Holiday Baking is Easy with Hazelnut Cupcakes

The holiday season is upon us; the turkeys are gobbling and the sleigh bells are ringing in the distance. The holidays are a time to get our fill of friends and family and lots of food, which makes it a great time to test out new recipes. As someone who loves to experiment with new recipes and flavors (at least new to me), I have been toying with a cupcake that satisfies your sweet tooth, your chocolate cravings, and tastes exactly like a good cup of hazelnut flavored coffee.

I came up with this idea because I had leftover Nutella. I used a basic vanilla cake recipe for the cupcake and then added Nutella to a buttercream recipe.

Basic Vanilla Cupcake Recipe

2 cups granulated sugar

4 eggs

2 ½ cups all purpose flour

1 cup whole milk

¾ cup vegetable oil

2 ¼ teaspoon. baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line cupcake tins with cupcake liners.
2. In a mixing bowl beat sugar and eggs together, with an electric mixer until slightly thickened.
3. Add flour, milk, oil, baking powder, and vanilla and beat for another minute, just until the batter is smooth and creamy. Make sure that you do not over beat or cupcakes will be tough.
4. Pour into paper lined tins and place in the oven to bake for about 25-30 minutes.
5. Once cupcakes are fully baked remove from oven and let cool and then frost with hazelnut buttercream.

 Hazelnut Buttercream

3 cups powdered sugar

1 cup butter (2 sticks)

1 teaspoon. vanilla bean paste

2 Tablespoons heavy cream

¼ cup Nutella

1. In a mixing bowl, beat butter until softened add vanilla bean paste and continue to beat.
2. Add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time until fully incorporated with butter.
3. Add heavy cream and Nutella until you get a frosting that is of spreading consistency. Fill a pastry bag and pipe onto top of cooled cupcakes.

I had some chocolate wafer straws, so I cut them in half and placed them into the cupcake and used some sprinkles I had in the cupboard. I'm not a big fan of coffee, but these cupcakes taste exactly like it and they were incredible.

If you find yourself too overwhelmed to worry about holiday baking this week, The Chopping Block is currently taking orders for our holiday pies for Thanksgiving. Choose from Pumpkin or Apple Pies for pick up at either of our locations next Tuesday or Wednesday. But hurry! Orders must be placed by 7pm next Monday, November 23.