Apple Cider Cupcakes

All warm fall flavors in every bite of these chewy moist and sweet cupcakes with apple cider buttercream, vanilla, and caramel topping.

These cupcakes are the perfect fall season treat that the whole family can enjoy. Cupcakes made from scratch and buttercream frosting will seduce any cupcake and frosting lover, of any age. Easy to fall in love with and hard to skip on your marathon of fall recipes.

Super short prep time and quick baking and these apple cinnamon cupcakes are ready in less than an hour. Great on a weeknight, for a potluck, and even for a Thanksgiving table.

My suggestion, double the recipe as this easy fall cupcake recipe is a huge hit and everyone will gobble a few of these perfect fall cupcakes.

Ingredients Notes

My cupcake batter is made from scratch without whole eggs or unsalted butter.

Using apple cider is an amazing way to infuse cupcakes with apple flavor because you don’t have to worry about sweet or tart apples and tough skin at all.

However, you can always add fresh cubed apples of your choice into the batter.

Cupcakes

• All-purpose flour is what I use in all my baking cakes or cupcakes recipes.
• Baking powder and baking soda help with building the batter, but also balancing the textures and flavors.
• Warm Spices: cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. They work together with apple flavor, complementing each other.
• Brown sugar, light or dark, doesn’t matter. It gives a beautiful subtle sweetness and toffee flavor.
• Buttermilk is what makes my cupcakes so soft and chewy!
• Apple cider is what gives the batter and frosting this beautiful apple flavor, perfectly balanced. Make sure to use fresh apple cider for best results. For cupcake batter, I use half a cup of apple cider.
• Vegetable oil. Canola, grapeseed, or sunflower oil are better than coconut oil since they don’t have a strong taste. We add oil to keep the cupcakes moist and spongy. You can substitute oil with butter.
• Vanilla bean paste works great for both frosting and batter. If you don’t have it, vanilla extract can work too.

Apple Cider Buttercream Frosting

• Unsalted butter softened – the base of our frosting.
• Confectioner’s sugar (or any white sugar) for sweetness.
• Salt actually enhances sweetness and balances out all the flavors in the recipe.
• Ground cinnamon to highlight apples and bring fall warmth.
• Vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste. Pure products add more flavor than artificial ones.
• Apple cider, again, to infuse the buttercream frosting with apple flavors.

Topping

• Caramel Sauce – homemade or store-bought. If making homemade caramel sauce, you can add spiced apple cider or regular apple cider to it too (reduced or straight out of the bottle).
• Fresh Apples, sliced to decorate. Crisp apples and a nice juicy note to the flavor and textures. Apple cupcakes are not complete without fresh apples somewhere in the recipe. 

Equipment You’ll Need

• Cupcake Pan lined with Cupcake Liners for baking.
• 2-inch scooper or ¼ measuring cup to portion batter.
• Large bowl for mixing ingredients.
• Piping Bag fitted with Flower/Star Piping Tip to pipe the frosting.
• Optional, electric hand mixer or stand mixer to mix all the ingredients for batter, buttercream, and frosting.

How Many Cupcakes Does This Recipe Make?

My apple cider cupcake recipe makes 12 fluffy cupcakes.

How To Make Apple Cider Cupcakes

1: Make The Cupcakes

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and prepare a cupcake pan with cupcake liners. Set aside.
2. Whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a large mixing bowl. 
3. Add the brown sugar to the flour mixture, mixing until combined.
4. Mix the wet ingredients (buttermilk, oil, apple cider, and vanilla bean paste) into the dry ingredients. Whisk until a thick batter forms.
5. Use a 2-inch scooper or ¼ measuring cup to evenly portion the cupcake batter into the prepared cupcake liners. Fill each liner ¾ way full in the cupcake liner to leave space for the cupcakes to rise.
6. Bake the cupcakes for 25 minutes or until a cake tester or a toothpick inserted into the cupcake comes out clean and the cupcakes turn golden brown.
7. Let the cupcakes cool completely at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before frosting.

2: Prepare Apple Cider Frosting

Prepare the frosting while the cupcakes are baking to save time.

1. Add the butter to a separate bowl. Beat until smooth and creamy. 
2. Slowly mix in the confectioner’s sugar, one cup at a time – until fully combined with the butter.
3. Mix the cider, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt blending until smooth, and creamy. About 3-5 minutes until desired consistency.

3: Frost Cupcakes

4. Transfer the buttercream frosting to a piping bag fitted with a metal tip of your choice.
5. Create a swirl from the outside inwards on top of cooled cupcakes. Then drizzle with caramel sauce and finish with an apple slice to decorate.

Serve after dinner, have one with a cup of coffee in the morning, or pack one to go.

Frosting Ideas

I love apple cider buttercream frosting on my cupcakes, but here are some of the best-tasting ideas to try.

To top apple cider cupcakes we mainly use cream cheese- or buttercream-based frosting to achieve that bakery-worthy look, but it can also be simple glaze or cinnamon sugar crumbs.

Second Frosting Option – Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

If you have tried these beautiful cupcakes with buttercream and looking for a new frosting option try cream cheese.

