These Nutella cupcakes are made with delicious chocolate Nutella cupcakes, filled with Nutella, and topped with Nutella buttercream and chopped hazelnuts!
These cupcakes are extra tender and moist. They are made with a runny chocolate batter that bakes perfectly into moist and fluffy cupcakes. The buttercream is silky smooth and so delicious.
These cupcakes are decadent and are perfect for any special occasion. These are defiantly a crowd pleaser and are a family and friend's favorite!
If you like Nutella, and baking with Nutella, you should try out our favorite Nutella recipes like our No-bake Nutella cheesecake-, 3 Ingredient Nutella brownies, Nutella mug cake, and our Nutella tart.
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Why this recipe works
- It is filled with Nutella spread.
- Topped with delicious Nutella buttercream and chopped hazelnuts.
- Made with soft and fluffy Nutella chocolate cupcakes.
- Made with simple ingredients.
- These cupcakes are unbelievably moist and tender.
Ingredients
Before you start to make this recipe, measure and prepare your ingredients so the cooking process will go smoothly and easily.
Full measurements are in the recipe card below.
For the cupcakes
Flour– we used all-purpose flour for this recipe, self-rising flour, and cake flour will work great as well.
Dutch cocoa powder– we like to use Dutch-process cocoa powder for our chocolate cake because we like the deep and rich chocolate taste, but the natural cocoa powder will work great as well!
Baking powder and baking soda – to help the cupcake rise.
Granulated sugar– we like to use granulated sugar, the most common sugar in baking. Caster sugar will work great as well.
Vegetable oil – we used vegetable oil for this recipe. canola oil will work great for this recipe.
Nutella- you will need ⅓ cup of Nutella for this recipe. We like using Nutella for this recipe, but if you don’t like Nutella or are allergic to one of the ingredients, you can use any kind of chocolate hazelnut spread.
Eggs– To give the cake a good structure. Make sure you’re using room-temperature eggs.
Hot coffee- make a strong hot coffee, you can use espresso, or instant coffee, both will work.
Vanilla extract- Vanilla extract Is an essential ingredient for chocolate cake.
Salt- We used kosher salt for this recipe. Salt doesn’t give the cake a salty taste, it helps to enhance the chocolate flavor.
For the Nutella buttercream
Butter- make sure you are using room temperate butter.
Powder sugar- is known as confessional sugar. For a smoother buttercream, sift it before adding it to the butter.
Cocoa powder- we used Dutch cocoa powder. You can use natural cocoa powder as well.
Vanilla extract- for extra flavor.
Nutella- use Nutella or any other chocolate hazelnut spread.
Heavy cream- makes this frosting extra silky smooth and fluffy.
Instructions
Preheat an oven to 350f (180c) and prep a cupcake pan with liners.
In a big mixing bowl, add the flour, cocoa powder, kosher salt, baking powder, baking soda, and sugar and mix with a whisk until well combined.
In a big mixing bowl, add the Nutella, oil, vanilla, and eggs. Mix until almost combined and then add the hot coffee and mix until just combined.
Use an ice cream scoop to fill out the cupcake ⅔ full (do not overfill) and bake in a preheated oven for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Cool the cupcakes for 10 minutes and transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely (don’t frost warm cupcakes)
Make the Nutella buttercream
Into a large bowl add room temperature butter and mix with a hand mixer or a stand mixer until the butter is light and fluffy.
Add half of the powder sugar and the cocoa powder and carefully mix until combined.
Add the other half of the powder sugar and mix until smooth.
Add the Nutella to the mixture and mix until well combined and smooth.
Make a small hole in the middle of each cupcake. We used a piping tip to do so.
Fill the holes with Nutella. We filled a sandwich plastic bag and cut off the edge to do so.
Transfer the buttercream to a piping bag with a star tip and pipe the cupcakes with the frosting.
Expert Tips
- Don’t skip the coffee in the chocolate cupcake, you can’t taste the coffee, it simply enhances the chocolate flavor.
- Use room temperature ingredients. It is important that you use room-temperature ingredients like eggs and butter. This step ensures that your mixture mixes into a homogenous mixture and bakes perfectly. you don’t want to place cold batter into the oven.
- Don’t overmix the batter, you don’t want to develop the gluten in the flour. This step ensures you have moist cupcakes and not dense and dry cupcakes.
- Make sure that your butter is at room temperature. An hour or two before making the buttercream, take the butter out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature. The butter should be soft to the touch. If your butter is too cold, it will be harder to mix and there will be lumps of butter in the dough.
- Measure your flour correctly! When measuring your flour, avoid scooping it with a measuring cup. Instead, stir the flour with a spoon to create as many air pockets as possible, and spoon it into your measuring cup. Finally, level it with a back of a knife.
- Before you start to make this recipe, measure and prepare your ingredients so the cooking process will go smoothly and easily.
- Be patient! I know it’s extremely tempting to eat and frost these cupcakes as they are pulled out of the oven, but let these cupcakes cool for at least 30 minutes so they will be more firm and won’t crumble up.
- We suggest letting these cupcakes cool for 5 minutes and then transferring them to a wire rack to cool for at least 20 more minutes. This step ensures that the frosting won't melt off the cupcakes. You never want to frost warm cupcakes or cakes.
Faq's
No! you can’t taste the coffee. Adding the coffee simply enhances the chocolate flavor. So, don’t skip the coffee in the cupcake!
