"nothing goes together quite like apples, chai and tahini. the apple cupcakes are tart, sweet, perfectly moist with a hint of chai spice. the tahini brings a rich nuttiness to the butter cream, perfectly complementing the sweetness of the sugar and spiciness of the chai."
Spiced Apple Cupcakes with a Chai Tahini Buttercream
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Prep time 35mins
Cook time 25mins
Serves or Makes: 14-16 cupcakes
Recipe Card
For the Spiced Apple Cupcakes
ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/4 teaspoon chai spice
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 10 tablespoons butter, unsalted, browned and cooled to room temperature
- 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
- 2 at room temperature eggs
- 2 cups peeled and chopped baking apples i.e. pink lady or honey crisp granny smith
- 1/2 cup whole milk greek yogurt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
For the Spiced Apple Cupcakes
Method
Step 1
To make the brown butter, melt butter in a clear heavy bottom pot. Once the butter starts to foam, whisk continuously until brown bits start to form. Remove from heat, pour into clean bowl, skim the foam from the top and cool to room temperature (20-25 minutes).
Step 2
Line 12 ct muffin pan with cupcake liners and preheat oven to 350F. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and chai spice. Set aside.In a stand mixer with paddle attachment, beat browned butter and sugar until smooth and well combined (3-4 minutes). Add eggs, beating well after each one until well combined. Add vanilla and almond extracts, beating until well combined.
Step 3
In this order (dry ingredients, yogurt, dry, yogurt, dry), add dry ingredients to the wet alternating with the yogurt. Slowly beat each time until JUST combined. A few flour streaks is okay! Gently fold in the chopped apples until most pieces are combined into the batter.
Step 4
Using a 2" cookie scopp with trigger release or a large spoon, fill each cupcake liner 3/4 to the top. Place muffin pan into preheated oven and bake at 350F for 22-25 minutes. Tops should be golden brown and a tooth pick inserted into the center should come out mostly clean. Let cupcakes cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Genlty remove the cupcakes and cool completely before frosting (45 minutes).
Chai Tahini Buttercream
ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted, softened butter
- 3/4 cup well stirred tahini
- 3 cups sifted powdered sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- 2 teaspoon chai spice
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Chai Tahini Buttercream
Step 1
In a stand mixer, with paddle attachment, beat butter until light and fluffy, about 4-5 minutes. On the lowest speed, beat in the tahini with butter until well combined. Add powdered sugar, a generous tablespoon at a time, beating slowly to combine. After adding about half the powdered sugar, add in the chai spice, salt and vanilla bean paste. Beat until well combined. Add the remaining half of the sugar, a generous tablespoon at a time, beating until well combined. Once all the sugar is added, beat frosting on med-high until smooth. Using a frosting bag with your desired tip, pipe frosting onto each cupcake.