These Coffee and Walnut Cupcakes are a must-try for any coffee cake lover! Soft coffee cupcakes dotted with chopped walnuts and swirled with fluffy coffee buttercream, so good!
I love making these cupcakes when I am expecting someone over for tea and a little catch-up! So make them when you’re expecting a visitor or they make a delicious dessert for adult-friendly birthday cupcakes!
If you love coffee-flavored bakes then try this recipe for caramel-filled Mocha Cupcakes or use this recipe for Coffee Buttercream on your favorite chocolate brownies or cakes!
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Ingredients
To make this easy cupcake recipe you will need the simple ingredients listed below. Remember to always use fresh room temperature ingredients when baking.
- Sunflower oil
- Extra large eggs
- Granulated white sugar
- Self-raising flour
- Salt
- Whole milk
- Vanilla extract
- Walnuts
- Espresso granules
- Instant espresso powder
- Powdered sugar
- Unsalted butter
Sunflower oil – for this recipe I recommend using sunflower oil, but you can also use any other neutral-tasting vegetable oil.
Extra-large eggs – for this recipe I have used extra-large eggs. These eggs weigh about 56 grams out of their shell. If you don’t have extra large eggs, rather weigh the eggs you do have and then work out if more eggs need to be added. Always use room-temperature eggs when baking.
Self-raising flour – I like using self-raising flour but you can use a combination of all-purpose flour and baking powder. For this recipe use, 290 grams of flour and 2 tablespoons of baking powder sifted together.
Coffee – this recipe uses ground espresso beans in the cupcake batter and instant coffee in the buttercream. Please make sure you are using strong great tasting coffee as the quality of the coffee will affect the coffee flavor of this cupcake greatly
See the recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Follow the instructions below to make this coffee cupcake recipe. First, you will be making the coffee and walnut cupcakes and then you will be making the coffee buttercream frosting.
Instructions for cupcakes
STEP 1: Preheat the oven. Preheat the oven to 180C (350F) and line 24 cupcake cases into two 12-hole cupcake pans.
STEP 2: Beat eggs, sugar, and oil. Add the oil, eggs, and sugar to the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until combined, about 2 minutes.
STEP 3: Add dry ingredients. Sift together the salt, and flour then add the flour mixture to the egg and sugar mixture. Beat at low speed until just combined.
STEP 4: Add wet ingredients. In a jug combine the milk and vanilla extract, and slowly pour this into the cake batter with the mixer's motor running at low speed. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix again, making sure it is a lump-free smooth batter.
STEP 5: Add walnuts and coffee. Add the chopped walnuts and ground espresso granules to the cupcake batter, and use a rubber spatula to incorporate them into the batter.
STEP 6: Bake. Pour the cupcake batter into the cupcake liners, filling each case two-thirds of the way up. Bake in a preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean. Allow the cupcakes to cool in their tins for 5 minutes, then to cool completely on a cooling rack.
Instructions for frosting
STEP 1: Beat butter and icing sugar. In a bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, add the butter and icing sugar. Beat at medium speed until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs.
STEP 2: Add milk, vanilla, and coffee. Add the vanilla and instant espresso powder to the milk in a small bowl and stir to dissolve. With the mixer's motor running at low speed slowly add the milk and coffee mixture. Continue pouring until it has all been added. Then increase the speed of the mixer to medium-high. Beat until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl often.
STEP 3: Decorate. Fill a piping bag fitted with your chosen nozzle with the coffee buttercream. Pipe a swirl of frosting onto the top of your cupcake and decorate with a walnut half. Serve and enjoy!
Equipment
For these coffee cupcakes, you will need x2 12-hole muffin tin, 24x paper cupcake cases, a wire rack for cooling, a disposable piping bag, a piping nozzle, and an electric mixer.
I always use a stand mixer or electric hand mixer to make the buttercream as they help ensure a fluffy frosting.
Storage
Cupcakes cool quickly and dry out just as quickly so try to frost them the same day that they are baked. If you don’t have time to decorate the cupcakes the same day as baking them, store them in an airtight container or cover the cupcake trays in plastic wrap until the next day.
