Spiced Applesauce Cupcakes

Hey Jude's Note:

These are SO darn good! This recipe makes a nice, big batch of cupcakes - it's good for taking to the office, parties, etc. Recipe is from Sunset.

• Total Time: 35 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 18 cupcakes

• 1 ¾ cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup butter , softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 cup finely chopped pecans

Apple Glaze

• ¾ cup powdered sugar
• 5 teaspoons apple juice , about

Directions:

1. Whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt until very well combined; set aside.
2. In a mixer, beat butter and sugar until creamy; add egg and beat until fluffy.
3. Stir in applesauce.
4. Gradually add flour mixture, beating until well blended; stir in nuts.
5. Spoon batter into paper-lined or well-greased 2 1/2-inch muffin pans, filling each about 2/3 full.
6. Bake in a 350°oven until tops spring back when lightly touched (20-25 min).
7. let cool in pans on wire racks for about 5 minutes.
8. Prepare Apple Glaze, carefully remove cupcakes, place on racks and brush with glaze.
9. Apple Glaze: mix powdered sugar and apple juice until smoothly blended and of a good brushing consistency.

Reviews

[Geri by the Sea]

I made this as a Xmas morning breakfast-in-bed for my honey, and he just absolutely loved waking up to it! It was yummy, and the glaze really made the recipe special. I varied the recipe a little bit... First, with the cupcake batter, I simply tossed all of the ingredients into a food processor - first the wet, then the dry - and whirred them on high speed. Later, with the glaze, I added a bit of powdered ginger for a little tang.

[Kree]

These are delicious cupcakes! I took them to a Christmas party last night and they were a big hit. I used only 1/4 cup margarine and added extra applesauce to make up for it, and used Egg Beaters in place of the egg. Other than that I followed the directions exactly, and they came out moist and yummy. The glaze makes them nice and sweet, and I love the flavor of the spices! I'll definitely be making these again.

[kokeshi doll]

I really liked the flavor of these cupcakes. I increased the amount of cloves just a bit because I love that flavor. To veganize this recipe I omitted the egg, and used Earth Balance margarine instead of butter, which I melted. Instead of mixing the baking soda with the dry ingredients, I stirred it into the applesauce along with 1/4 tsp. cider vinegar to get the baking soda working. The cupcakes rose nicely with this method and didn't need the egg. I got only 13 cupcakes and don't know how you could get 18 unless they were really small. I didn't make the glaze but if I ever do I'll cut back on the sugar in the cupcake by 1/4 cup or so, because they're very sweet.