We like to use Dutch prosses cocoa powder, because it gives the cupcake a deeper rich chocolate taste, and natural cocoa powder will work! It’s just a personal preference.
We use all-purpose flour for this cupcake, self-rising flour, and cake flour will work great as well.
Storing
These cupcakes will last up to 5 days in the fridge (dairy needs to be stored in the fridge). Cover them with plastic wrap or foil to prevent them from drying out. They stay moist for at least 3 days!
Freezing
Freeze these cupcakes after they cooled completely in an airtight freezer-friendly container for up to 3 months.
Our tip is not to freeze it decorated or covered with frosting, because it can ruin the decorating on the cake, we suggest freezing the cupcake and decorating it when you defrost it.
If you’re not looking to impress anyone with your decorating skills, it’s absolutely okay to freeze the cake with the frosting on.
Substitutions
Gluten-free - if you want to make this recipe gluten-free, simply replace the flour with gluten-free flour.
Dairy-free- you can make this cupcake recipe dairy-free by replacing the butter with vegan butter, and replacing the Nutella with your favorite chocolate spread.
Variations
Frosting- You can use any kind of your favorite frosting on these cupcakes, these are very versatile so you can turn them into whatever you want! You can use dark chocolate frosting, vanilla frosting, caramel frosting, etc.
Chocolate- make these double chocolate by adding chocolate chunks or chocolate chips to the batter!
Tools
Mixing bowls- best glass mixing bowls.
Whisk set- our favorite copper whisk set.
Cupcakes tins- our favorite Wilton cupcake tins.
Open star piping tip- our favorite Wilton piping tip for cupcake decoration.
More cupcake recipes
Honey cupcakes- These honey cupcakes are made with soft and moist cupcakes, topped with freshly made whipped cream and more honey!
Strawberry filled cupcakes- These strawberry filled cupcakes are made with vanilla fresh strawberry cupcakes, filled with chopped ripe strawberries, and topped with strawberry buttercream frosting.
Pumpkin cupcakes- These super moist pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting are soft, delicious, and stay moist for 3 days.
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📖 Recipe
Best Nutella Cupcakes W/ Nutella Buttercream
Ingredients
- 2 Eggs
- 1 cups Granulated sugar
- 1 ½ cups Flour
- 1 ½ teaspoon Baking powder
- 1 teaspoon Baking soda
- ⅓ cups Cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- ⅓ cup Nutella
- ⅓ cups Vegetable oil
- 1 cups Hot coffee
- 2 teaspoon Vanilla extract
Nutella buttercream:
- 230 g Butter soften
- 1 ½ cups Powder sugar
- ⅓ cup Cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon Kosher salt
- ½ cup Nutella
- ⅓ cup Heavy cream
Instructions
For the cupcakes:
- Preheat an oven to 350f (180c) and prep a cupcake pan with liners.
- In a big mixing bowl, add the flour, cocoa powder, kosher salt, baking powder, baking soda, and sugar and mix with a whisk until well combined.
- In a big mixing bowl, add the Nutella, oil, vanilla, and eggs. Mix until almost combined and then add the hot coffee and mix until just combined.
- Use an ice cream scoop to fill out the cupcake ⅔ full (do not overfill) and bake in a preheated oven for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool the cupcakes for 10 minutes and transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely (don’t frost warm cupcakes)
For the nutella buttercream frosting:
- Into a large bowl add room temperature butter and mix with a hand mixer or a stand mixer until the butter is light and fluffy.
- Add half of the powder sugar and the cocoa powder and carefully mix until combined.
- Add the other half of the powder sugar and mix until smooth.
- Add the Nutella to the mixture and mix until well combined and smooth.
- Make a small hole in the middle of each cupcake. We used a piping tip to do so.
- Fill the holes with Nutella. We filled a sandwich plastic bag and cut off the edge to do so.
- Transfer the buttercream to a piping bag with a star tip and pipe the cupcakes with the frosting.
Notes
- Don’t skip the coffee in the chocolate cupcake, you can’t taste the coffee, it simply enhances the chocolate flavor.
- Use room temperature ingredients. It is important that you use room-temperature ingredients like eggs and butter. This step ensures that your mixture mixes into a homogenous mixture and bakes perfectly. you don’t want to place cold batter into the oven.
- Don’t overmix the batter, you don’t want to develop the gluten in the flour. This step ensures you have moist cupcakes and not dense and dry cupcakes.
- Make sure that your butter is at room temperature. An hour or two before making the buttercream, take the butter out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature. The butter should be soft to the touch. If your butter is too cold, it will be harder to mix and there will be lumps of butter in the dough.
- Measure your flour correctly! When measuring your flour, avoid scooping it with a measuring cup. Instead, stir the flour with a spoon to create as many air pockets as possible, and spoon it into your measuring cup. Finally, level it with a back of a knife.
- Before you start to make this recipe, measure and prepare your ingredients so the cooking process will go smoothly and easily.
- Be patient! I know it’s extremely tempting to eat and frost these cupcakes as they are pulled out of the oven, but let these cupcakes cool for at least 30 minutes so they will be more firm and won’t crumble up.
- We suggest letting these cupcakes cool for 5 minutes and then transferring them to a wire rack to cool for at least 20 more minutes. This step ensures that the frosting won't melt off the cupcakes. You never want to frost warm cupcakes or cakes.
Louella
Do we use unsalted butter?
RichandDelish
Yes!