These Peach Cupcakes are light, moist, and sweetened with fresh peaches! They are topped with a decadent brown butter maple frosting.
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Peach season is coming and nothing else to do than to throw peaches into every dessert you make! Peaches are so versatile and these cupcakes are the perfect way to showcase them.
These peach cupcakes are light & fluffy, but still moist, and filled with fresh peaches. The brown butter maple buttercream on top is the perfect complement to the light cupcake because it's so rich and flavorful.
Ingredients needed for these peach cupcakes:
This is your typical cupcakes recipe, but I will point out a few things below:
- butter- I always use unsalted butter in my recipes in order to control the amount of salt. If you only have salted butter on hand, just half or omit the salt that the recipe calls for.
- greek yogurt- greek yogurt is used in this recipe to give our cupcakes moisture and keep them light and fluffy. You can swap for sour cream! I recommend using full fat for either.
- peaches- the star of the show! Pick peaches that have a vibrant color. Read below on my tips for ripening and peeling peaches!
- maple syrup- the second star of the show! Use a good quality maple syrup to really get that rich maple flavor in your buttercream.
Step by step Instructions:
Step 1: In a large pot or dutch oven, brown the butter on the stovetop over medium heat. Watch closely and stir the entire time, until the butter starts to foam on the top. The butter should turn golden brown 5-8 minutes after starting and you will see brown flecks on the bottom. Remove from the heat and pour into a heat-safe bowl. Transfer to the fridge and let it get back to the consistency of room temperature butter.
Step 2: Preheat your oven to 350° F. Line a cupcake/muffin pan with liners and set aside.
Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.
Step 3: Beat the butter using an electric mixer for 1-2 minutes, until smooth. Add the sugar and beat until incorporated. Add the eggs and vanilla, mixing again until incorporated. Then mix in the yogurt. To this mixture, add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Slowly pour in your milk while the mixer is at low speed. Once the milk is incorporated, fold in the chunks of peaches. Be careful not to over mix your batter, that will give you dense cupcakes instead of the light and airy we are looking for!
Step 4: Fill your cupcake liners ⅔ of the way full, and then bake in the oven for 19-22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before frosting
Step 5: Beat the butter with an electric mixer for 1-2 minutes until smooth. Add in the powdered sugar, vanilla, maple syrup, and 2 tablespoon of milk. Mix until everything is smooth. Add in more tablespoon of milk until you reach the desired consistency for your frosting.
Step 6: You can either pipe your frosting on using a piping bag and tip or use a knife to spread on top. I like using an icing knife to frost my cupcakes. Top with extra diced peaches if you want!
Tips & tricks to get light & fluffy cupcakes:
- Don't overmix your batter!! This is a super important step in the baking process. In order to achieve light & moist peach cupcakes, you want to have air bubbles in your batter. These expand in the oven during the baking process, giving you that light texture. If you overmix your batter, you are essentially getting rid of the air bubbles.
- Best practice to avoid over-mixing: use room temperature ingredients, use low speed on your mixer, and stop mixing just as all the ingredients come together.
- Use fresh peaches- find some fresh peaches in your grocery store or local farmer's market. See my tips on how to ripen and peel peaches easily!
- Use room temperature ingredients- anything that is refrigerated should be at room temperature when making this recipe. It helps all the ingredients combine evenly!
- Measure your flour correctly- Make sure to spoon and level your flour. don't scoop or pack the flour into the measuring cup! This will give you too much flour and a dense cupcake.
- Don't overfill your cupcake liners- Fill these just over halfway full to make sure they don't overflow when baking.
Frequently asked questions:
Baking with peaches can be a hassle, especially when you buy them from a grocery store and they are rock hard!
My favorite way to ripen peaches quickly is by placing them in a brown paper bag and letting them sit in there for at least 24 hours. Place your peaches stem side down (on their "shoulders", not their "bottoms") and make sure they aren't touching each other. If you have to use multiple bags, do so. Basically what happens is that the peaches release ethylene gas, which speeds up the riping process. It might take longer than 24 hours depending on how much they need to ripen!
Want to speed it up even more? Throw a banana in the bag with them, it'll make everything go even quicker!
Peaches can be a bit of a hassle when it comes to peeling. You can try a good old-fashioned way of peeling with a knife, but it's not super easy and you tend to lose a lot of useable fruit.
