Apple Butter Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

Pies tend to get all the glory at Thanksgiving and believe me, I’ve got nothing against a good pie.  But why not mix it up a little?  Offer an alternative for your cake-loving guests?  These cupcakes would be ideal.  A nice balance of sweet and spice, and the frosting, oh the frosting!  I browsed a lot of frosting recipes before settling on this one from Cupcake Project and the combination was perfect.  In my oh-so-very scientific poll, even those who usually skip frosting gave this one a favorable rating.  If you’re a frosting lover…heaven.

Did you really need another reason to make the Slow Cooker Apple Butter?  If you simply can’t wait, store bought apple butter (check your jams & jellies section) should work just fine.

Apple Butter Cupcakes
Yield: 12 Cupcakes
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup apple butter

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line muffin tins with cupcake wrappers.
2. Whisk together flour, salt and baking soda.
3. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy, then add egg and beat until well combined.
4. Stir in dry ingredients, then apple butter.
5. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full and bake for 20 minutes, or until cake tester comes out clean.  Cool before frosting.

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting (from Cupcake Project)

Ingredients:
8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
2-3 cups powdered sugar

Directions:
1. Mix cream cheese and butter until smooth and uniform.
2. Add cinnamon and vanilla.
3. Add powdered sugar until desired consistency is reached.