You’ll need only 5 ingredients and 10 minutes to make it: sweet cream butter, softened cream cheese, ground cinnamon, powdered sugar, and pure vanilla extract. 

Simply beat the cream cheese with butter and vanilla until fully combined, then add sugar and cinnamon and beat until the mixture is fluffy.

Frost the cupcakes immediately.

Third Frosting Option – Brown Sugar Buttercream Frosting

This frosting is similar to the one I make but it doesn’t use apple cider. 

Use the same ingredients list, but swap white sugar with brown, and apple cider with heavy cream. 

You can use it immediately or make it ahead and store it in the fridge for up to 4 weeks.

Fourth Frosting Option – Bourbon Cream Cheese Frosting

For a special occasion that only adults will attend, you can make this elegant frosting with just a few tbsp of bourbon.

You’ll need only 5 ingredients and 10 minutes: butter, softened cream cheese, powdered sugar, bourbon, and pure vanilla extract. 

Prepare it as usual: beat the cream cheese and butter with an electric mixer in a medium bowl, add sugar and vanilla, and lastly add bourbon one tbsp at a time to make sure it tastes good. Try after mixing in every spoon. 

Fifth Frosting Option – Swiss Meringue Buttercream

A simple 5-ingredient light and creamy frosting that, unlike other options, requires cooking as it contains raw egg whites.

You’ll need egg whites, sugar, butter, salt, and pure vanilla extract. 

1. Fill a pot with 2 inches of water and let it simmer over medium heat.
2. Place a saucepan on top of the pot and cook the egg whites with sugar constantly whisking until fully incorporated. 
3. Once done, pour it into the bowl of a stand mixer and beat on low speed until stiff peaks form. Let the mix cool down, and mix in butter until fully combined. Last, add sugar, salt, and vanilla. 
4. You can make it a few days ahead or frost the cupcakes right away. 

Storage

Store cooled cupcakes in an airtight container for 2-3 days at room temperature. Afterward, you can store them in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Cupcakes are super easy to freeze and store well in the freezer for up to 3 months. Once thawed at room temperature they will taste as good as fresh.

You can make the batter one week ahead while the frosting can last for a month – a perfect recipe for the holiday season.

Substitutes & Variations

• Cream cheese frosting is a substitute for buttercream frosting – it is a matter of preference. For best (fluffiest) results, use full-fat cream cheese and do not overbeat it.
• Apple cider can be substituted with apple juice mixed with a splash of lemon juice. Apple juice is sweet, so adjust the sugar measurements to balance out the extra sugar in the juice.
• Too much apple cider flavor? Keep it for decoration and frosting and make chocolate cupcakes instead of apple cider.
• Add texture to the batter with chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans).
• Powdered sugar can be used in the frosting recipe, although I highly recommend sticking to brown sugar for the batter!
• Spice options: classic pumpkin spice and ground ginger are some other add-ons that pair well with apple recipes and are fall-inspired.
• Toppings: for extra apple flavors, add apple pie filling on top of the creamy frosting, for a crunch – add pie crumbles or chopped nuts.
• A cinnamon stick can serve as a very pretty decoration.

Tips To Make Tasty Apple Cider Cupcakes

• Reduced apple cider has a concentrated delicious apple flavor. To reduce the cider simply simmer it for 10-20 minutes in a saucepan on low heat. Reduced cider is completely optional. I tested this recipe without apple cider reduction and it tasted delicious.
• If making homemade caramel sauce, cool completely before drizzling over the frosting.
• To make fluffy cupcakes do not overmix the batter. Leave it just when all the ingredients are incorporated. Some recipes add sour cream or Greek yogurt to make the cupcakes extra soft, but I haven’t tested it.
• Double the frosting recipe to freeze some for the next batch or other cupcake recipes.
• If you don’t have cupcake liners, use cut-out parchment paper double the size of the cup.
• A Zip-top bag with a cut-out corner can replace a piping bag, but the frosting may not look as pretty as some pictures show 🙂

Popular Questions

Can I Use Cake Mix For Cupcakes?

Cupcakes are easier and faster to make with boxed cake mix and you can still add vanilla extract and apple cider for flavoring.

Can I Use Apple Cider Vinegar For Apple Cider Cupcakes?

No, apple cider vinegar and apple cider are two different liquids. If you don’t have apple cider, use apple juice with added cinnamon and lemon juice. If you use vinegar, your cupcakes will taste like vinegar.

What Is The Difference Between Apple Juice And Apple Cider?

Store-bought apple juice was made from apples, filtered, and pasteurized to have a stable long shelf-life. Apple cider is made by juicing apple mash, doesn’t have a long shelf life, and can ferment at room temperature.

Can I Use Granulated Sugar Instead Of Confectioner’s Sugar?

For apple cider cupcakes frosting we need to use confectioner’s sugar as it is powdered sugar with cornstarch added for stability. Granulated sugar is just more coarse sugar, however it can still be a good substitute for confectioner’s sugar. 

If you love this cupcake recipe, you’re going to love these other sweet treats too. Please click each link below to find the easy, printable recipe!

More Great Apple Cider Recipes

Instant Pot Apple Cider

Apple Cider Donut Holes

Apple Cider Donut Cake

Bourbon Apple Cider

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