The following recipe and photography were provided by our partner, Megan Weimer of Dollop of Dough.
These apple spice cupcakes with cream cheese frosting taste like Fall in a bite! They’re moist and flavored with warm spices like cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger.
The best thing about these cupcakes is that they are studded with fresh-chopped apples from Heinen’s. In the fall, Heinen’s sources apples from a variety of Midwest farms. Picked and available in their Produce Department in as little as a day, you simply can’t beat the freshness.
Speaking of freshness, unlike most other grocers, Heinen’s houses all of their apples in refrigerated cases rather than on dry tables, which results in a longer shelf life.
Get ready to enjoy the coziest dessert of the fall!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- The cupcakes have freshly chopped apples in every bite! You can use any kind of apple you like, but Honeycrisp and Granny Smith offer the perfect amount of tartness.
- Smooth and tangy cream cheese frosting complements the apples and fall spices used in this recipe.
- They’re easy to make! You can whip up a batch of these cupcakes in under an hour!

- Cook time:
- 20min
- Prep time:
- 20min
- Total time:
- 40min
- Servings:
- 12
Ingredients
For the Cupcakes
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. Heinen's cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp. Heinen's nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp. Heinen's allspice
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1/2 cup Heinen's sugar
- 1/2 cup Heinen's brown sugar
- 1/3 cup Heinen's unsalted butter, softened
- 1/3 cup Heinen's olive oil
- 1 large Heinen's cage free egg
- 1 Heinen's cage free egg white
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2/3 cup buttermilk
- 1 cup apples, chopped
For the Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1/2 cup Heinen's unsalted butter, softened
- 8 oz. full-fat cream cheese, softened
- 4 cups Heinen's powdered sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp. salt
Instructions
For the Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Fill a cupcake pan with 12 liners and set aside.
- Add the flour, baking powder, spices, salt and white and brown sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Mix on low until combined.
- Add the butter and beat on low for 3-5 minutes until the texture resembles wet sand.
- Next, add the oil, egg, egg white and vanilla extract. Mix on low until a batter forms.
- Pour in the buttermilk and stir until well combined. The batter will be thin.
- Next, fold in chopped apples until they’re evenly distributed throughout the batter.
- Portion the batter evenly between the cupcake liners, filling each about 2/3 full. Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. Let them cool completely before frosting.
For the Cream Cheese Frosting
- Beat the butter and cream cheese together in a stand mixer or with a hand mixer on medium-low speed until creamy and free of lumps.
- With the mixer on low, add the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time until completely combined and smooth. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed.
- Add the vanilla and salt and mix well on medium-low speed.
- Fill a piping bag with the frosting and pipe on top of each cupcake. Enjoy!