This post may contain affiliate links, please see our privacy policy for details.
Chai Latte Cupcakes with Caramel Brulée Frosting. Autumn in a sweet cupcake, and so good! Extra sweet, chai-spiced cupcakes made with warming spices and brown sugar. Each cupcake is generously frosted with the most delicious creamy caramel-like frosting. Then finished off with a sprinkling of salted caramel brulée candy. Sooo much to love here! You can’t beat these cute little latte cupcakes.
Half Baked Harvest At Home
20+ new recipes for wholesome comfort food made with everyday ingredients. Pre-order today! HBH At Home will be released on Tuesday, February 23rd!
It’s fall, it’s Friday, and I’m sharing my favorite cupcake of the season…well so far anyway! Look, I know I’ve been overly excited about fall this week, but today’s recipe is my favorite. The second I made these, I knew I was going to love them so much.
If a cupcake could scream fall, this cupcake would be screaming it loud and clear. I know, cheesy, but as I said, I’m excited, and well, I really love fall.
Here’s the quick story
Every single fall there are a handful of things I truly crave and get excited over. A good bowl of broccoli cheddar soup, homemade soft pretzels, all the sweet apple desserts, and a warming, steaming latte.
Latte’s just say fall to me. And while everyone mostly thinks of pumpkin spice lattes, I love a good chai latte equally as much.
Last October I created a pumpkin latte cupcake, that was a big fall favorite. But this season I wanted a chai cupcake…with a slight twist…to make it even more exciting. Enter the caramel. It may be a little over the top, but I’m ok with it, these cupcakes are so good.
To make these chai latte cupcakes…
You need vanilla, chai teas, and a good amount of warming autumn spices. Plus butter…lots of butter, and well, sugar.
For the cupcakes, I knew I really wanted the chai flavor to shine. To achieve this, I used a mix of steeped chai milk and a whole lot of chai spice. The chai spice mix is key, it really brings the aromas of fall into the kitchen and into each cupcake.
Before you start the cupcake batter, make the chai spice mix. It’s a blend of cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, nutmeg, all-spice, cloves, and the tiniest bit of black pepper. You’ll be using half of the spice mix in the cupcake batter, and the remainder for the frosting.
Next, make the batter. Bring some milk to a gentle boil, then add a few chai tea bags and allow the tea to steep in the warm milk.
While the tea cools, mix up the batter, then stream the chai milk into the cupcake batter until just combined. Divide the batter up between the cupcake molds and bake.
The smells coming from the oven will have you so excited. It’s like fall in the air, with cozy scents of chai mixed with hints of sweet sugar wafting throughout your kitchen.
Each cupcake is so soft and perfectly sweetened.
The brown sugar “caramel” frosting
This is the perfect frosting for these cupcakes. It’s sweet, but not too sweet, and the rich, warming flavors of caramel pair so nicely with the chai.
The brown sugar melts down adding hints of warm molasses and really deepens the flavor to create an icing that’s perfectly rich and caramel-like. And when you add a touch of vanilla and sea salt? Well, it’s hard to say no to a second cupcake. I highly recommend slathering on more icing than you think your cupcake will need.
Lastly, the caramel brulée
This last step is optional but so good…the caramel brulée candy. It’s going to get very hot, so just make sure to be careful when handling this. This is that extra special fall touch to these cupcakes. It’s very easy to make and requires just two ingredients, sugar, and flaky sea salt.
Simply melt granulated sugar on the stove until it turns deep caramel in color, then spread the caramel out over a piece of parchment paper. Sprinkle the caramel with sea salt and let sit for a few minutes. And then? In almost no time at all, the caramel has hardened. It can then be easily smashed into small shards for sprinkling over your latte cupcakes. Again, be sure you’re being careful when handling this!
Frost each cupcake and then sprinkle with the caramel brulée candy. I love adding a cinnamon stick for cuteness.
These cupcakes are delicious. Each bite is filled with sweet chai-spiced cupcake and light, fluffy frosting. Best kind of autumn weekend cupcake!
Looking for other chai and sweets? Here are a few ideas:
Vanilla Chai Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew
Chai Spiced Maple Sugar Cookies with Browned Butter Frosting
Lastly, if you make these Chai Latte Cupcakes with Caramel Brûlée Frosting be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Watch our how-to video here:
Chai Latte Cupcakes with Caramel Brulée Frosting
Ingredients
Chai Spice
- 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon all-spice
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
Cupcakes
- 1 cup milk
- 2 bags chai tea
- 2 sticks (1 cup) salted butter, at room temperature
- 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup sour cream or Greek yogurt
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Caramel Frosting
- 2 sticks salted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 2-3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- 1. To make the chai spice. In a shallow bowl, combine the cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, nutmeg, all-spice, cloves, and pepper. Reserve the chai spice blend for the cupcake batter and frosting.2. To make the cupcakes. Preheat oven to 350° F. Line 24 cupcake molds with paper liners.3. Bring the milk to a boil in a small pot. Remove from the heat and add the tea bags, cover, and steep 10 minutes.4. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and sour cream, beating until smooth. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until combined. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and 3 teaspoons of the chai spice mix. Stream in the chai milk, beating until just combined. 5. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared pans. Transfer to the oven and bake 22-25 minutes, until the tops are just set, and no longer wiggly in the center. Remove and let cool.6. To make the frosting. Melt together 1 stick butter, brown sugar, and cream in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook 2 minutes, or until the sugar has dissolved. Add a pinch of salt. Remove from the heat and add to the bowl of a stand mixer. Place the bowl in the freezer (or fridge for longer) for 15 minutes or until cool to touch.6. Grab the cooled butter mixture from the freezer and add the remaining 1 stick butter, vanilla, powdered sugar, and 1-2 teaspoons chai spice to the bowl. Beat together until well combined, adding more sugar as needed. 7. Frost each cupcake and sprinkle with Caramel Brûlée (recipe in notes). Add cinnamon sticks, if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Did you make this recipe? Please rate & comment below.
