What fruit reminds you of Fall? Apples, of course you say. These cupcakes are loaded with apples and small bits of toffee. It is a Fall favorite with the blend of apples , Fall spices, and toffee

This recipe can easily be made into a cake. Actually, for Thanksgiving that is my plan. In addition to the Cinnamon Cream cheese ,I will add a caramel sauce in between the layers and do a caramel drip on top. I do not recommend a caramel center or topping with cupcakes because the the balance of cake to sweetness would be off. The cupcakes would be overwhelmed with sweetness and the apple toffee flavor would be lost.

I wanted these cupcakes to represent Thanksgiving , so I decorated them a little cornucopia. They also look great with just a toffee pieces sprinkled on top.

What is a Cornucopia?

A Cornucopia is a common symbol of a Fall harvest festival. It is a horn shaped basin that is filled with fruits and vegetables. It represents the abundance of a Fall harvest.

Why is the Cornucopia a symbol of Thanksgiving?

One thought is that since Thanksgiving is a time to give thanks for everyone and everything in your life. The cornucopia makes a great symbolic symbol of abundance with the overflowing of fruits and vegetables.

The horn shaped vessel can be decorated with many items other than fruits and vegetable that resemble the Fall season. Flowers and leaves are common additions . Additionally, cornucopias are a great way to refresh the use of small pumpkins used previously with Halloween decorations.

Apple Toffee Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

Print Recipe

Ingredients

Cupcake Batter:

• 1 stick unsalted room temp butter
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 3 eggs at room temp
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons Apple pie spice
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 3 apples grated ( granny smith)
• 1/2 cup toffee bits

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 2 sticks unsalted butter at room temp
• 12 ounces cream cheese
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 heaping teaspoon cinnamon
• 6 cups powdered sugar

Instructions

Making the cupcake batter:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

  Place cupcake paper cups into cupcake pans
• In your stand mixer beat the butter until light and fluffy. Add in the sugar and continue to beat for about 5 minutes
• Add in the eggs one at a time on low speed. Mix until incorporated
• Add in veg oil and vanilla
• In a large measuring cup ( 4 cup) add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and apple pie spice . Whisk the ingredients together ensuring that they are well blended together

  See note
• Remove the mixing bowl from the stand mixer and fold in the grated apples and toffee bits
• Fill the cupcake tins 2/3 full of batter
• Bake for 15-20 minutes. Check with a toothpick at 15 minutes and add a few minutes as needed to obtain a clean toothpick

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting:

• Add butter to stand mixer. Mix until light and fluffy
• Add in cream cheese in little chunks. Mix until the cream cheese is smooth
• Place the powdered sugar into a large measuring cup. Add in the cinnamon and give it a quick whisk.
• slowly add the powdered sugar the the mixing bowl. Just a little bit at a time.
• Place the mixing bowl into the refrigerator until you are ready to frost the cupcakes. The cream cheese makes the frosting softer that a butter cream frosting. Placing the mixing bowl into the refrigerator will firm up the frosting and make it the need consistency to use a piping bag to decorate the top of the cupcakes

Decorating the Cupcakes

• Add the frosting to a piping bag with your favorite piping tip. I used a ribbon tip
• To make the Cornucopias, I rolled Werther's Original soft caramel pieces into a log shape tapering one end to being narrower. Using a ball tool, a whole was placed in the wide end and the narrow end was then bent up
• The caramel cornucopia was then placed on top of the frosted cupcake and mini M&Ms were added to represent fruit and vegetables
• Store cupcakes in the refrigerator because of the cream cheese frosting

Notes

I like to use a large measuring cup for the dry ingredients over a mixing bowl because of the ease of adding the dry ingredients slowly to the wet ingredients. There is better control over the amount being poured into the mixer and it decrease the ” flour cloud” that can occur when adding flour to a running mixer.

Course: Dessert

Keyword: Apple Toffee Cupcakes, Fall Favoarite Cupcakes, Thanksgiving Cupcakes

These cupcakes are great anytime of year, but that definitely a favorite Fall time treat. There are so many different ways that they can be decorated to match the Fall flavor…Maybe with pumpkins or apples.

The toffee could also be changed out for pecans.

Please drop a comment and let me know what you think about these awesome cupcakes!

Cheers…Happy Baking !!!