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!Β 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!

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.

Caramel Macchiato Chocolate Nutella Cupcakes recipe

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.

Caramel Macchiato Chocolate Nutella Cupcakes!

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.

Caramel Macchiato Chocolate Nutella Cupcakes!

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.

Caramel Macchiato Chocolate Nutella Cupcakes!

I checked out the recipe to see how she made it and she read my mind (or maybe the other way around? πŸ˜‰ )! 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.

Caramel Macchiato Chocolate Nutella Cupcakes!

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.

Caramel Macchiato Chocolate Nutella Cupcakes!

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.

Print
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Caramel Macchiato Chocolate Nutella Cupcakes
Recipe

Caramel Macchiato Chocolate Nutella Cupcakes

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

Description

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


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
  • 78 cups powdered sugar
  • 56 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

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.

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

Filed Under:

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.

Other Delicious Desserts

Caramel Rolo Rice Krispie Treats

Caramel_Rolo_Rice_Krispie_Treats2

No Bake Nutella, Peanut Butter and Marshmallow Pie

Peanut Butter Nutella and Marshmallow Pie

Fudgy Brownies with Crunchy Butterfinger Crust

Brownies_butterfinger_crunch_crust1

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Cake with Reese’s

chocolate_peanut_butter_cake4

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65 Comments
  1. Heather

    This recipe looks awesome. Do you have any suggestion for making this cupcake boozy? I was thinking coffee liqueur but wasn’t sure if it would be too powerful with the espresso. Any thoughts?

    1. Lindsay

      If you replace some of the water with coffee liqueur, that would probably be fine. As for being too strong, that would totally be a preference thing. I could see it being delicious!

  2. Sarah

    This looks absolutely amazing! I can’t wait to give it a try. One question. I am not a fan of espresso, can a cup of coffee be used as a substitute? Thanks in advance, I look forward to trying some of your recipes!

  3. Tisha

    I found this recipe via Pinterest and attempted to make the cupcakes today. I have yet to attempt the icing because I had the same outcome as Ross. I must say that the taste of the cupcake is fantastic but mine did not look like those in the picture. Until I can improve the consistency of the cake I can’t justify making the icing which I can only imagine is as equally delicious πŸ™

    If anyone having this issue could provide some advice I’d greatly appreciate it because I absolutely love the flavor.

    1. lifeloveandsugar@gmail.com

      Hi Tisha! I use this chocolate cake as a cake and cupcakes all the time and while it can be a delicate cake, you just have to be gentle working with it. It’s very moist. It’s worth it since it’s such a great cake. That said, Ross wondered about using all purpose flour instead of cake flour and it definitely works as a one-to-one substitute if you’d like to try that and see if it’s easier to work with.

  4. Ross

    First time making a recipe from here, wanted to share my experience:
    Pros:
    Love the caramel – a lot easier than other recipes I’ve tried and really like the flavor.
    The finished product is a winner, if a little messy to eat.
    Cons:
    Personally, I found the cake itself to be very delicate and crumbly (although it was also very light and moist). I don’t know if this is just me, but I wonder if the use of cake flour over AP made them a little too delicate for coring nicely. I had a few where the top just kind of ripped off. Then again, I also overfilled the cups a bit and had some trouble getting them to release from the pan.

    Overall, this is a keeper recipe for me, but I might try tweaking it to get a cake with a little more structural integrity.

  5. David alex

    Que Dios te bendiga tienes unas manos benditas, me gustan tus postres! Saludos desde el pueblo de ChoronΓ­ en pleno Mar Caribe Venezuela.
    Sigue adelante!

  6. Nichole Newman

    These look great!! What kind of tip did you use for the frosting? I have wanted to try a technique like that, I just don’t know how to do it, or where to start!

    1. lifeloveandsugar@gmail.com

      It’s the Ateco 809 round tip. I hold the tip in the middle of the cupcake and let it spread outward as I squeeze out the icing.

  7. Ditya Nindya

    Hi Lindsay..first of all i’d love to admit im one of the biggest fan of your cakes cupcakes recipes..they’ve never failed and taste sooo good. So, i used to mix 80% shortening+20% butter for all your buttercream recipes, because i live in south east asia with a hot hot weather. Do you think i could use the same with this recipe?thanks a lot

    1. lifeloveandsugar@gmail.com

      Thank you so much for reading Ditya! I don’t know how shortening would do in this icing. I’m not sure it’d do well. I’m sorry. It might be worth a try though.

  8. Ema

    Hello! First of all, I love all of your recipes and I worship your blog as if it were a shrine.
    Now, I have a question about the caramel frosting; the way you make the caramel seems a bit peculiar. Honestly, I am terrified of make caramel. Which made me look into some videos on it, and they all add the heavy cream at the end in order to stop the cooking of the caramel… And also won’t brown sugar spatter more? I read that granulated sugar spatters the least… Again, I know nothing about caramel, could you please walk me through it? I really want to make these cupcakes for my friend’s birthday.

