Salted Caramel Apple Cups
These Salted Caramel Apple Cups are chewy blondies topped with cinnamon apples, salted caramel, and a sweet crumble. This dessert taste like little bites of apple pie.
SALTED CARAMEL APPLE CUPS
I often long to be more adventurous in the kitchen. I have crazy recipe ideas that rarely come to fruition. Why? Turns out, I hate failing.
Once I try to make a concoction and in the end it’s in an inedible mess, I’m frustrated at the waste of ingredients and the dishes in my sink for nothing.
sails are depleted and it’s really hard to put my neck out there again.
Here’s an experiment that went right. I made 4 different versions and this is the one that won the heart of my family.
You know a recipe is good when it’s 10 pm and you find yourself and your hubby alternately sneaking them. It may seem like a lot of steps but they are all simple and easy.
HOW TO MAKE SALTED CARAMEL APPLE CUPS
Chop up an apple. I used a Honeycrisp apple here but you can use any apple you like.
Cook the apples with some butter, cinnamon, and brown sugar until tender.
EASY CARAMEL SAUCE
We’re going to make an easy caramel sauce. I’ve made salted caramel from scratch. If you want that recipe go here. Start with your regular old caramels. You’ll need about 20, which is half of a standard bag, or about 5.5 ounces.
Add a little cream and microwave it until it’s melted. If you don’t have cream just use water.
No need to run to the store or anything. The reason we thin it out is so that when they are cool the caramel doesn’t harden but stays a little soft.
Salted caramel makes everything better. Add some coarse salt to your caramel and stir it in. As you see my caramel was starting to get thick because I was distracted by one of my 5 kids. No worries. Just heat it again to a workable consistency.
I used my favorite blondie batter which also happens to be in My Cookbook. I’ve used it for years and it’s so adaptable. It gives these Salted Caramel Apple Cups chewy base to pile our goodies on. Spoon 1-2 Tablespoons into a muffin tin. Add some apples and a drizzle of caramel, making sure to stay away from the sides.
Top it off with a crumble. I tried topping it with more blondie batter with no crumble but we liked this better.
There you have it. Beautiful chewy blondies, topped with cinnamon apples, salted caramel, and a sweet crumble.
These Salted Caramel Apple Cups are good at room temperature or even better heated up for about 20-25 seconds in the microwave. These were seriously good.
OTHER APPLE RECIPES:
- Appledoodle Cookies
- Mini Caramel Apple Cheesecakes
- Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars
- Apple Crisp Pizza
- Caramel Apple Cheesecake
- The Perfect Apple Crisp
- Caramel Apple Cupcakes
- Caramel Apple Cider Cookies
Salted Caramel Apple Cups
Ingredients
Apples:
- 1 Tablespoon butter
- 1 cup peeled and chopped apples
- 1 Tablespoon brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- pinch of nutmeg
Batter:
- 1/2 cup melted butter, (1 stick)
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup flour
Salted Caramel Sauce:
- 20 caramels, (about 5.5 oz, unwrapped)
- 1 Tablespoon cream, (or water)
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Crumble:
- 2 Tablespoons butter, slightly softened
- 5 Tablespoons flour
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a muffin tin with cooking spray. Do not use paper liners, they will stick.
- For the Apples: In a small skillet, melt the 1 tablespoon of butter and add the apples, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Cook for about 3 minutes or until apples are slightly tender. They don't have to be cooked all the way through because they will continue cooking in the oven. Remove apples from heat and set aside.
- For the Batter: In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Add the flour and mix until combined. Set aside.
- For the Caramel: In a microwave safe bowl, place the caramels and cream and heat for 60-90 seconds or until melted. Stir in the salt and set aside.
- For the Crumble: In a small bowl, mix the butter, flour, and brown sugar with a pastry blender or by hand until mixture resembles course sand.
- For Assembly: Add about 2 Tablespoons of batter to each muffin tin - 12 muffin tins total. Spoon about 1-2 teaspoons of apples on top. Drizzle about 1-2 teaspoons of caramel on top making sure to not touch the edges of the tin. Sprinkle the top with an even layer of crumble.
