Caramel Apple Cupcakes

I'm not the first blogger to do Caramel Apple Cupcakes this season, and I bet I won't be the last. One of my favorite treats of Autumn is a caramel apple! So when I came across a recipe for Caramel Apple Cupcakes (actually there were so many recipes it was hard to choose one), naturally I had to try it! I was slightly disappointed, not by the cupcake, but by the weather the day I made these cupcakes. With a high of 92°F it's hard to get into the Fall spirit. However, the cupcakes still came out great and just TASTED like Autumn!

ingredients chunky apple cinnamon batter apple cinnamon cupcakes cooling (and smelling GREAT!) caramel (before) caramel (after)Caramel Apple Cupcake... + pecans!

Recipe from Crazy About Cupcakes by Krystina Castella.

MY NOTES: I used Granny Smith apples. I could only find large apples, and when I chopped them up I got about 3 cups. I only used 2 cups in the batter, and it was perfect. The topping turned out more like a browned butter icing than caramel. I'd recommend using your favorite caramel recipe instead.

Caramel Apple Cupcakes
Makes 16-18

1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 medium sized tart apples, peeled, cored, and chopped small (about 2 cups)

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Insert liners into a medium cupcake pan.
2. In a large bowl beat together the brown sugar, oil, cinnamon, and vanilla with an electric mixer on medium speed. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each addition.
3. In a separate bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
4. Slowly add the dry mixture to the wet mixture. Beat until blended. Stir in apples.
5. Fill the cupcake liners 1/2 to 3/4 full (I did about 1/2) with batter. Bake for 20-25 minutes (mine were done at about 18 minutes), or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool cupcakes in pan. (This book always says to cool them in the pan, but I always cool them on wire racks.)

Caramel Topping
(I had to double this recipe to cover all 16 cupcakes.)

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. In a saucepan over medium heat bring the brown sugar, butter, and cream to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer (about medium-low) and continue stirring for 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
2. Stir in the vanilla.
3. Pour the warm caramel topping over cupcakes. (***I HIGHLY ADVISE LETTING THE CARAMEL COOL AND THICKEN BEFORE TOPPING THE CUPCAKES!!*** Otherwise you'll just get a thin, runny mess and hardly any caramel on each cupcake. I let mine cool in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes, stirring every few minutes.)