Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Nutella Buttercream

At least a few times per week, I walk by a cupcake truck on my way home from work. There is also a Crumbs Bake Shop just a few blocks away from my office building. Needless to say, I have definitely had my fair share of cupcakes over the past few months. Even though there are plenty of options for purchasing gourmet cupcakes in Boston, I always enjoy, and even prefer, making my own.

Chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting are often my go-to at cupcake shops. When I decided to bake last weekend, I considered testing out that flavor combination myself. Instead, I saw half a jar of Nutella and decided to use that instead. In the end, the Nutella frosting might have been my favorite part of the cupcakes. I often find frostings to be loaded with sugar and way too sweet. This frosting was light, airy and not overly sweet at all. It was the perfect pairing to the rich dark chocolate cupcakes. I highly suggest you use Dutch-process cocoa powder instead of regular unsweeteened cocoa powder for this recipe. It gives these cupcakes a rich chocolate flavor that is just perfect. I generally buy my Dutch-process cocoa powder from King Arthur Flour if you can't find it in stores. 

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Nutella Buttercream

Cupcake recipe from Annie's Eats, Nutella Buttercream recipe adapted from Handle the Heat

Cupcakes:

1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp Dutch-process cocoa powder

1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp hot water

2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup (2 sticks) plus 1 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 2/3 cups granulated sugar

3 large eggs, at room temperature

1 tbsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup sour cream

Frosting:

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1cup Nutella

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp milk

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two muffin pans with liners and set aside. 

In a small bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder and hot water until smooth. Set aside. In another large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. 

Combine the butter and sugar in a medium saucepan set over medium heat. Whisk until the butter has melted and the mixture is smooth. Transfer the mixture to an electric mixer. Beat on low speed until cooled, about 5-6 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing until combined after each addition. Add the vanilla and the cocoa mixture. Continuing mixing until fully incorporated. Add the dry ingredients in three additions, alternating with the sour cream. Mix until just combined.

Stop the mixer. Divide the batter between the prepared muffin cups. Bake for about 18-20 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let the cupcakes cool for a few minutes in the pans before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

While the cupcakes are cooling, start preparing the frosting. In a stand mixer, beat the butter and Nutella  until light and creamy, about 3-4 minutes. Add the vanilla extract and the milk. Mix until combined. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the powdered sugar.  Eventually increase the speed to medium-high and continue mixing until light and smooth.

Transfer the frosting to a piping bag fitted with a star tip. Frost fully cooled cupcakes.

Nutella Swirled Banana Muffins

I love a good piece of banana bread or a banana muffin as much as the next person. My boyfriend might even like them more than me. For this reason, I often find myself flagging recipes for banana bread, banana muffins and other banana treats. The problem is that I am not always patient enough to make them on a regular basis. For years I made banana bread and banana muffins that lacked any real flavor. I constantly ignored the recipes and used bananas that were bright yellow in color. The result? Dry and flavorless baked goods that were nothing like what I had hoped to make. The key is letting the bananas sit for days on the counter, long enough so that they are brown in color. If you are impatient like me, you can always put the bananas in a brown bag to speed up the process.

These muffins alone are worth the hassle of waiting for your bananas to turn brown. Trust me. And as if a banana muffin is not a good enough breakfast on its own, the nutella swirl really puts it over the top. Nutella and banana are such a great combination- I am already thinking about more recipes that could incorporate these two flavors together. 

Nutella Swirled Nutella Muffins

Recipe from the Novice Chef

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

4 very ripe bananas (brown in color), mashed

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 large egg

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 tsp vanilla extract

Nutella

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with liners and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  In another large bowl, whisk together the mashed bananas and sugars. Slowly beat in the egg and vegetable. Mix until fully incorporated. Add the vanilla extract. Gently fold the dry ingredients into bowl of wet ingredients and mix until there are no lumps in the batter.

Fill each muffin tin approximately 3/4 full. Top each muffin with about 1 tsp of Nutella. With a knife or toothpick, gently swirl the Nutella into the batter.

Bake for 15-17 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Allow muffins to cool completely on a wire rack.

Nutella Stuffed Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies with Sea Salt

As if starting a new job was not enough, I also moved into a new apartment just over a month ago. It has certainly been a busy month. Throw in a friend's wedding in Virginia and Easter weekend with the family, and you can see why there haven't been many blog posts recently. It's not that I have stayed out of the kitchen completely, just that I haven't had as much time to photograph and share the recipes that I make. But now that everything is starting to slow down, I finally have more time to dedicate to my blog and my love of sharing recipes. I wanted my first recipe back to be a good one and these cookies are just that. In fact, I have already made them three times since I first came across the recipe just a few weeks ago. That should come as no surprise given that brown butter is in the title. I just love the stuff. Can you blame me?

Brown butter, in addition to the nutella and sea salt, give these cookies so much flavor. I love the pairing of ingredients so much that I cannot help but make this recipe over and over again. It also might be the best smelling cookie dough that I have ever made. Seriously, I love the smell of brown butter just as much as I love the taste. If there was a brown butter scented perfume, I would probably buy it. Bath and Body Works, have your people call my people and we can make something happen. Until then, guess I can live with making these cookies everyday. 

Nutella Stuffed Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies with Sea Salt

Recipe adapted from Annie's Eats (originally adapted from Ambitious Kitchen)

1/2 cup Nutella

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp sea salt, plus more for sprinkling on top of cooled cookies

1 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk

2 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp plain greek yogurt

1 3/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Fill a small plastic bag with Nutella. Seal the bag and snip off one corner. Pipe small dollops of Nutella onto the baking sheet, about 1 1/2 tsp each. Repeat until you have about 20 dollops of Nutella. Transfer the baking sheet to the freezer and allow the dollops to set for at least 2 hours. 

Place the butter in a medium-sized skillet over medium heat. Allow the butter to melt completely. Continue to cook the butter, whisking constantly, until it bubbles and becomes brown in color. Removed the brown butter from the heat and allow it to cool completely.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and sea salt. Set aside.  In a stand mixer, combine the cooled brown butter and sugar. Mix on medium speed until light and creamy. Add the egg, followed by the egg yolk, mixing until fully incorprated. Add the vanilla and greek yogurt. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients. Mix until just combined. Stop the mixer and add the chocolate chips. Gently fold the chocolate chips into the cookie dough with a spatula. Allow the dough to chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.

Scoop cookie dough into balls, about 2 tablespoons in size. Make a small indentation in the cookie dough to make a bowl shape. Place a dollop of Nutella in the center and seal the edges to form a ball of cookie dough once again. Place prepared balls onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake for 13-14 minutes or until golden brown around the edges. Sprinkles the cookies with additional sea salt. Allow cookies to cool for a few minutes on the baking sheets before transferring them to a cooling rack to cool completely.