World Nutella Day is this weekend and if you know me, you know that Nutella is one of my absolute favorite foods! I love adding Nutella to everything, and the chocolate hazelnut flavor is perfect in these cupcakes. They’re made with a chocolate cupcake base, filled with Nutella, topped with Nutella buttercream, and garnished with Nutella drizzle and chopped hazelnuts. If you’re a Nutella lover like me, these are the perfect cupcakes for you!
Chocolate Nutella Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour (130g)
- 1 cup granulated sugar (200g)
- 1 cup Nutella (305g)
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temp (113g)
- 2 large eggs
- 6 tbsp cocoa powder (45g)
- 6 tbsp water (90g)
- 6 tbsp whole milk (90g)
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp salt
Nutella Frosting
- 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar (405g)
- 1 cup Nutella (305g)
- 1/2 cup salted butter, room temp (113g) make sure it's salted! the salted butter really helps cut the richness of the Nutella
- 1/4 cup vegetable shortening (50g)
- 5-6 tbsp whole milk
Nutella Drizzle
- 1/4 cup Nutella (77g)
- 2-3 tbsp heavy whipping cream
- chopped hazelnuts, for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line your cupcake pan with cupcake wrappers and set aside.
- In a small bowl, add the flour, baking soda, and salt. Whisk together to combine, and then set aside. In another small bowl, add the cocoa powder, water, and vanilla extract. Whisk together until a smooth paste forms (it will look and feel a lot like ganache). Once smooth, set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the butter and the sugar and cream together for 4-5 minutes on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, pausing to scrape down the sides as necessary. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until fully combined and smooth.
- Add all of the chocolate paste made earlier to the stand mixer and beat until smooth, again pausing to scrape down the sides as necessary.
- Next, add half of the dry ingredients, and beat until combined, followed by all of the milk. Once fully incorporated, add the rest of the dry ingredients and mix until smooth. Make sure to scrape the bottom as well as the sides to make sure your stand mixer isn't missing any lumps.
- Filly the cupcake liners ~3/4 of the way full with the cupcake batter. This recipe really makes just about exactly the right amount, so make sure you're scraping out the bowl well! Bake the cupcakes for 15-17 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out mostly clean, with a few crumbs. The tops should gently spring back when poked with a finger.
- Once done, let the cupcakes cool for a few minutes in the pan before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely. As they finish cooling, make the frosting. Add the butter and shortening to the bowl of a stand mixer (make sure it's been cleaned out first!) and beat together on medium-high speed until smooth.
- Add the Nutella and continue to beat on medium-high, scraping down the sides as necessary. This will seem like it's not going to work until it finally all comes together, but don't worry! The frosting will seem way too thick at first. Once smooth after adding the Nutella, add half the powdered sugar. It will combine and then look almost like a cookie dough.
- Add half the milk and beat to combine, this should greatly thin out the frosting. Repeat with the rest of the powdered sugar, followed by the rest of the milk. Don't pour all 3 tbsp of milk in immediately, instead add it a bit at a time until you reach your desired frosting consistency. You don't want it too thick, to make sure you can pipe it, but also be careful about adding too much! If you do and your frosting gets too thin, just add more powdered sugar to compensate.
- Once the cupcakes are done cooling, use a sharp paring knife (or a cupcake corer if you have one!) to carefully cut out the center of each cupcake, taking care not to cut all the way down to the bottom. Fill the cupcakes with Nutella (I found this to be easier said than done, just use a small spoon and be patient!)
- Pipe the frosting on top of the Nutella filled cupcakes. To make the drizzle, add the Nutella and heavy whipping cream to a small bowl, adjusting the cream amount until the drizzle is just thin enough to easily drizzle over top of the cupcakes. Drizzle the mix over the cupcakes, and then sprinkle with chopped hazelnuts.
- Enjoy!
[…] Before making the meringue, use a small paring knife to hollow out the core of the cupcakes, making sure not to poke all the way through the bottom, the same as done in my nutella cupcakes found here. […]