Chocolate and hazelnut is one of my favorite flavor combinations! Ferrero Rocher have always been my favorite chocolates and if you didn't know, that chocolatey goodness that's inside is Nutella. So if you ever wanted to eat a Ferrero Rocher in cupcake form, look no further than these chocolate hazelnut cupcakes with Nutella buttercream!
I don't know if I'm ashamed or proud to tell you that Kyle and I finished off all 12 of these chocolate hazelnut cupcakes in less than 24 hours. They're that good! So keep scrolling to see all of my tips and tricks!
Tips & Tricks
The secret to keeping these cupcakes light and moist (as well as adding awesome flavor) is hazelnut flour!
You can buy hazelnut flour at a lot of grocery stores and online (Bob’s Red Mill* is my favorite brand for nut flours) but you can also make it yourself to save a little money. Hazelnuts can be pricey so buying in bulk is always the best bang for your buck. Trader Joe’s has big bags of toasted hazelnuts that are much cheaper than elsewhere that you can easily use to grind up your own hazelnut flour.
Make Hazelnut Flour
If you have hazelnuts that are already toasted, wrap them in a kitchen towel and rub them until the skins fall off.
If you have raw hazelnuts, spread them out evenly on a cookie sheet and toast them at 325 degrees for about 5-10 minutes until the nuts are browned slightly. Then wrap in a towel and rub to remove the skins. Let the hazelnuts cool completely to room temperature before grinding.
Make sure both your food processor and the nuts are completely dry and room temperature. This is super important for making sure that you don’t turn your nut flour into nut butter.
Place clean hazelnuts in a food processor and pulse in 1-2 second increments for about 1 minute total, scraping down the sides of the bowl frequently to make sure they are ground evenly. Be careful not to over grind the nuts because, once again, you don’t want nut butter (unless you do, hazelnut butter sounds delicious).
You can also add a little bit of sugar to the nuts to help absorb the oils, but I prefer not to. The same process can be used for almond flour or any other nut flours!
I also like to add brown butter to these cupcakes! This is optional but the extra time is so so worth it! Browning butter gives it a toasty, nutty flavor that perfectly compliments the hazelnut flavor. But if you don’t feel like doing the extra step, melted butter works just fine in this recipe.
How to Make Brown Butter
- In a small saucepan, melt 1 cup (2 sticks) of butter over medium heat.
- Once melted, stir frequently and watch closely for the formation of brown specs on the bottom of the pan and a nutty aroma.
- Once you see brown specs, stir for just a few more seconds (it browns super quickly).
- Remove from the heat and immediately pour into a different bowl to prevent it from burning.
- Let it cool slightly (5-10 minutes) before using.
Decorating Tips
I got these cute cupcake liners* on amazon and I just love how they make my cupcakes look extra fancy.
To decorate all of my cakes and cupcakes, I use this Wilton Decorating Kit* and I love it! It’s super easy to use and has a ton of tips in different sizes. For these cupcakes, I used the 1M tip.
Make sure you let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting!! After frosting, garnish with chopped hazelnut pieces!
If you love chocolate and hazelnuts as much as me, you might also like these Chocolate Hazelnut Shortbread Cookies!
If you make this recipe, please leave us a star rating at the bottom of the page! This provides helpful feedback to both me and other readers. Happy baking!
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Chocolate Hazelnut Cupcakes with Nutella Buttercream
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 12 cupcakes 1x
Description
Ever wish you could eat Nutella in cupcake form? Now you can with these chocolate hazelnut cupcakes with Nutella buttercream! The secret? Hazelnut flour.
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- ½ cup unsalted butter, browned (or melted)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract (optional)
- ¼ cup brewed espresso or coffee, cooled
- ¾ cup cake flour (substitute all purpose flour)
- ½ cup hazelnut flour
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup buttermilk (substitute whole milk + 1 teaspoon lemon juice)
Nutella Buttercream
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
- ⅓ cup Nutella
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1-2 tablespoons milk
- chopped hazelnuts for garnish
Instructions
Cupcakes
- Brown the butter: In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Once melted, stir frequently and watch closely for the formation of brown specs on the bottom of the pan and a nutty aroma. Once you see brown specs, stir for just a few more seconds (it browns super quickly). Remove from the heat and immediately pour into a different bowl to prevent it from burning.
If you don’t want to use browned butter you can just used melted butter. - Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a 12 cup muffin pan with cupcake liners.
- In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or a large bowl with handheld mixer), mix together the brown butter and sugar until combined.
- Add in the eggs, vanilla extract, and almond extract and beat until just combined.
- Add in the espresso and mix until smooth.
- In a separate small bowl, mix together the cake flour, hazelnut flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Stir in about half of the flour mixture. Then stir in the buttermilk and the rest of the flour mixture and mix until fully combined.
- Pour about ¼ cup of batter into each muffin cup.
- Bake at 350 for 18-22 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
- Remove from pan and let cool on wire rack.
- Let cupcakes cool completely before frosting.
Nutella Buttercream
- While the cupcakes are cooling, make the frosting.
- In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, cream the butter until smooth.
- Add in the powdered sugar ¼ cup at a time until fully combined and smooth.
- Add in the Nutella, vanilla extract, and salt and mix until creamy.
- Add in milk 1 teaspoon at a time until desired consistency is reached.
- Frost cooled cupcakes. I used a Wilton 1M tip for these photos. Garnish with chopped hazelnuts.
Notes
Store un-frosted cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. Store buttercream in the fridge for up to a week.
You can store the frosted cupcakes at room temperature for 2-3 days. I don't recommend storing frosted cupcakes in the fridge as the cold cupcakes taste much more dense.
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cupcake
- Calories: 407
- Sugar: 26.7g
- Sodium: 201.5mg
- Fat: 27.2g
- Saturated Fat: 16g
- Carbohydrates: 36.5g
- Fiber: 1.8g
- Protein: 4.1g
- Cholesterol: 93.2g
Keywords: chocolate cupcakes, nutella cupcakes, chocolate hazelnut cupcakes, nutella buttercream, nutella recipes
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