomes hard and is hard to bite through. I would prefer the topping to be more creamy. The cake though was super moist and absolutely delicious!

    1. I totally agree! We ate them when the caramel was still soft. Once it hardened it made it hard to eat. We put them in the microwave to help soften it up. But I think these would be good with a creamy caramel frosting too!

  6. I made these this afternoon with my kids VERY easy to make super tasty! Only thing was the caramel really sticks to the paper on the cupcakes and makes it very hard to get off i think next time i will remove the paper before topping with the caramel!

    1. What you can do is remove the wrapper, put them in a small clear 9oz plastic cup, then pour the caramel over so the even if it over flows it’s all good. Instead of a wooden stick you can add a plastic spoon. The can be nuked prior to serving so that the caramel is soft.

  7. Oh, these look so yummy! I can’t wait to try this recipe. Thank you so much for sharing!

    Thank you for visiting and following my blog! I’m your 300th follower. YAY 🙂

    1. I’m making these for my daughters fundraiser today. I am changing it u a little. What I plan on doing is chopping up apples mixing them with a little caramel. cut out the center fill it with the mixture then topping it off with a whipped caramel buttercreme frosting then drizzling some more caramel on top.

      1. Would love the recipe for the caramel buttercreme, pretty please. How did they turn out for your daughter’s fundraiser?

      2. Sorry ladies! It’s been about a year and I never pulled this page up until now. They turned out delicious. I sold out of them in no time flat. I even had customers returning for more and were disappointed that I was out. . I will post the caramel frosting recipe soon. I have to dig it up. At the last few games I have been ask if I will be making some again this season. Duh of course!

        Thanks

      3. I am making these for my son’s school festival and would really love to add your caramel frosting if your willing to give it out.

        Thank You in Advance,
        Julie

      4. Here is the caramel frosting recipe: 🙂
        Caramel Frosting

        3/4 C butter

        2 C sugar

        1/2 C buttermilk

        12 large marshmallows

        1 Tbsp light corn syrup

        1/2 tsp baking soda

        Melt butter in a large saucepan over low heat. Stir in sugar and remaining ingredients. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, 25-30 minutes or until a candy thermometer registers 234 degrees (soft boil stage) Remove from heat. Beat at high speed for 5-7 minutes or until frosting thickens and begins to lose its gloss.

      5. Here we go.;
        The caramel recipe (you’ll need to add to the frosting)
        1/4c of heavy whipping cream
        1/4c of butter
        1/2c brown sugar,packed
        combine all ingred. in sauce pan med. heat stirring constantly, heat to a boil., once boiling reduce to med heat and cook until thickened, about 8-9 min. then remove and allow to cool.

        Caramel frosting
        1/2c butter, softened
        1 8oz cream cheese
        3-5 cups of powdered sugar.or until desired consistency reached
        1/2c of caramel.

        beat butter and cream cheese until blended. add powder sugar a cup at a time and blend well. add cooled caramel.before final cup. Pipe, drizzle left over caramel and enjoy!!.

    2. OK now that sounds amazing!!!! Let me know how that turns out! Would also love to share the whipped caramel frosting recipe….

      1. What is the recipe for that whipped caramel frosting????? Please mail it to my email so i make sure I got it………..and post also incase I don’t get it via email………
        Thank you
        4 year old Bailey LOVES CARAMEL
        Mommy