- Bake for 13-16 minutes or until tops are slightly golden. Let cups cool in the muffin tin. Use a knife to loosen the edges before removing. Serve room temperature or warm. If not serving right away they can easily be warmed by heating in the microwave for 30 seconds.They are great with ice cream. Makes 12 cups.
I made the recipe, but it’s too sweet. I think it’s too much sugar. It’s fine but i’ll do it with less sugar!
Love your recipes…can I make these in a mini cupcake tin with a reduced cooking time?
Of course! I’m not sure what the cooking time would be but you definitely could.
Wonder if you could use apple pie filling to make it a little easier?
Probably would work!
Christy, forgot to say they taste delicious. Leonie😊
Regarding Kiki’s question re keeping, I made mine the day before for church fete and they were a hit . I know this post is a bit late for you but I am sure they would freeze ok. I freeze just about anything and have no problems. Even cupckes and sponges that have been creamed! Freezing cream is ok but must be whipped, although when defrosted is a bit runny. I have read where some people re whip it but I haven’t tried that. Cheers Leonie 😲
Hi Christy love your blog. I made double quantity and was a bit concerned that batter was not thin enough and added some water because from your beautiful photos mine did not look like yours!!! I have a fan forced oven and cooked them on a lower tempand hey really needed about 25-30 mins. I used Canola spray and had no probs removing from tin even a couple where caramel got onto sides😡 I am a grandmother from Australia and am so impressed that you do all this with 5 children. Hats off to you clever girl😄best wishes Leonie
Thank you so much Leonie! I’m glad they turned out…
Just made these….these were delicious! ! Even without the caramel. ..made a double batch!!! 😊 and even an 8×8 cake…love it!!
Thanks Rosalyn!
this will be the third time I’m making these .. I need about 36 this time. Everyone is loving them so much.
Normally they don’t last for more then 48hrs in my household. This time I’m making them for a good cause. And I have to make them up front a few days. Does anyone know how they hold up when you freeze them? Or is it better to just stick them in the fridge?
Absolutely favored over any cupcake they are!
I doubled the recipe and made these tonight for a dinner party I’m having tomorrow.
If I just may say one thing, they were painful – absolutely painful – to pry out a muffin pan. About 6 out of my 24 kept their perfect shape. If I were to make them again, I would probably put them in cupcake liners. I don’t think it said that anywhere in the recipe, but it’s definitely needed to make the removal process a little easier. Either that, or use some heavy crisco to grease the pan (I used margarine) and lighten up the caramel some more with more heavy whipping cream since it sticks to the side so bad.
Also, my crumble turned out more of a paste, too. It could be that I ran out of butter and had to use margarine, but I don’t see how it would have made that huge of a difference.
Either way, they still taste great, and I’m just going to keep the messier blobs hidden during my dinner party. Thanks for the fun recipe!
Oh no! Yes, a nonstick pan is definitely a must and mae sure that your caramel stays away from the sides. Margarine does not have the same consistency as butter and shouldn’t be substituted. Hope that helps.
I tried these last night and they came out pretty good, but I think my crumble is missing something or maybe was over mixed? It was more like a paste than a crumble and I had to spread it on. Any suggestions on how I can get the sand-like texture? I will be trying them again for sure!
Hmm. If you’re butter is too soft it would be like a paste. Add a little more flour and that should help if you have a problem next time.
Are these good if you make them ahead of time? And should you put them in the fridge if you do?
THanks
I just need you to know that I see a ton of YOUR recipes on PINTEREST. So if you have any doubts about people liking your stuff, they must! You are all over the place! And to heck with anyone who’s negative…they have their own problems! Carry on! We’re here!~
Thank you Jeanne!
I made these and I am not sure what I did wrong. My batter was real thick, more like a cookie dough. Then when I baked them they oozed out of the cups. When I took them out of the cups they had no shape and they were real gooey but had great flavor. I followed the recipe but not sure what I did wrong….. Any suggestions?