Once these walnut cupcakes are frosted keep them in an airtight container at room temperature for about 2-3 days out of direct sunlight. If the weather is particularly hot, choose to store them in the fridge and bring them to room temperature before eating them.
To freeze these cupcakes, place any leftover cupcakes in a freezer-safe air-tight container and freeze them for up to three months.
Top tips
To ensure perfect cupcakes, follow the tips below
- Always check the true temperature of your oven with an oven thermometer.
- Never overfill your cupcake cases, ⅔s is perfect.
- Allow the cupcakes to cool before frosting them.
- Pipe just whipped frosting, don’t allow it to sit for a while before using it.
FAQ
Yes, use 290g of all-purpose flour sifted with 2 tablespoons of baking powder if you can’t find self-raising flour.
Checking the true temperature of your oven with an oven thermometer and adjusting the temperature accordingly will solve this issue.
Instant coffee granules will also work for the buttercream, the flavor will just not be as intense so you may need to use more depending on your taste.
You can use instant coffee powder instead, add this to the milk to dissolve before adding the milk to the cupcake batter.
These coffee walnut cupcakes are a must! If you give them a try please send me pics on Instagram @with_love_kitty – I love seeing how you guys decorate your bakes!
If you are a coffee lover and loved this recipe or have any questions please leave a comment and star review below.
Happy Baking
With Love,
Kitty
📖 Recipe
Coffee and Walnut Cupcakes
Equipment
- 2x 12-hole cupcake pans
Ingredients
Coffee & Walnut Cupcakes
- 120 ml sunflower oil
- 3 eggs extra-large
- 250 g sugar
- 290 g self-raising flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 270 ml whole milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 80 g walnuts
- 1 tablespoon espresso granules ground
Coffee Buttercream
- 500 g powdered sugar
- 160 g unsalted butter
- 50 ml whole milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoon espresso powder instant
Instructions
Coffee & Walnut Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) and line 24 cupcake cases into two 12-hole cupcake pans.
- Add the oil, eggs, and sugar to the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until combined, about 2 minutes.
- Sift together the salt, and flour then add the flour mixture to the egg and sugar mixture. Beat at low speed until just combined.
- In a jug combine the milk and vanilla extract, and slowly pour this into the cake batter with the mixer's motor running at low speed. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix again, making sure it is a lump-free smooth batter.
- Add the chopped walnuts and ground espresso granules to the cupcake batter, and use a rubber spatula to incorporate them into the batter.
- Pour the cupcake batter into the cupcake liners, filling each case two-thirds of the way up. Bake in a preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean. Allow the cupcakes to cool in their tins for 5 minutes, then to cool completely on a cooling rack.
Coffee Buttercream
- In a bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, add the butter and icing sugar. Beat at medium speed until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs.
- Add the vanilla and instant espresso powder to the milk in a small bowl and stir to dissolve. With the mixer's motor running at low speed slowly add the milk and coffee mixture. Continue pouring until it has all been added. Then increase the speed of the mixer to medium-high. Beat until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl often.
- Fill a piping bag fitted with your chosen nozzle with the coffee buttercream. Pipe a swirl of frosting onto the top of your cupcake and decorate with a walnut half. Serve and enjoy!
Elena says
Hello, thank you for the recipe.
Can you please tell me what have I done wrong?
The first 12 were ok, but the next 12 had like a hole on the bottom.
I only have one pan, so I left the batter to "rest" until the first 12 were cooked.
Is this the reason?
Thank you and great site 🙂
withlovekitty2020 says
Hi Elena, thank you so much for your comment and I am so glad you loved this recipe! I don't think this is the reason, I have left some of my mixture to stand before and haven't had an issue like this. What I can think is maybe the remaining batter wasnt mixed properly, did you scrape the bottom of the bowl and mix again before filling the cupcake cases?
Elena says
Maybe the problem was the temperature of the oven, or the time.
I'll try it one more time, but only after I'll buy a oven thermometer :), thank you for your response.
We ate them all 🙂