    1. lifeloveandsugar@gmail.com

      Thank you so much Ema! I’m so glad you like the recipes! πŸ™‚ I completely understand your fear of caramel, I used to feel the same way. I have made caramel with both brown sugar and granulated sugar and I much prefer the taste of caramel with brown sugar. I also find it much easier to make. If I recall correctly, the heavy cream is added at the end when using granulated sugar. I think that’s in large part because you basically brown the sugar first. Since brown sugar doesn’t need to be browned, you don’t have to wait to add the heavy cream. It also leaves less room for error. This version is really the simplest. And I’ve never had trouble with spattering with this caramel either. Just make sure you are watching and whisking the whole time. Once you’ve let it cool and it’s time to add powdered sugar, you can adjust the amount of powdered sugar if you want. It just serves to thicken it to your liking. I hope you enjoy the cupcakes – these are awesome! Just let me know if you have any other questions. Thanks! πŸ™‚

  9. Day 320 – Caramel Macchiato Chocolate Nutella Cupcakes | my year of cupcakes

    […] Macchiato Chocolate Nutella Cupcakes (recipe below from Life, Love & Sugar).Β  Yeah.Β  There’s nothing left for me to say.Β  […]

  10. Dawn

    These look delicious and I’m excited to try the caramel frosting. Just curious if 7-8 cups of powdered sugar is accurate for the caramel frosting~ seems like a lot. Thanks!!

    1. lifeloveandsugar@gmail.com

      These are so good!! You’ll love them! The amount of powered sugar is accurate. It sounds like a lot, but that’s the only thing in the icing that really gives it structure, thickness and volume. You can reduce the amount of powdered if you’d like a less thick icing, but you might need a little more of it to cover all 24 cupcakes. I hope that helps!

  11. Betsy | JavaCupcake.com

    These cupcakes…. oh my word. I seriously can not express to you how amazing these cupcakes look! That drizzle of glaze on top is perfect… the filling… the cake! So much yum happening here!

  12. Sarah

    Hi first can I say your recipes are amazing I’ve baked your snickers ice cream cake it
    Was fab!!! I’m from Ireland and we use grams or ozs would love to make cup cakes is there
    Any way you would have this recipe in those measurements ??
    Thanks Sara :*))))

    1. lifeloveandsugar@gmail.com

      Hi Sarah, I’ve been thinking about trying to add those measurements to recipes. I will try to get on that! Thank you, I’m so glad you enjoy the recipes πŸ™‚

  13. Baking News! | baking in pyjamas

    […] Caramel Macchiato Chocolate Nutella Cupcakes from Life Love and Sugar – Give me one of these and a fork and my sweet tooth would be very […]

  14. Diane Balch

    Just wanted you to know that your recipe is being featured today on Foodie Friday. I will be pinning and tweeting it this week too.

  15. shashi @ https://runninsrilankan.com

    Oh my – caramel, chocolate, nutella, coffee all in cupcake form! Pinch me I think am dreaming!
    Thanks for sharing

  16. Diane Balch

    Wow, wow, wow flavors I love and my son’s favorite nutella. Thanks for sharing your gorgeous cupcakes with us on foodie friday.

  17. Lindsey @ American Heritage Cooking

    Oh wow these look amazing! I would be lying if I said that I didn’t find your blog because of your name. I shamelessly clicked on your comment using the logic, “if her name is Lindsay, she must make delicious things.” So far this logic has never failed me! πŸ˜‰

    1. lifeloveandsugar@gmail.com

      Haha! Thanks Lindsey! I can’t lie, I’ve thought the same thing before. Surely I need to see what someone named Lindsay is up to! She must be wonderfully interesting and brilliant! πŸ˜‰

  18. Ashley | Spoonful of Flavor

    These look amazing, Lindsay! I could never say no to these cupcakes πŸ™‚ Pinned and sharing!

  19. Laura@baking in pyjamas

    I wish I had one to eat too, they look so indulgent and delicious. I’ll be featuring it on my blog later this week on a feature I do called baking news.

  20. Carrie @ Frugal Foodie Mama

    Wow… just wow. These cupcakes look beyond amazing! πŸ™‚
    Thank you so much for sharing at Marvelous Mondays this week! Pinned & sharing.

  21. Gloria @ Simply Gloria

    These are by far the most delectable (and gorgeous!) cupcakes I have seriously seen in a long time! I love the whole artistic way you did everything! Thank you for linking this recipe up today at the party…sharing it over in the corner of G+! (=

  22. J.nelly

    That sounds so amazing but seems a little complicated for an amateur like me! I would love to one day sink my teeth into them though- so maybe I’ll change my mind. Bottom line: you’re a rock star woman.

Lindsay
About Lindsay

I'm a wife and a mom to twin boys and a baby girl! And I've got a serious sweets addiction! Bring on the treats!

Scripture I’m Loving

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Matthew 11:28-29