My favorite way to easily peel peaches is to bring a pot of water to a rolling boil. Carefully place your peaches in the water and let them boil for 30 seconds. Immediately remove and place into an ice bath (aka a bowl of cold ice water). This stops the peaches from cooking more.
Once your peaches are cool, slice an X in the skin on the bottom of the peach and the skin should just peel right off!
Chances are you over-mixed the batter at some point. Doing so gets rid of your air bubbles, which is what gives you a fluffy cupcake! Make sure you mix on low speed just until the ingredients are incorporated.
Storing & freezing tips:
Leftover cupcakes can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Both these cupcakes and frosting can be made the day before. Store in the fridge and let come to room temperature before frosting. They can be frozen for 2-3 months as well. Defrost in the fridge overnight.
Want to try more fruity recipes?
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📖 Recipe
Peach Cupcake Recipe
Ingredients
- 1¾ cup all-purpose flour spooned and leveled
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup plain greek yogurt at room temperature (sub sour cream)
- ½ cup whole milk at room temperature
- ¾ cup finely diced peaches about 2 peaches. extra diced peaches for topping (optional)
Maple Frosting
- ½ cup unsalted butter browned
- 2½ cups powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 2-4 tbsp milk
Instructions
brown the butter
- make the brown butter: In a large pot or dutch oven, brown the butter on the stovetop over medium heat. Watch closely and stir the entire time, until the butter starts to foam on the top. The butter should turn golden brown 5-8 minutes after starting and you will see brown flecks on the bottom. Remove from the heat and pour into a heat-safe bowl. Transfer to the fridge and let it get back to the consistency of room temperature butter.
make the cupcakes
- Preheat your oven to 350° F. Line a cupcake tin with liners and set aside.
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together your flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat the butter using an electric mixer for 1-2 minutes, until smooth. Add the sugar and beat until incorporated. Add the eggs and vanilla, mixing again until incorporated. Then mix in the yogurt. To this mixture, add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Slowly pour in your milk while the mixer is on low speed. Once the milk is incorporated, fold in the chunks of peaches.
- Fill your cupcake liners between ½ and ⅔ of the way full, and then bake in the oven for 19-22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before frosting
make the frosting
- In a large bowl, beat the butter with an electric mixer for 1-2 minutes until smooth. Add in the powdered sugar, vanilla, maple syrup, and 2 tablespoon of milk. Mix until everything is smooth. If it's too thick, add in ½ tablespoon of milk at a time until you reach the desired consistency for your frosting.You can either pipe your frosting on using a piping bag and tip, or use an icing knife to spread on top.
Notes
- Don't overmix your batter!! This is a super important step in the baking process. In order to achieve light & moist peach cupcakes, you want to have air bubbles in your batter. These expand in the oven during the baking process, giving you that light texture. If you overmix your batter, you are essentially getting rid of the air bubbles.
- Best practice to avoid over-mixing: use room temperature ingredients, use low speed on your mixer, and stop mixing just as all the ingredients come together.
- Use fresh peaches- find some fresh peaches in your grocery store or local farmer's market. See my tips on how to ripen and peel peaches easily!
- Use room temperature ingredients- anything that is refrigerated should be at room temperature when making this recipe. It helps all the ingredients combine evenly!
- Measure your flour correctly- Make sure to spoon and level your flour. don't scoop or pack the flour into the measuring cup! This will give you too much flour and a dense cupcake.
- Don't overfill your cupcake liners- Fill these just over halfway full to make sure they don't overflow when baking.
Christina says
Do you think I could purée the peaches in the cupcake batter to have a smoother texture? Thanks! These look amazing
Kelly Hamilton says
Hi Christina! You could definitely try although that might add a bit too much liquid to the cupcakes. I haven't tried it with pureed peaches so I'm not sure how they would turn out!
Nica says
Omg these were everything I wanted them to be and so much more. I absolutely love peach flavored everything and I will definitely be making these again! Thank you!
Kelly Hamilton says
Thanks so much for trying this recipe, so happy you love it!!
Meg says
I'm a huge peach fan and these cupcakes are seriously delicious! Can't wait to make again!
Kelly Hamilton says
Meg- Thanks so much for trying out these cupcakes! Glad to hear you loved them!
Jess says
I made this frosting and I could easily eat it on everything!! it’s amazing and so so simple to make.
Kelly Hamilton says
So happy to hear you enjoyed the frosting, Jess!!