Yeah it should be fairly thick dough. It sounds like you may have overfilled the cups? Did you try cooking them longer?
Girl, you are amazing! Do not let those “haters” get you down at all!!! I love your attitude and how you handle everything with grace!!! Now these apple cups…oh, my gosh!!! I am seriously dying over here. I cannot wait to make these!!!
Thanks Jocelyn! They are pretty dang good.
I have made these twice this week and just love them! Thank you so much for giving such good directions. I love your blog and can’t wait to try more of your recipes!
Thank you Shari!
Looks so delicious and this is one unique recipe!
oh i am SO making these for my next book club in a few weeks …. can’t wiat!!! 🙂
Another winner! I took these to a tailgate and after making a regular batch in a muffin pan and believing they might be too big for the “dainty eaters” in our group, I made more in mini muffin tins. They were perfect for one-bite treats. Thanks for so many great recipes for get-togethers.
Yay! Love that you loved them!
Approximately how many muffin cups does this recipe make?
This makes 12 cups!
Long time reader, first time commenter. I have been thinking about these divine treats constantly since I discovered the recipe. They are in the oven right this moment. The only change I made was to cook the apples in some bacon fat instead of butter, since we had it leftover from making bacon for dinner. I’m so excited to try one!!!
Apples in bacon fat? You are my friend!!!
It’s a shame so many people are so quick to criticize, hopefully you can take anything constructive from it (if any) and disregard the rest as quickly as possible. One question about this recipe, you said you made it 4 different ways, did any of them happen to be in bar form? I’m curious how you think these would turn out made in one big pan instead of the muffin tins. If it was one of the versions you tried that went south, could you share why?
Katie,
Great question! I did not try them in bar form but I really wanted too. I think they would be perfect in bar form.
I just made these – oh boy! And I’m enjoying one w/ a glass of red wine… oh boy again! I would not tweak the recipe above one bit – amazing! I’m gonna have a problem holding back on these babies. Thanks so much for the great recipe!
Thanks Amy. I’m so glad you liked them.
Should not have read this post hungry! These look too good! Pinned 🙂
Omg! These look amazing. Just found them on pinterest about 5 minutes ago and I am already gathering ingredients to get these babies in the oven and then in my tummy asap! Only one question: Do you think I could bake them in silicone cupcake liners? Thank you very much for sharing:)
Yes! I think silicone cupcake liners would work.
I made these yesterday for a football game potluck today. My husband and I couldn’t wait to try one, so we split one to test them out, wow we LOVED them and I think they will be the most popular dessert today. I doubled the recipe and even when some of the caramel sauce touched the side of the muffin tin I still had no trouble getting them out. I made my own caramel sauce, since I prefer it. This will be a keeper for sure. You must try these!
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Hi Christy! I can’t wait to make these and I just wanted to tell you how happy I am that your new cookbooks arrived from Amazon today! I bought two and can’t wait to curl up and read it this weekend! I love your blog and ideas and wish you the best with your book. It’s hard to do something new but you’ll be so happy you did. Congrats!!
These look awesome. I’ve been dying to try them for a few days now, and was getting everything together but noticed it calls for flour, but doesn’t specify whether to use all purpose or self rising. Which do I use? If all purpose what about a leavening agent?
No need for a leavening agent. All of my recipes use all purpose flour unless specified.
Oh my goodness! This is a major problem. These are amazing. First the little muffin size is so handy and adorable, then the warm fall goodness of the odors and colors of the Salted Carmel Apple Cups just fit the palate for a wonderfully delightful treat. They didn’t last long! Thank you for sharing this fall treat.
Ooh. Good to hear!
This recipe looks and sounds wonderful! Thank you for sharing it. Quick question – can this be made ahead and frozen? I am never sure about baked goods that contain fresh apple. What do you think? Thanks in advance.
I personally think they can but I haven’t tried it.
These. Look. AMAZING!