Enjoy cupcakes in all their Fall glory with these Gluten Free Apple Cinnamon Cupcakes with Maple Buttercream.
I’ve been reading my children Halloween books these last couple of weeks to get them in the spooky spirit. I always try to have a decent stash of books on hand that my girls can flip through and read at any given time. But, I always make sure to store away holiday books until about a month before that certain holiday approaches. That way they have some new, fun, and festive books to look forward to reading.
My one issue with stocking up on books, whether for the holidays or everyday reading, is just how dang expensive they are. I’ve had friends give books everyday to their children for the 25 days of Christmas and all I can think of is CHA-CHING!!! I’d be broke by the time Christmas came.
I like to find a lot of my books at garage sales. You can get books for less than 25 cents a piece, and most of them are hardly used. I ain’t got no shame when it comes to digging around for decent books.
So most of my Halloween reading stash this year came from garage sale shopping last year. Most of the books I bought were pretty up to date, but this one book, as cute as it is, was probably written at least 20 years ago because one of the pictures shows all these kids in their Halloween costumes bobbing for apples. Yep, this book must have been written back when bobbing for apples was considered a fun game…back before people realized just how DISGUSTING this festive party game really is.
Can you imagine??? ME sticking my face in a bucket full of water that 20 other people have already stuck their grimy faces in, fishing around for a bite of an apple that most likely every other mouth has already tried to latch onto???!
Again I say, DISGUSTING!!!
I’m pretty sure that the “Donuts on a String” game has replaced the infamous “Bobbing for Bacteria” game. Everybody gets their own donut and their own string. Now that’s my kind of game.
But I was thinking, instead of shoving your face in a bucket full of dirty water filled with apples, wouldn’t it be so much better to shove your face into a plateful of frosted cupcakes???
Now that could be a fun game too! Seriously, tie your hands behind your back and try to eat a frosted cupcake. It would be one huge, delicious, worthwhile mess. Don’t you think?!
And to make it that much more like bobbing for apples, how about making APPLE cupcakes?
Or more specifically Gluten Free Apple Cinnamon Cupcakes with Maple Buttercream. The only issue I foresee with this game is limiting each player to JUST ONE cupcake instead of the entire plate. You may have to beat some contestants off with a stick or two.
Going in face first to these cupcakes would be absolutely spectacular because the first thing your face would meet would be this killer maple buttercream. It’s smooth, creamy, light, fluffy…you know the drill. Yeah, the drill for perfect frosting. This frosting has it all, plus it has maple and cinnamon which just makes it that much better.
So once you lick all the frosting off your lips, you can chomp on into the real business. The cake! Not just any ordinary cake, but a tender cinnamon spice baked apple cake.
The key to making this cake so tender, moist, and soft in texture is half baking the apples before folding them into the batter. You just nuke the chopped apples in the microwave for a minute along with some super yummy Fall spices, and then they are ready to go in the batter to continue cooking in the oven for a real baked apple taste.
What is almost just as good as eating these cupcakes is the aroma coming from your oven as you make these cupcakes. Wholly moly! Someone might as well tie a cinnamon stick under my nose because that’s how yummy my kitchen smells.
I was super stoked at the texture of these cupcakes. The coconut flour helps absorb the moisture from the apples as they are baking so you don’t end up with those gummy/gooey spots in the middle of your cupcakes where the apple pieces are. Plus coconut flour always tends to create an extra soft product when it comes to baking.
I used just a a bit of brown rice flour (rice flour tends to create gummy or dense products) to create enough bind and stick so that I only had to use a 1/4 teaspoon of xanthan gum. Really, the cake texture is just spot on. Welcome to Brielle’s laboratory and the science of baking with gluten free flours. It’s always a test kitchen up in here!
My children LOVED these Fall inspired cupcakes and couldn’t keep their sneaky hands away from them…so, I sprinkled them with toasted walnuts. Good for me, but sprinkling anything with nuts is like spraying kid repellent on your food. Why is that?
Apparently these cupcakes were so good that it was worth eating around the walnuts because these cupcakes sure didn’t last long! Which means it’s about time to make some more. Happy Fall and happy baking my friends!
What is your favorite holiday game?
- For Cupcakes:
- 1 cup peeled and diced apple (I used Gala)
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 stick butter, melted
- ¾ cup sugar
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup
- 1½ extra large eggs*
- ½ tablespoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon xanthan gum
- ⅓ cup plus 2 tablespoons coconut flour
- ¼ cup gluten free oat flour
- ¼ cup brown rice flour
- ¼ cup potato starch
- 2 tablespoons tapioca starch
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon, divided
- ⅛ teaspoon plus a dash allspice
- ⅛ teaspoon plus a dash nutmeg
- ¼ cup milk (I used 1%)
- For Frosting:
- 1 stick butter, room temperature
- 1 tablespoon milk
- pinch of salt
- ½ teaspoon maple extract
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 2½ to 3 cups powdered sugar
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line mini muffin tins or regular muffin tins with paper liners. Set aside.
- In a microwave safe dish, melt butter for 45 seconds to 1 minute. Set aside and allow to cool to touch.
- While butter is cooling, in a small mixing bowl, sift together salt, baking powder, xanthan gum, coconut flour, oat flour, brown rice flour, potato starch, tapioca starch, ¾ teaspoon cinnamon, ⅛ teaspoon allspice, and ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg.
- In a small microwave safe mixing bowl add chopped apple, lemon juice, ¼ teaspoon cinnamon, dash of allspice, and dash of nutmeg. Stir until apples are coated. Microwave for 1½ minutes and set aside to cool.
- In a large mixing bowl add sugar, maple syrup, eggs, vanilla, and melted butter. Mix on low until smooth. Add half of your dry ingredients to mixture and mix until incorporated. Add milk and mix until smooth. Add remaining dry ingredients and mix until smooth. Fold in cooked apple mixture.
- Fill muffin liners ⅔ way full and bake at 350 degrees for 20-22 minutes for regular sized cupcakes or 12-14 minutes for mini sized cupcakes or until tops spring back at the touch of a finger and toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Remove from oven and set on cooling rack. Allow to cool in pan for 3-5 minutes. Remove and allow to finish cooling on cooling rack.
- Prepare frosting by whipping butter until light and fluffy. Add 1½ cups powdered sugar. Beat until smooth. Add milk, pinch of salt, maple extract, cinnamon, and vanilla extract. Mix on low until smooth. Add 1 cup powdered sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add additional powdered sugar if needed for piping or spreading consistency.
- Once cupcakes are completely cool, frost and decorate.
- Store cupcakes in a loosely covered container for up to 3 days at room temperature or in an airtight container in freezer for up to 3 months.
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