Apple Cinnamon Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Icing

It's my Birthday!!! 

Well, it was three days ago anyway. This one was a little different for me because it was the first one I wasn't really that excited about. Usually I'm screaming it from the rooftops that it's my birthday, but not this year. You see, it's my last year in my 20's (even typing that was hard) and I'm not walking into this year as gracefully as I usually do. But I'm slowly getting over the fact that my 20's are slipping away. You get better with age, right?! And since it's my birthday I get my birthday week!

What does a birthday week entail you ask? Well it's basically a week where you get whatever you want, no questions asked. So for me, instead of cooking every night, it was Hub's job. Instead of cleaning out the cat litter, it was Hub's job. Instead of Hub playing his video games, he had to watch my terrible tv shows with me. If I wanted a back rub all I had to do was ask instead of begging for one. It's a pretty awesome week. 

So for my birthday week I a) took a break from blogging, b) ate anything I wanted and c) made my own birthday cupcakes. I received this wonderful gift from one of my many sisters and just had to use it right away. 

The Ultimate Cupcake Kit

I decided to break these in with my Apple Cinnamon Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Icing!

And there's a surprise in the middle! They're filled with apple butter! These cupcakes are so moist and bursting with flavor. The sweetness of the apple is dulled by the bitterness of the lemon. And since I had my new "coring" tool, I was able to scoop out the middle of the cupcakes easily. 

It's a birthday party!!

Whether you have a birthday coming up, or just want to make something sweet, these are a must try!

Ingredients:
1 Can Apple Cinnamon pie filling
1 1/2 Cup sugar
3 eggs
3/4 Cup vegetable oil
1/2 Cup milk
1 1/2 Cups flour
1/2 Tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Filling:
1 jar Apple Butter

Frosting:
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
12 oz cream cheese (1 1/2 blocks), softened
1 Cup powdered sugar
1 lemon, squeezed (about 1/2 cup)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line your cupcake pan with liners. Set aside.

Mash the apple cinnamon filling with a pastry cutter until it's a smooth consistency. 

Combine the apple mix with the sugar, eggs, oil and milk in a large bowl until smooth.

In a small bowl stir together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add the dry mix to the apple mix using a spatula. Stir until fully combined.

Pour the cupcake mix into the Batter Bottle and pour into the cupcake liners. If you don't have a batter bottle, just spoon the mix into the pan. The bottle just makes it a little easier :)

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Place them on a cooling rack for about 15 minutes. Don't core them until you can touch the bottom and the cupcake is cool. 

Place the corer in the center of the cupcake and slightly press down while turning the corer. Stop once the plastic disk hits the cupcake. Throw out the middle or eat most of them like I did. 

Fill each cupcake with as much apple butter as you want.

For the frosting:

Combine the butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar and lemon juice in your mixer on high speed for about 3-4 minutes or until the frosting is smooth and doesn't have lumps. 

Scoop frosting into your decorating bottle with whatever tip you want to use and pile it on the cupcakes! If you don't have a decorating bottle, just use a knife. Refrigerate until serving and enjoy!

Are you an April baby, too?! Best month to be born in! Can I get some love from my Aries people!? Probably not, because we're stubborn firey people :)

Thanks for stopping by! 

** I linked up to weekend potluck, kitchen fun and crafty friday, tidy mom, thursday style, the homeacre hop, bloom designs, all things thursday, full plate thursday, work it wednesday, buns in my oven, wicked awesome wednesday, flusters creative muster, create link inspire, simple supper tuesday, titus 2 tuesday, tasty tuesday, the scoop, showlicious saturday, best of the weekend