Nutella Cupcakes

I came across this great recipe from Tartelette in honor or Nutella Day (February 5th).  I thought these sounded heavenly, sweet hazlenut, chocolate, and coffee mixed together and topped with a cream-cheese nutty frosting.  Yum.  I had to try them out.  These cupcakes are not only tasty, but make a great gift.  I modified this recipe just a tad, adding hints of vanilla into my recipe.

This recipe yields about 12 cupcakes--feel free to double (or triple) it if you'd like to make a big enough batch to give some away and keep some at home!


Ingredients


Cupcakes:

• 2/3 Cup Butter, unsalted
• 1/3 Cup Light Brown Sugar
• 1 Tbsp. Ground Coffee
• 2 Tbsp. Milk
• 1 tsp. Vanilla
• 1/4 Cup Nutella
• 2 Eggs
• 1 Cup All-Purpose Flour
• 1 tsp. Baking Soda
• 1/2 tsp. Salt

Frosting:

• 8 oz. Neufchatel or Light Cream-Cheese 
• 2 Tbsp. Butter
• 1 tsp. Vanilla
• 1/2 Cup Confectioner's (Powdered) Sugar
• 1/4 Cup Nutella

Directions:


Cupcakes:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Place 12 muffin liners in a muffin pan.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, and salt until well-combined.
3. With a mixer, combine the butter and brown sugar at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.  Reduce to low and add in coffee, milk, vanilla, and Nutella.  Once combined, add in the eggs, one at a time.
4.  Slowly add in the flour mixture until mixture is smooth. Note: The batter will be really fluffy and not the same consistency as most cake/cupcake batter (you didn't do anything wrong!). 
5.  Pour batter into muffin liners about 3/4 of the way full and bake for 20-25 minutes.  Cool completely before frosting.

Frosting:
1.  With an electric mixer, combine the cream cheese and butter until smooth.  Add in the vanilla, powdered sugar, and Nutella and mix on low until well-combined.

Decorating:
1.  Using a pastry bag with tips, frost the cupcakes and sprinkle with chocolate sprinkles, chocolate shavings, or mini chocolate chips!

Enjoy!