These Nutella cupcakes are the ultimate recipe for Nutella lovers. Moist chocolate cupcakes are stuffed with a dollop of Nutella and decorated with the creamiest Nutella frosting.
If you’re the type of person who can eat Nutella with a spoon from the tub – then I urge you to try these Nutella cupcakes. They start with moist and fudgy chocolate cupcakes that aren’t too sweet. After the cupcakes are baked and cooled, you’ll cut a little hole out of the top and stuff each cupcake with a dollop of Nutella. Then they’re frosted with the creamiest Nutella frosting that’s glossy and delicious. I like to top each cupcake with a some chopped hazelnuts or a fresh strawberry or raspberry.
The best part of this recipe is seeing someone’s surprise when they bite into a delicious mouthful of Nutella in the middle of each cupcake.
For the Chocolate Cupcakes
The chocolate cupcakes are moist and flavorful. I adapted my ultimate chocolate cupcake recipe slightly so that the cupcakes are a little sturdier and therefore can stand up to being stuffed with Nutella. They’re made with oil, sour cream and milk to give a ridiculously moist cupcake. The chocolate flavor comes from both cocoa powder and melted semi-sweet chocolate for a chocolate flavor that’s delicious, but not too sweet.
Pro Tip: Only fill each cupcake liner about ⅔ full. You should end up with about 16-18 cupcakes in total. I always use a cookie scoop to make this process easy and less messy. If you only get 12-14 cupcakes, your liners are too full. The cupcakes cupcakes can overflow and/or sink in the middle.
For the Nutella Frosting
The Nutella frosting is incredibly creamy and silky smooth. It’s an American-style buttercream, meaning that you simply need to beat together the ingredients with an electric mixer – unlike a Swiss or Italian buttercream recipe. The butter should be slightly softened before getting started, but not starting to melt or get slimy.
Pro Tip: Be sure to use commercially prepared Nutella (or any brand of chocolate hazelnut spread that’s smooth and creamy without chunks of hazelnuts. Do not use homemade Nutella or anything where the oil sits on the top. When oil sits on top, it can cause the frosting to separate or become too oily or too dry because the amount of oil added varies.
Assembling the Cupcakes
Of course, you could skip the steps involved to stuff each cupcake with Nutella and simply make the chocolate cupcakes and decorate with Nutella frosting. But for the true experience, stuffing the cupcakes with Nutella is quite simple.
- Use a paring knife to cut a small hole in the top of each cupcake. I use the knife at about a 45 degree angle, pointed down. Only go about ⅓ to ½ into the cupcake. Do not cut all the way to the bottom of your cupcake, or it will fall apart. Remove the cone shaped piece of cake that you cut out.
- Spoon about 1-2 teaspoons of Nutella into the hole you created.
- Slice the pointed end of the cake cone off (so you just have a flat disc of cake), and place it back over the Nutella dollop.
- Then frost the cupcakes with the Nutella frosting. I used a piping bag with a 1M tip. You can also frost the cupcakes with a knife.
Pro Tip: The cupcakes must be 100% cooled before filling with Nutella and frosting. Otherwise the cupcakes can fall apart when you cut into them and the frosting can melt.
These incredible Nutella stuffed cupcakes are the perfect Nutella dessert. They’re moist and fudgy with lots of Nutella – thanks to the surprise when you bite in and Nutella frosting on top.
And for more Nutella treats, be sure to try:
- Nutella Cheesecake
- Chocolate Nutella Cookies
- Nutella Brownies
- Nutella Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies
Nutella Cupcakes
Equipment
- 2 12-cavity muffin pans
Ingredients
Chocolate Cupcakes
- 2 ounces semi-sweet chocolate (57 grams) finely chopped
- 1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour (156 grams)
- ½ cup cocoa powder (40 grams)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup vegetable oil (120 ml)
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar (136 grams)
- ½ cup brown sugar (105 grams) lightly packed
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- ¼ cup sour cream (60 ml)
- ½ cup milk (120 ml) 1%, 2% or whole milk - I prefer whole milk
Nutella Stuffing
- ⅔ cup Nutella (about 200 grams)
Nutella Frosting
- 1 cup unsalted butter (226 grams) slightly softened
- 3 - 3 ½ cups powdered sugar (330 - 385 grams) AKA icing sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup Nutella (about 225 grams)
- 2-4 tablespoons milk or cream (30-60 ml) 2%, whole milk, heavy creamy, whipping cream or table cream
- hazelnuts optional, for decorating
Instructions
Chocolate Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350F (180C) and line a 12-cavity muffin pan with muffin papers. You will end up with about 16-18 cupcakes in total, so you will need 2 pans.
