Nutella And Vanilla Cupcake With Nutella Buttercream

If you’re a Nutella lover, then this is the cupcake for you! They’re really easy to make, and versatile, too. You can mix it up with different kinds of wafer cookies in the center, or even different kinds of cake. Maybe chocolate? Or hazlenut? Or even NUTELLA? Possibilities = endless. This will make anywhere from 18-24 cupcakes, depending on how much batter you put in each tin, really. I fill ‘em as close to top as I can without making them overflow while baking. You might play it safer. And that’s okay.

For the cupcakes you’ll need:

1 ½ sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1 ½ c. granulated sugar
3 eggs
2 t. vanilla
2 t. baking powder
½ t. baking soda
½ t. salt
1 1/3 c. whole milk
2 ½ c. all-purpose flour
24 bite-sized chocolate wafer cookies
a jar of Nutella 

For the buttercream and topping you’ll need:

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
2 c. powdered sugar
2 t. vanilla
¾ c. Nutella (or more, if you’d like, don’t be afraid to go your own way with it) 

Directions:

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees (F). 

Cream together the butter and sugar for the cupcakes, until fluffy. Add in the eggs, one at a time, and then the vanilla, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stop the mixer to scrape down the sides of the bowl to make sure everything is gettin’ all mixed up real nice. It should be creamy and fairly smooth. 

Add in the flour and the milk, a ½ cup at a time, alternating between the two. Once all combined, whip for a good 45 seconds to get everything all mixed and aerated. Scoop a heaping tablespoon of batter into paper-lined cupcake tins. Place a wafer (or two, if there’s room–if you’re gonna do it, might as well do it right) in each tin, and then top them with a heaping teaspoon of Nuttela. Scoop another heaping tablespoon of cupcake batter on top of that, smoothing it over the top and down around the edges of the wafer cookies. The tins should be about ¾ of the way full, maybe a smidge more. (By the way, don’t work with the batter too much while smoothing it over the Nutella because you don’t want to mix it in. You want there to be a gooey chocolatey blob of it in the middle of the cupcake. Trust me.)

Bake for about 24 minutes, until the cake sets and the tops and edges of the cupcakes turn golden brown. 

Allow to cool, then make the frosting!

Cream together the butter and the Nutella until well combined. It helps when both ingredients are at room temperature, because they blend better and there are less lumps. Then add the vanilla, and then the powdered sugar, a half cup at a time, until it’s all mixed in. Give it a taste and add more sugar or Nutella if necessary.