MAKES: 24 cupcakes
PREP TIME: 1 Hour
START TO FINISH: 2 Hours 5 Minutes
Cupcakes:
- 2 1⁄3 cups all-purpose fl our
- 2 1⁄2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
- 1⁄2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 cup butter or margarine, softened
- 1 1⁄4 cups sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1⁄2 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1⁄2 cup apple juice
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
- See Recipe
- 1/2 teaspoon red paste food color
Decorations:
- 12 thin pretzel sticks, broken into pieces
- 16 spearmint leaf gumdrops
- 12 gummy worm candies, cut in half, if desired
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Place paper baking cup in each of 24 regular-size muffin cups. Grease and fl our muffin cups, or spray with baking spray with flour.
2. In medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon; set aside.
3. In large bowl, beat butter with electric mixer on medium speed 30 seconds. Gradually add sugar, about 1⁄4 cup at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping bowl occasionally. Beat 2 minutes longer. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in applesauce and vanilla. On low speed, alternately add flour mixture, about 1⁄3 of mixture at a time, and apple juice, about 1⁄2 at a time, beating just until blended.
4. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups, filling each about 2⁄3 full.
5. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans 5 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pans; place on cooling racks to cool.
6. Make Vanilla Buttercream Frosting as directed. Stir in food color paste. Frost cupcakes.
7. To decorate cupcakes, poke 1 pretzel piece into each cupcake for stem. Cut each gumdrop leaf into 3 slices. Poke 2 gumdrop leaves into top of each cupcake on either side of pretzel stem. Poke half of gummy worm into each cupcake.
1 Cupcake: Calories 350; Total Fat 14g (Saturated Fat 8g; Trans Fat 0.5g); Cholesterol 60mg; Sodium 220mg; Total Carbohydrate 54g (Dietary Fiber 0g); Protein 2g Exchanges: 1 1⁄2 Starch, 2 Other Carbohydrate, 2 1⁄2 Fat Carbohydrate Choices: 3 1⁄2
Sweet Success Tip
Don’t like unsweetened applesauce? Regular will taste great in these cupcakes too.
Use a Cake Mix!
Substitute 1 box yellow cake mix for the cupcakes above. Make cake mix as directed on box for cupcakes except—use 1 cup apple juice, 1⁄3 cup unsweetened applesauce and 3 eggs, and add 1⁄2 teaspoon ground cinnamon. Bake and cool as directed on box. For the frosting, substitute 1 container vanilla creamy ready-to-spread frosting mixed with 1⁄2 teaspoon red paste food color. Frost and decorate as directed in recipe.
