Caramel Macchiato Chocolate Nutella Cupcakes

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These Caramel Macchiato Chocolate Nutella Cupcakes are a mouthful to say, but that mouthful is delicious! They’re incredibly moist and so full of flavor, they may be the best cupcakes I’ve ever concocted!

For another decadent dessert, you have to try my No Bake Nutella, Peanut Butter and Marshmallow Pie!

Caramel Macchiato Chocolate Nutella Cupcakes

You start by making a chocolate cupcake with espresso. And it’s not just any chocolate cupcake – it’s my favorite chocolate cupcake. And I don’t say that lightly.

Then drizzle some coffee glaze over the top of the baked cupcake. It’s not super coffee-y – more like a hint. Chocolate kind of covers up coffee flavors a bit. Which is why there’s a coffee glaze on top of the cupcake as well…bring it baby.

But before that comes the Nutella filling. Such a sweet, succulent surprise inside. The kind of surprise that makes you moan with delight. I heard it first-hand.

Top that with some of the best caramel icing EVER and then top that with the coffee glaze and you not only have a mouthful, but you have a party in your mouth, my friends.

The inspiration for these cupcakes from one of my favorite easy desserts to make – Caramel Macchiato Tiramisu Trifle with Nutella. It doesn’t look like much, but my goodness it’s moan-inducing. The flavor combination quite simply rocks. So I decided to cupcake-ify it.

The occasion was my co-worker’s birthday. There are only four of us in our office, so I like to make something for our birthdays. It gives me a reason to bake and someone to pawn it off on, so that I don’t have to eat it all – though I’d gladly have eaten all of these. This is the second year of the new tradition. Last year I made him this Peanut Butter and Chocolate Cake with Reese’s.

When I set out to make the cupcakes, I knew the caramel icing would be important to get right. I’ve made a couple caramel icings before, but I’ve never been totally satisfied with them.

This time I wanted to quite literally make caramel and add powdered sugar to it. How could you possibly mistake the caramel flavor when the icing’s made that way? I was a little short on time for experimenting though, so I went to one of my most trusted sources – Sally. I saw her Triple Salted Caramel Cupcakes earlier this year and have been dying to make the icing on them ever since.

I checked out the recipe to see how she made it and she read my mind (or maybe the other way around? 😉 )! Make caramel and add powdered sugar – just like I wanted! She’s brilliant, I tell you! And she makes the caramel with brown sugar, instead of white, which is my preferred way! I added a little more powdered sugar than I think she did, but only because I wanted it more pipable.

I know caramel can seem scary to make, but this recipe is pretty straight forward. If you follow the directions, it’s hard to screw it up. Really. Just don’t walk away from it. It only takes about 10 minutes to make, so stay with it and don’t let it burn.

So what do you think of the finished product? Pretty amazing if I do say so myself. I actually wish I still had one to eat right now…dangit.

Recipe

Caramel Macchiato Chocolate Nutella Cupcakes

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• Author: Lindsay
• Prep Time: 25 minutes
• Cook Time: 20 minutes
• Total Time: 45 minutes
• Yield: 24 Cupcakes
• Category: Dessert
• Method: Oven
• Cuisine: American

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Description

These Caramel Macchiato Chocolate Nutella Cupcakes are a mouthful to say, but that mouthful is delicious! They’re incredibly moist and so full of flavor, they may be the best cupcakes I’ve ever concocted!

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Ingredients

CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES

• 2 cups cake flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa powder
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 4 tbsp espresso powder
• 1 cup boiling water

CARAMEL FROSTING

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter
• 2 cups light brown sugar
• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• 7–8 cups powdered sugar
• 5–6 tbsp milk or cream

COFFEE GLAZE

• 2 tbsp espresso powder
• 6 tbsp warm water
• 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

ADDITIONAL

• about 1/4 cup Nutella
• chocolate sprinkles, for topping

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Instructions

BAKE THE CUPCAKES:

1. Put all dry ingredients in a large bowl and whisk together.

2. Add eggs, buttermilk and vegetable oil to the dry ingredients and mix well.

3. Add vanilla and espresso to boiling water and add to mixture. Mix well.

4. Pour into cupcakes pans and bake at 300 degrees for about 20-25 minutes.

5. When done, remove cupcakes from oven and cupcake tin and allow to cool.

MAKE THE FROSTING:

1. Melt butter in a saucepan.

2. Add brown sugar and heavy cream and whisk constantly over medium heat until sugar is dissolved.

3. Bring to a boil and allow to boil for 3 minutes, no more.

4. Remove from heat and allow to cool for about 15 minutes.

5. Transfer caramel to mixer bowl.

6. Mix in powdered sugar, beginning with 2 cups and increasing from there until you get the desired consistency. You can add a few tablespoons of cream to make the icing more creamy, if desired.

MAKE COFFEE GLAZE:

1. Dissolve the espresso powder in the warm water.

2. Add about 1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar to the espresso and whisk until smooth. Reserve remaining powdered sugar for later.

ASSEMBLE CUPCAKES:

1. Core the center of the cupcake. (I used the smaller corer from this set that I found at Home Goods, but you can just use a knife if that’s what you have)

2. Spread about a teaspoon of coffee glaze over the top of the cupcake and inside the hole you made.

3. Spoon a large teaspoon of Nutella into the hole in the cupcake.

4. Icing cupcakes with caramel frosting.

5. Add remaining cup of powdered sugar to coffee glaze to thicken it. Whisk until smooth.

6. Drizzle coffee glaze over the caramel icing, then top with sprinkles.

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Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1 Cupcake
• Calories: 531
• Sugar: 74.2 g
• Sodium: 229.6 mg
• Fat: 21.5 g
• Carbohydrates: 86.4 g
• Protein: 3 g
• Cholesterol: 44.9 mg

Enjoy!

This post linked to Lil Luna, Six Sisters Stuff, Inside BruCrew Life, I Heart Naptime, Chef In Training, Tidy Mom, What’s Cooking Love?, This Gal Cooks, Wine and Glue, Buns in my Oven, Shaken Together, Pint Sized Baker, Simply Sweet Home, Mandy’s Recipe Box, Simple Living and Eating, I Should Be Mopping The Floor, Table For Seven, Living Well Spending Less, Say Not Sweet Anne, Lambert’s Lately, Simply Gloria, Walking on Sunshine, Ashley’s Dandelion Wishes, Gingersnap Crafts, The Mandatory Mooch, Clarks Condensed, Flour Me With Love, Recipes For My Boys, We Do Fun Here and A Peek Into My Paradise.

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