These Nutella Cupcakes combine the best of both worlds, vanilla and chocolate. This recipe is for soft vanilla cupcakes, filled with Nutella, and swirled with a fluffy Nutella buttercream. They are decorated with toasted hazelnuts and ferrero rocher, and you just have to try them!
I love making this cupcake recipe when you really want to wow a crowd because let’s get serious - who doesn’t love Nutella?!
Use this Nutella Buttercream recipe if you’d like to try chocolate Nutella cupcakes or try making a Nutella chocolate cake instead.
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Ingredients
To make these delicious Nutella cupcakes, 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
- Powdered sugar
- Unsalted butter
- Cocoa powder
- Nutella
- Whipping cream
- Toasted hazelnuts
- Ferrero Rocher chocolates
Sunflower oil – these cupcakes use oil instead of butter for extra moistness! Use neutral-tasting vegetable oil for this recipe like sunflower or canola oil.
Extra-large eggs – out of their shell, the eggs I use weigh 56 grams, if you aren’t sure if you have the same eggs – weigh the eggs you have and adjust accordingly.
Self-raising flour - if you can't find self-raising flour, you can use cake flour or all-purpose flour mixed with baking powder. Check the recommendations on the packaging of your baking powder to decide how much should be added.
Vanilla extract – choose a quality vanilla extract rather than essence to give this recipe a great vanilla flavor. You can also use vanilla bean paste.
Cocoa powder – choose a quality chocolatey cocoa powder like Dutch-process cocoa powder for this recipe.
Unsalted butter – be sure to use unsalted butter rather than salted butter for this recipe. It is also very important that you are using room-temperature butter.
Whipping cream - Heavy cream refers to creams that have a fat content higher than 36%, in South Africa, these creams are often called whipping cream. Please don’t make the mistake of confusing this with double thick cream, it isn’t the same!
Nutella - choose to use Nutella in this recipe or another chocolate hazelnut spread.
See the recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Follow the simple instructions below to make this Nutella Cupcakes recipe. First, you will be making the moist cupcakes, and then the creamy Nutella frosting.
Instructions for cupcakes
STEP 1: Preheat the oven. Preheat the oven to 170C (340F) and line 24 cupcake liners into two 12-hole cupcake pans.
STEP 2: Beat eggs, sugar, and oil. Add the oil, eggs, and sugar to a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 4 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. Combine the milk and vanilla extract in a jug, and slowly pour this into the cupcake batter with the mixer's motor running at low speed. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix again, making sure it is lump-free.
STEP 5: Bake. Pour the cupcake batter into the cupcake liners using a jug or ice cream scoop, filling each case two-thirds of the way up. Bake in a preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes or until a cake tester 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 cocoa, icing sugar, and butter. To a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment add the icing sugar, cocoa powder, and unsalted butter. Beat at medium speed until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs.
STEP 2: Add the cream. With the mixer’s motor running at low speed slowly pour the cream into the frosting mixture. Once all the cream has been added increase the speed of the mixer to medium-high speed and beat for 5 minutes.
STEP 3: Continue beating. Use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat the frosting again at medium-high speed for a couple of minutes until light and fluffy and the perfect consistency.
STEP 4: Add Nutella. Add the Nutella to the whipped frosting and beat again until well combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl if needed. Add the frosting to a piping bag fitted with your chosen nozzle.
Instructions for decorating
STEP 1: Fill. Use an apple corer or cupcake corer to remove the center of each cupcake, and fill the center with a teaspoon of Nutella by either using a spoon or a piping bag.
STEP 2: Pipe. Pipe a swirl of Nutella frosting onto each cupcake.
STEP 3: Decorate. Decorate each cupcake with toasted hazelnuts, Ferrero Rocher chocolate, and extra swirls of Nutella. Serve and enjoy!
Hint: If your Nutella is a bit stiff and hard to pipe into the center of the cupcakes, loosen it in the microwave for a few seconds and then stir well.
Equipment
For these Nutella cupcakes, you will need x2 12-hole cupcake tins, 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. I also always use an accurate kitchen scale when baking.
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.
For any frosted leftover cupcakes, store them in an airtight container for up to 4 days at room temperature out of direct sunlight.
To freeze these cupcakes, place any leftover cupcakes in a freezer-safe air-tight container and freeze them for up to three months. Defrost properly before consuming them.
Top tips
Follow my top kitchen tips below for the best results.
- Always use room temperature ingredients when baking.
- Test the true temperature of your oven with an oven thermometer.
- Beat the frosting for long enough, it needs to be light and fluffy.
- Make sure the cupcakes are cool before frosting them.
FAQ
The eggs I use weigh 56 grams, if you aren’t sure if you have the same eggs – weigh the eggs you have and adjust accordingly.
Check the temperature of your oven and make sure you haven’t overfilled the cupcake cases. Overfilling the cases can result in misshapen cupcakes.
Wait - having room-temperature butter is the most important step in a successful frosting. Choose to wait until the butter has reached room temperature before making this recipe, or cube the butter and heat it gently in the microwave, being careful to not melt it.
When in doubt keep mixing – getting a fluffy frosting takes time, so if your frosting looks too hard to spread then keep beating it. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl often so that the frosting can mix evenly together.
These cupcakes are special, and will be an absolute hit at any birthday party or dinner party – so be sure to give them a try! And when you do please leave a comment and star review below, I would love to hear from you!
Don’t forget to sign up for the newsletter for my weekly recipe share and to follow along at @with_love_kitty to make sure you never miss a recipe!
Happy Baking
With Love,
Kitty
📖 Recipe
Nutella Cupcakes
Equipment
- 2x 12-hole cupcake pans
Ingredients
Vanilla Cupcakes
- 120 ml sunflower oil
- 3 eggs extra-large
- 250 g sugar granulated
- 290 g self-raising flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 270 ml milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Nutella Buttercream
- 600 g powdered sugar
- 20 g cocoa powder
- 300 g unsalted butter room temperature
- 200 ml whipping cream
- 200 g Nutella
Decorating
- 100 g Nutella
- 12 Ferrero Rocher chocolates halved
- 50 g hazelnuts roasted and chopped
Instructions
Vanilla Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 170°C (340°F) and line 24 cupcake liners into two 12-hole cupcake pans.
- Add the oil, eggs, and sugar to a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 4 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.
- Combine the milk and vanilla extract in a jug, and slowly pour this into the cupcake batter with the mixer's motor running at low speed. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix again, making sure it is lump-free.
- Pour the cupcake batter into the cupcake liners using a jug or ice cream scoop, filling each case two-thirds of the way up. Bake in a preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes or until a cake tester 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.
Nutella Buttercream
- To a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment add the icing sugar, cocoa powder, and unsalted butter. Beat at medium speed until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs.
- With the mixer’s motor running at low speed slowly pour the cream into the frosting mixture. Once all the cream has been added increase the speed of the mixer to medium-high speed and beat for 5 minutes.
- Use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat the frosting again at medium-high speed for a couple of minutes until light and fluffy and the perfect consistency.
- Add the Nutella to the whipped frosting and beat again until well combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl if needed. Add the frosting to a piping bag fitted with your chosen nozzle.
Decorating
- Use an apple corer or cupcake corer to remove the center of each cupcake, and fill the center with a teaspoon of Nutella by either using a spoon or a piping bag.
- Pipe a swirl of Nutella frosting onto each cupcake.
- Decorate each cupcake with toasted hazelnuts, Ferrero Rocher chocolate, and extra swirls of Nutella. Serve and enjoy!
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