This was so tasty! My whole fam was raving about these, and they aren’t big cupcake people. The spices really come through in this one and the added caramel in the frosting was great. It was also a pretty easy recipe- I’d definitely make these again!
Happy Thursday! So glad this recipe was enjoyed and thanks for making it! xTieghan
I made these with just the cupcake part, not the frosting or topping. It’s so good and tastes like a chai latte. (I added twice as many tea packets to amp up the flavor, because I am obsessed with chai and wanted a really strong flavor). Because of the chai taste, and since I didn’t add frosting… you can kind of get away with having these for breakfast!
Hey Lola, Happy Thursday! So glad this recipe was enjoyed and thanks for making it! xTieghan
Flavor was delicious but rather dense and dry cupcakes. I like mine more light and fluffy. Any suggestions?
Oh no I’m so sorry about that! I would maybe add more butter or bake for a shorter time? xTieghan
Wow—these cupcakes are out of this world!! Such a perfect fall treat. Even my husband, who isn’t a cupcake person, loved these! I would recommend that people double the amount of chai spice in the batter, and refrigerate the frosting for a bit before piping so that it doesn’t melt off the cupcake and can be piped more easily. Otherwise, this is definitely a winner in my house!
Hey Sarah, Happy Thursday! So glad this recipe was enjoyed and thanks for making it! xTieghan
Is it possible to use half and half in the frosting instead of heavy cream? So excited to bake these today!
Hi there! That should work just fine! Enjoy! xTieghan
Same here and it was still not a normal buttercream consistency. I think next time I’ll use an American or Italian buttercream recipe with these same spices instead of the measurements in this recipe. I think the amount of cream was hard to overcome with powdered sugar
Hi Rachel, so sorry about that! Is there anything you did differently? xTieghan
These were just delicious although it took me all afternoon to make them! Now that they’re all piped with the topping how should I store them?
Hey Patti! Thanks so much for trying out this recipe! I would leave them in some sort of cake dome if you have one, or put in the fridge if you don’t have something to keep it covered at room temp. Hope this helps! xTieghan
So delicious!! I doubled the recipe and made a 13×9 cake for my daughters birthday. She said it was the best cake she’d ever had. Thank you for always having such great recipes!!
Hi Janice! Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try, I’m so glad you enjoyed it! xTieghan
These sound delicious! Can’t wait to try them. Any advice on making mini cupcakes vs the regular 24?
Hi Camille! For making mini cupcakes, they will definitely bake faster, so be sure not to overbake! Enjoy 🙂 xTieghan
Delicious! However, I ended up needing to use about double the amount of powdered sugar and an additional stock of butter to create a thick enough icing to pipe. Not sure if I did something wrong?
Hi! I made these tonight and the batter got *really* loose and liquid-y after I streamed in the chai milk. Did I do something wrong, should I use less milk next time?
Hi Lexi! I’m so sorry about that! Is there anything else you did differently? xTieghan
What do you use to ice your cups??
Hi there! I just use a piping set from Williams Sonoma. Here is the link:
https://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/pastry-bag-decorating-kit/?catalogId=79&sku=1512755&cm_ven=PLA&cm_cat=Google&cm_pla=Bakeware%20%3E%20Decorating%20Tools®ion_id=820120&cm_ite=1512755&gclid=Cj0KCQjwqp-LBhDQARIsAO0a6aJ_40dNbXsznT9mLmrfrlj3rsuS9WD46tRTWJlwvRoZo54s9bixgvQaAmr1EALw_wcB
xTieghan
The flavor of these cupcakes was amazing and the frosting is divine! My cupcakes turned out a bit on the dry side so will bake them a bit less next time. I did not make the caramel brulee for the top but sprinkled a bit of the extra chai spice on the frosting. So yummy! Even though I thought they were a bit dry, they were a hit and I will make them again!
Hey there! Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try, I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Have a lovely week! xTieghan
These cupcakes were the most PERFECT Thanksgiving dessert. Our entire family and our neighbours all loved them. They taste just like Fall. The only thing we had to do was add about an extra cup of icing sugar to get it to piping consistency. We also added another teaspoon of chai spice to the icing because of the extra sugar to make sure we didn’t lose that chai flavour. Amazing recipe – thanks so much.
You’ve done it again! Absolutely delicious, unique and perfect for the fall. Easy to follow and I had a lot of fun making the caramel brulée topping. Thanks for this!!
I’m looking forward to making this recipe! How would you tweak it to make a cake instead of cupcakes? It seems like it would be enough batter to fill 2 round cake tins. Thanks!
I made a little 9×5″ loaf as well as 8 cupcakes because my husband doesn’t like cupcakes. It durned out nicely! We just left the 9×5 pan in for about 10-15 mins longer than the cupcakes.
Awesome thanks!!