When it comes to fall, I love the traditional pumpkin-spiced treats. But before pumpkin spice became the major trend, apples were the flavor of fall. These cupcakes showcase the rich flavors of autumn apples by using applesauce in place of butter, shortening, or other fatty oils—making them moist and slightly healthier than your average cupcake.
Applesauce Spice Cupcakes
They don’t contain a whole lot of fat, because they get most of their moisture from the applesauce rather than needing loads of butter. I’d say these cupcakes belong to the carrot cake family. They taste very similar but no extra time is needed to grate carrots, bonus! These may seem like fall cupcakes but to me, they are perfect year-round (I’ll take one any day!), they don’t require fresh fruit that’s in season. The cupcake recipe I found in the amazing Martha Stewart Cupcakes book but I added my frosting. The other changes I made were omitting cloves (they listed using 1/8 tsp), I omitted the 1 cup pecans they added to the batter (I prefer the nuts along with the frosting rather than in the cupcakes) and I used salted butter rather than unsalted.
Egg Temperature Hack
I forgot to mention my cheat to get eggs to room temperature quickly when I posted the coconut cupcakes a few days ago. All you do is gently place the eggs in a bowl, cover them with warm tap water, and let them rest for about 10 minutes while you gather up the remaining ingredients for the cupcakes. It’s a great kitchen cheat I use every time a recipe calls for eggs at room temperature.
