Spiced Candy Apple Cupcakes with Crunchy Caramel Frosting

This post was originally sponsored but has been updated.

Spiced Candy Apple Cupcakes with Crunchy Caramel Frosting - A delicious cupcake filled with M&M's®, apple sauce and spices and topped with a crunchy caramel frosting!

Hey! I'm over here combining Fall flavors and cupcakes to bring you spiced candy apple cupcakes with crunchy caramel frosting. I seriously get the most excited to bake from the end of August to January 1st. So much so that my house is pretty packed with baked goods and ingredients that can possibly be used in bake goods. 

The weather is sort of cooling down here in New York. Yesterday was like 80 degrees and I broke out in a sweat when I walked down to my husband's work, but for the most part it's getting cooler. I will bake year around, because 1. I have a dessert blog and 2. I LOVE to bake, but a lot of people wait for Fall to come around to start turning on that oven. It makes sense and I know you'll be wanting to turn on that oven for this fairly simple recipe.

Spiced Candy Apple Cupcakes with Crunchy Caramel Frosting - A delicious cupcake filled with M&M's®, apple sauce and spices and topped with a crunchy caramel frosting!
Spiced Candy Apple Cupcakes with Crunchy Caramel Frosting - A delicious cupcake filled with M&M's®, apple sauce and spices and topped with a crunchy caramel frosting!

This cupcake has everything in it that I love about Fall. There are M&M's® in gorgeous fall colors and pecan pie flavor, apple sauce, spices and caramel all in one little cupcake. The caramel frosting is slightly crunchy from the brown sugar and also from setting up. I'm really digging the crunch factor.

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Spiced Candy Apple Cupcakes with Crunchy Caramel Frosting - A delicious cupcake filled with M&M's®, apple sauce and spices and topped with a crunchy caramel frosting!

The M&M's® Pecan Pie candies add a nice almost salty caramel flavor to the cupcake. The candy doesn't stay sitting on the top of the cupcake. They sit in the middle of the cake and some at the bottom which is okay with me. They're a nice surprise to bite into while enjoying one of these cupcakes. I also like the pocket of color that they spread after being baked.

I love the cool weather, the change of leaves, the colors, decorating, baking and basically everything.

Spiced Candy Apple Cupcakes with Crunchy Caramel Frosting - A delicious cupcake filled with M&M's®, apple sauce and spices and topped with a crunchy caramel frosting!
Spiced candy apple cupcakes with crunchy caramel frosting.

Spiced Candy Apple Cupcake with Crunchy Caramel Frosting

This Apple Spice Cupcake is filled with delicious candy pieces and topped with a Crunchy Caramel Topping. Perfect for cool fall nights!
5 from 2 votes
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 18 minutes
Total Time 38 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 22 servings
Calories 306 kcal

Ingredients
  

Cupcakes

  • 1 Classic Yellow Pillsbury™ Moist Supreme® Cake Mix
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 ½ teaspoons apple pie spice
  • ¾ cup Mott's® Apple Sauce
  • ¾ cup Snapple® Apple
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ¾ cup M&M's® Pecan Pie

Frosting

  • ½ cup butter 1 stick
  • 1 ¼ cups light brown sugar packed
  • ¼ cup heavy cream + 2 tablespoons, divided
  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 22 pieces caramel garnish
  • 22 M&M's® Pecan Pie garnish

Instructions

Cupcake

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place cupcake papers in a cupcake pan.
  • In a mixing bowl, add in the boxed cake mix, cinnamon and apple pe spice. Stir to incorporate.
  • Add in the apple sauce, apple juice, eggs and vanilla. Mix for 2 minutes.
  • Scoop the cake batter into the liners. I filled mine almost to the top. There was only a very small space between the batter and the very top.
  • Place 4 - 5 M&M's® on the top of each cupcake.
  • Place in the preheated oven and let bake for 18 minutes. Use a toothpick and make sure it comes out clean before pulling the cupcakes out.
  • Remove from the oven and let cool.

Frosting

  • In a saucepan, add in the butter and brown sugar. Place over medium heat and let heat until the mixture becomes fluid and starts to bubble.
  • Add in ¼ cup of the heavy cream and let it heat for another minute.
  • Remove from the heat and place in a mixing bowl. Place in the fridge for about 10 minutes.
  • Add in the powdered sugar, vanilla, and the 2 T. of heavy cream.
  • Beat on low until the mixture comes together.
  • Turn the beater on high and let it whip for 2 minutes. Place in a piping back with a large star tip.
  • Pipe swirls on the tops of the cooled cupcakes. The frosting won't be sticky, so work quickly adding the garnishes on.
  • Add on the caramel squares and M&M's®.

Notes

To store any leftover cupcakes, with the heavy cream in the frosting, you'll want to store these in the refrigerator in an air tight container for up to 3 days.

Nutrition

Calories: 306kcalCarbohydrates: 56gProtein: 2gFat: 8gSaturated Fat: 5gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.4gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0.2gCholesterol: 38mgSodium: 226mgPotassium: 59mgFiber: 1gSugar: 46gVitamin A: 223IUVitamin C: 0.3mgCalcium: 80mgIron: 1mg

(Nutrition facts are an estimate and not guaranteed to be accurate. Please see a registered dietitian for special diet advice.)


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12 Comments

  1. Hello Miranda,
    In my opinion, all of your recipes are awesome but I am in love with this "spiced candy apple cupcakes"! The cupcakes are not easy for preparing (for me) but they are one of my favorite meals! 🙂 Next time I will try to prepare your recipe for Pumpkin Pie. <3

5 from 2 votes (2 ratings without comment)

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