Nutella Cupcakes

These nutella cupcakes are made with my favorite vanilla cupcake recipe and a generous nutella filling in the center of the cupcake. They’re frosted with nutella buttercream, a nutella drizzle and a sprinkle of pralined hazelnuts.

Why you’ll love these cupcakes

1. I used my favorite vanilla cupcake recipe which is basically a double batch of my small batch cupcake recipe. 
2. The vanilla base complements the nutella flavor instead of overpowering it like a chocolate flavor would. 
3. A generous nutella spread filling in the center of the cupcake for a nice surprise bite.
4. Super smooth and silky nutella buttercream. 

I couldn’t decide between filling the center of these cupcakes with nutella or doing a nutella swirl. If you like the latter idea better, feel free to use this same recipe but take the method from my nutella swirl cake. 

That 2 ingredient buttercream in my nutella swirl cake is also a little richer and much simpler to make than this one. Both work great for these nutella cupcakes, I just wanted to give you both options. I prefer both of these over american frosting with powdered sugar because they’re a lot less sweet and much more silky.

Ingredients & Substitutions:

• Butter: I like to use salted butter for my cakes and unsalted butter for my buttercreams. 
  • You can also use unsalted butter for the cakes, just add an extra ¼ tsp of salt to every cup of butter used. 
  • Dairy free butter also works.
• Oil: any neutral oil like vegetable oil, canola oil, grapeseed oil, etc. will work. 
• Sugar: I use granulated sugar in my cupcakes and I don’t recommend substituting it or reducing the amount.
• Vanilla: I use extract in this recipe but vanilla bean paste or artificial vanilla extract would work well too.
• Eggs: always use large, room temperature eggs. Pop them in hot water for 5-10 minutes if they’re cold.
  • I use one whole egg here but this cupcake recipe also works great with two egg whites if you have some lying around. 
• Flour: I usually use all-purpose flour for cakes but cupcakes are a different story. I use cake flour for these cupcakes.
  • ​​I also HIGHLY recommend using a digital scale, as flour is almost always over measured. 
  • If you don’t have cake flour, you can substitute the cake flour for equal parts all-purpose flour – 1 Tbsp and then add 1 Tbsp cornstarch. It’s not a perfect substitute but will get the job done. To learn more about this, check out my ebook about ingredients. Use code BAKER for 60% off. 
• Baking Powder: can sub for baking ½ tsp baking soda if you don’t have baking powder. 
• Salt: salt brings out the flavor in all baked goods.
• Sour Cream: I use sour cream in almost all my cake and cupcake recipes. It brings and holds a lot of moisture into the cake. Plain greek yogurt or unsweetened regular yogurt also works. 
• Milk: any fat percentage of milk works, even plant based milk works.  
• Nutella Spread: if you can’t find the Nutella brand, any brand of chocolate hazelnut spread will work.
• Hazelnuts: If you can’t find hazelnuts for the topping, macadamia nuts, peanuts, pecans or walnuts work as well.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Make the cupcakes by creaming the butter and oil with the dry ingredients and sugar.

Step 2: Add the egg, vanilla and sour cream and beat until they’re fully incorporated.

Step 3: Add the milk and mix until they’re combined.

Step 4: Scoop cupcake batter into 13 lined cupcake tins (the 1 extra can wait if you only have one muffin pan). 

Step 5: Bake for 16-18 minutes, until slightly golden and the center springs back when you press on it . 

Step 6: For the buttercream, beat the eggs in a stand mixer while heating the sugar and water until it’s at a softball stage. 

Step 7: Stream the hot sugar into the beating eggs and let it whip for 5-10 minutes and then add the butter. 

Step 8: Add the nutella to the buttercream, switch to a paddle attachment and beat low speed until it’s completely smooth.

Step 9: Make the praline by pouring hot sugar over hazelnuts, let them cool and grind them up.

Step 10: Once the cupcakes have cooled, remove the center with a knife or a cupcake corer and use a piping bag or a spoon to fill it with nutella.

I use a similar method to assemble my birthday cake cupcakes, strawberries and cream cupcakes, and peanut butter s’mores cupcakes. 

I used a vanilla cupcake base to really let the nutella shine but if you’re into a chocolate base, I also have a chocolate hazelnut cupcake you’ll love. You could also just add 2-4 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder to the buttercreams as well, if you want a darker chocolate nutella buttercream.

How to serve and store nutella cupcakes

Serve the cupcakes fresh or leave them at a cool room temperature for 1-2 days. 

To refrigerate, make sure to cover the cupcakes with a cake dome or store them in an airtight container for up to a week.

To freeze it, place them in an airtight container and then place the container in an airtight bag. Thaw at room temperature before serving.  

If you make these nutella cupcakes, make sure to tag me @baranbakery on instagram so I can share them with everyone! 

As always, have a blessed day and happy baking!

Love, B