I have a cupcake addiction, along with many other food-related addictions. As such, I wanted a recipe that allows me to have cupcakes on the spot without having to put much effort in. I am assuming many of you want the same – hence my one-bowl Chocolate Hazelnut Cupcakes. Easy. Peasy. Lemon Squeezy.
Okay, technically this is a two-bowl recipe. I have to be honest with you. One bowl for the melted butter (and then the rest of the wet ingredients) and a larger bowl for your sifted dried ingredients + the wet ingredients. But I used a saucepan to melt my butter and then add the rest of my wet ingredients into it so technically I did only use one bowl!
If you are looking for a recipe with a cupcake base that is chocolatey without being too sweet than this chocolate cupcake recipe is the one for you! To add a little extra something I paired the cupcakes with a chocolate hazelnut buttercream.
ONE-BOWL FOR EVERYTHING
These cupcakes are a breeze to make because they do not require room temperature butter. Instead, we melt our butter and allow it to cool to room temperature before adding the rest of our wet ingredients (minus the coffee of course). In order to yield a more tender crumb (because melted butter technically makes cakes dense), I urge you to sift your ingredients. It doesn’t take that long and the final result is well worth it.
As for the chocolate hazelnut buttercream, I use my basic vanilla buttercream recipe which you can find here. To this, I add a couple of tablespoons of cocoa powder and Nutella to bring in the extra chocolate-hazelnut flavour. If you are a. genius like me then you should already have some vanilla buttercream (from previous recipes) just chilling in your freezer that you would need to finish. This makes the whole cupcake process even faster!
CHOCOLATE HAZELNUT CUPCAKES
One-Bowl Chocolate Hazelnut Cupcakes
Buttery chocolate crumb. Nutella frosting. Match made in heaven!
Ingredients
- 100 grams butter, melted & cooled (a little under 1/2 a cup)
- 1/4 cup milk
- 120 grams all-purpose flour (1/2 cup + 1/3 cup)
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
- 3/4 cups sugar (can reduce to 1/2 cup)
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/3 cup sour cream (can use Greek Yogurt)
- 1 egg (room temperature)
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 cup hot coffee or espresso (can just substitute hot water if you like)
Chocolate Hazelnut Buttercream
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp full cream
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder (may need to add a tablespoon more to achieve a darker colour)
- 3 tbsp Nutella (you may want to add more if you want a stronger flavour but see notes).
- 1 tsp vanilla
Instructions
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In a small saucepan melt your butter on low heat. Whisk in your milk and set aside to cool.
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Preheat your oven to 350F/180C. While butter is cooling, sift all your dry ingredients into a medium-sized bowl. Whisk to combine. Line a 12 tray cupcake man with liners.
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Whisk in the sour cream, vanilla and egg into your butter mixture until well incorporated. Make a small well in the middle of your dry ingredients and gently pour in the butter mixture. Using a spatula begin to combine your ingredients until most of the flour is incoporated. Your batter will look chunky and not well mixed. THIS IS OKAY. It should not look like cupcake batter (it will look more like dough).
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Immediately pour your hot coffee into the batter and begin to gently combine until the coffee has mostly incorporated into your batter. If there are small clumps that is fine. If you overmix your cupcake batter you will get dense, flat and chewy cupcakes.
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Divide the batter evenly into the trays (about 2/3 full). I only made 11 with the batter I had. Bake for 15-18 minutes. I suggest checking at 15 to see if a toothpick comes out clean/some crumbs. Leave to cool in the tray for 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire wrack to cool completely before piping.
Chocolate Hazelnut Buttercream
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Beat softened butter until pale and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the powdered sugar a 1/4 cup at a time. Add cream. Whip on high speed for 3 minutes. Then add cocoa powder and chocolate hazelnut spread beat until frosting is completely smooth and fluffy. Add a splash of vanilla and a pinch of salt to taste. If frosting feels too soft you can set it in the fridge for 10 minutes or add more powdered sugar for structure.
Recipe Notes
Buttercream Notes:
I added about 3 tbsp of cocoa powder to get a dark chocolate colour (and to balance out the sweetness of the Nutella). However, you can decrease the amount of cocoa powder and increase the amount of Nutella. Note that this will yield a light brown colour.
If you want to enhance the flavour you can add hazelnut extract in lieu of vanilla.
Using too much Nutella can yield a frosting that is quite soft, so you may need to play around with the ratios.
Cake:
If you want to make this into a cake, double the ingredients and divide the batter between tw0 6-inch cake pans. Baking time will need to be adjusted but aim for around 30 minutes and then go up in 5-minute increments. You can check out my other cake recipes for further details.
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ONE BOWL CHOCOLATE HAZELNUT CUPCAKES ARE SO EASY TO MAKE. YOUR WHOLE HOUSE SMELLS DIVINE WHEN THE CUPCAKES BAKE. THE BUTTERCREAM FROSTS BEAUTIFULLY AND HAS A NICE CRUST TO IT. THESE CUPCAKES CAN STAY COVERED AT ROOM TEMPERATURE FOR UP TO THREE DAYS OR A WEEK IN THE FRIDGE.
