| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 1 hr 40 min |
| Active: | 20 min |
| Yield: | 24 cupcakes |
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (6 to 6 1/2 ounces)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
- 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
- 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 3/4 packed cup dark brown sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1/4 cup fresh unfiltered apple juice
- 1/3 cup dried currants
- 1 small carrot, peeled and finely grated
- 4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1/3 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup chilled heavy whipping cream
Instructions
- For the cupcakes: Place an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line two 12-cup mini muffin tins with mini baking papers.
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and allspice in a medium bowl to blend. Using a handheld electric mixer, beat the butter in a large bowl until fluffy. Add the brown sugar and beat until blended. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Beat in half of the dry ingredients, then the applesauce and apple juice. Beat in the remaining dry ingredients. Fold in the currants and grated carrot.
- Drop 1 well-rounded tablespoon of batter into each paper liner. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcakes comes out clean, about 17 minutes. Cool the cupcakes in the tins for 5 minutes. Transfer to a rack and cool completely.
- For the frosting: Combine the cream cheese, powdered sugar and whipping cream in a deep medium bowl. Beat until the frosting is thick and smooth. Cover and chill for at least 1 hour until firm.
- Frost each cupcake with 1 heaped teaspoon of frosting and serve.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 24 servings |
| Calories | 125 |
| Total Fat | 6 g |
| Saturated Fat | 3 g |
| Carbohydrates | 17 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 0 g |
| Sugar | 10 g |
| Protein | 2 g |
| Cholesterol | 32 mg |
| Sodium | 94 mg |
Reviews
I have to agree with other reviews. These are neither very sweet nor very flavorful. Quite bland. I would not make them again.
Great recipe, the cupcakes were delicious! I will definitely make these again.
I always up the spices in my recipes since I like cinnamon and allspice, but I do not care for currants and used yellows raisins. I used sweetened applesauce and a brand of apple juice that I like to drink. Not as healthy but the taste was great. I will use these for a bake sale coming up in July.
Very delicious cupcakes…definitely a keeper for me!!! I added a few small pieces of fresh apple and used cranberries instead but kids and hubby LOVED them! Mine were a little heavy since I used whole wheat flour…but we ate them as muffins instead of cupcakes….yum!! Love Giada’s recipes!!
These cupcakes were good and they taste healthy. They don’t have a whole lot of flavor but I also didn’t make the frosting, so that might add more flavor to them. I didn’t have apple juice and used orange juice instead. I also substitued currants with yellow raisins; they add a nice sweet bite to the cupcakes. I made these with my toddler son in mind since they seemed healthier than the usual recipe, so it will be a keeper if he ends up liking them.
They were just okay, although I reread the recipe and it called for unfiltered fresh apple juice. I used store bought 100%apple juice I’m not sure if that would make a huge difference. I used craisins not sure but I think they’re close in flavor. I would like to know who uses the fresh juice and what they think. With the store bought juice the cupcakes are very bland. The icing is good and makes the cupcakes much better. I love Giada’s recipes I think this is the first one where I thought it was just okay. What do you think if you used fresh juice?
We loved the flavors in these cupcakes. We didn’t have any currants so we subbed yellow raisins instead. We will definitely make again and again.