- Add the finely chopped chocolate to a heat proof bowl. Microwave for 45-second intervals on medium power (not high power, which is typically the default). Stir between each interval until melted. Alternatively, melt in a double boiler over low heat. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. If the cocoa powder is lumpy, sift it first. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, granulated sugar and brown sugar until you no longer see clumps/lumps of brown sugar.
- Whisk the melted chocolate and vanilla extract into the oil and sugar mixture until smooth - you will still have granules of brown sugar, which is totally fine.
- Whisk the eggs into the oil, sugar & chocolate mixture. I always do this by hand, but an electric mixer on low speed works too. Be careful not to over mix if using an electric mixer.
- Whisk in the sour cream, followed by about ⅓ of the flour mixture.
- Then whisk about ½ of the milk into the bowl, followed by about ⅓ more of the flour mixture. Whisk in the final ½ of the milk, followed by the rest of the flour mixture until smooth.
- Spoon the cupcake batter into the prepared pans, filling each cupcake liner about ½ to ⅔ full. Do not fill ¾ full or to the top of the cupcake liner. If you only end up with 12 cupcakes in total, your liners are too full and your cupcakes can overflow and sink as they bake.
- Bake 1 tray of cupcakes in the middle of the preheated oven. They will bake for about 17-20 minutes, or until the tops look set and an inserted toothpick comes out clean or with a few muffin crumbs. A toothpick should not have muffin batter on it.
- Cool the cupcakes in pan for about 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire cooling rack to continue cooling.
Nutella Frosting
- In a large bowl, beat the butter until smooth and creamy.
- Add in 2 cups powdered sugar, vanilla extract and salt. Start with the mixer on a low speed, then gradually increase the mixer until medium speed.
- Then beat in the Nutella until smooth and creamy. Turn off the mixer and scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl as necessary.
- Beat in the rest of the powdered sugar about ½ cup at a time, alternating with a tablespoon of milk/cream until the desired sweetness and thickness is reached.
Assembling the Cupcakes
- Ensure that the cupcakes are 100% cooled. Use a paring knife, cut a cone shape into the top of each cupcake. Only cut about ⅓ to ½ of the way into the cupcake - do not cut to the bottom of each cupcake or the cupcakes will fall apart.
- Drop a spoonful of Nutella into each cupcake.
- Slice off the bottom of cupcake cone shape that you cut out, so that you have just a disc of chocolate cupcake. Place the disc shape of chocolate cake on top of the Nutella filling.
- Frost the cupcakes. I used a piping bag with a 1M piping tip.
Notes
- Chocolate: Semi-sweet or 50-60% dark chocolate work well for this recipe.
- Room Temperature Ingredients: The eggs, milk and sour cream should be room temperature before making the cupcakes. Take them out of the fridge about 30 minutes prior to making the cupcakes.
- Nutella: This recipe uses about ⅔ cup to stuff the cupcakes and ¾ cup for the frosting. A 13 ounce (375 gram) jar will not be quite enough Nutella to both fill and frost the cupcakes. You will need a 26.5 ounce (750 gram) jar for both the filling and frosting and will have leftover Nutella. If you don't plan to stuff the cupcakes, a 13 ounce (375 gram) jar will be enough for the frosting only.
- Make Ahead Tips: Make the cupcakes the day before you plan to serve. Cool fully, then store in an airtight container at room temperature overnight. Fill & frost the day you plan to serve. Fully cooled cupcakes can be frozen in an airtight container for up to 2 months. Then thaw in the fridge. Fill & frost once cupcakes are thawed.
- Storage: Store leftover cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, or up to 4 days in the fridge.
- Nutrition: Details provided are an estimate only and based on 1 cupcake with Nutella filling and frosting, assuming that the recipe yields 16 uniform cupcakes and that a full ⅔ cup is used for the filling and all the frosting is used.