So we had a food day today at work and I decided to make a new cupcake recipe. I wanted to take caramel apples, but I would have had to make 20 and that seemed like too much work so I made these caramel apple cupcakes! They were super easy and turned out soo cute. I ended up using two different recipe's. One for the cupcakes and one for the caramel frosting. They were so yummy and turned out really good. I did mess up a little bit because after frosting the cupcakes I was supposed to put them in the freezer for a couple minutes to let the caramel set. WELL (lol) I live in an apartment and did not have room. So I figured they would be fine. Nope, I woke up and the caramel had melted all over the place!  The cupcakes were still good but they didn't look as cute as the first did. I was a little disappointed. Here's the recipe. I also included a photo! Great fall treat idea! 

Cupcakes:

1 box Golden Butter Recipe Cake Mix 

2/3 C unsweetened (natural) applesauce

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

24 individually Kraft caramels, unwrapped. 

-Heat oven to 350 degrees

-Line 24 muffin cups with paper or tin foil liners

-spoon into lined cups

-Gently press a caramel on top of each cup (the caramel will sink to the bottom during baking.)  - -- - - - - - NOTE: I didn't do this with mine since I used the caramel frosting. However this would be yummy with no frosting or any kind of frosting too I would imagine. 

-Bake 20 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center of cupcakes comes out clean.

-Cool in pan on a wire rack 5 minutes before removing cupcakes from pan. 

Caramel Glaze / Icing 

Note - This came with a Candy Apple Cupcakes recipe in the most recent Women's Day Magazine. Their cupcake recipe is a little more lengthy with more ingredients. If you want that recipe its on their website, or just let me know! 

1 package (appx 50) caramel candies

2 Tbsp heavy cream

Ice cream (popcycle sticks) - I used short kabob or bbq scewers 

-Heat caramels in medium sauce pan over low heat, stirring frequently until melted.

-Add heavy cream and stir until combined. Cool 2 minutes

-Working quickly, while mixture is still warm, spread top of each cupcake with 2 tsp of glaze. If glaze gets hard to spread, heat on low stirring until more melted.

-Insert an ice cream stick into center and top with jimmies or sprinkles, if using.  

-Place in freezer for 5 minutes to set. 

Anyway, they were a big hit and super yummy, however VERY STICKY!!