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Fluffy Yellow Cupcakes with Nutella Buttercream Frosting are so festive and perfect for parties! A classic treat everyone will love!
Yellow Cupcakes with Nutella Frosting
Last weekend we spent some time exploring a new town not far from our own, and I was so excited to see there was not one, or two, BUT three cute bakeries on the same block! They were all a bit different – one was vegan, one was French (and super fancy), and one was old fashioned baked goods – but we decided to try a little treat from each. Sometimes you just gotta indulge, right? I loved everything we tried (no surprise there), but my favorite of the three was a perfect yellow cupcake we bought from the old fashioned bakery. It was moist, flavorful, and piled high with chocolate buttercream. I ate every single crumb! And when it was gone, I instantly felt inspired to try and recreate it at home.
After a few tries, I’ve found your new favorite yellow cupcake recipe! The base is so light, moist, and buttery – no dry yellow cake here. To make things even better, these perfect cupcakes get topped with a thick, creamy Nutella frosting that is just to-die-for. I seriously could not stop “taste-testing” it! I have a feeling once you take a little taste for yourself you’ll see why 😉
These cupcakes are basically heaven on earth!
The batter is so easy to make and comes together using a stand mixer in just minutes! The cupcakes bake for about 16 minutes, then cool in the tin for another 10 before making their way to a cooling rack. It is important, as always, to wait for the cupcakes to cool completely before slathering them in frosting. Waiting is hard, but totally worth it in the end 😉
The buttercream is also simple to make, and can be made in the stand mixer as well. If you don’t own a stand mixer, I suggest using a handheld beater for this process, as the butter really needs to be beaten until creamy, and that can be hard with just a whisk and elbow grease. Hard… but I don’t think impossible 😉 Just sayin’. xoxo
More Birthday Cake Recipes:
- Classic Yellow Birthday Cake with Nutella Buttercream Frosting
- Ultimate Funfetti Birthday Cake Recipe
- Yellow Cake with Creamy Chocolate Frosting
- Old-Fashioned Devil’s Food Cake
- Best White Cake Recipe
Yellow Cupcakes with Nutella Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients
For the Yellow Cupcakes:
- 5 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 large egg + 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup sour cream (I used Full-fat)
- 2 tablespoons milk (I used whole)
For the Nutella Buttercream:
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 cups powdered sugar, plus more if needed to reach a thicker consistency
- 2 1/2 tablespoons heavy cream
- Scant 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 1/4 cup Nutella
- Colored sprinkles, optional
Instructions
For the Yellow Cupcakes:
- Preheat oven to 350° (F). Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners and spray them lightly with non-stick spray.
- In a large bowl using a handheld mixer or in the body of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy; about 2 minutes. Add egg and then egg yolk, beat until combined. Beat in vanilla.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt; add to creamed butter mixture alternately with sour cream and milk, beating well after each addition.
- Fill prepared cups three-fourths full.
- Bake 16-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans for at least 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Spread with frosting once cooled.
For Nutella Buttercream:
- In the body of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment beat butter until creamy. Gradually add the sugar, then cocoa powder, and beat until combined (it make be craggily, that's ok). Add 2 tablespoons of the cream and beat until smooth. Beat in Nutella, and add additional powdered sugar (a 1/4 cup at a time) if the frosting looks too thin. Add additional cream if the frosting looks too thick, a tablespoons at a time. Spread evenly over cupcakes. Decorate with sprinkles if desired.
These cupcakes are moist, tender, and delicious. I will definitely make these again. I can’t speak on the frosting as I opted for lemon buttercream.
Hi, I’ve tried these out as cupcakes and absolutely LOVE them! I’m really hoping to bake this as a full cake for my daughter’s first birthday on June 11th. What size cake tin would you recommend for this quantity? Thanks so much in advance!
Does the sour cream and milk also need to come to room temperature before using them?
Já anotei esta receita e vou tentar fazer, aqui no Brasil não temos alguns ingredientes que vocês usam ai, mas mesmo assim vou tentar fazer porque estou com água na boca só de olhar, esta muito lindo deve estar delicioso!!! Beijossss!
These look so yummy!~ Probably my most favorite combination with a yellow cake and chocolate frosting! Cannot wait to try!
Yay! Hope you enjoy them, Jessica!
I used a boxed cake mix since I made these with my 4 yr old. I made the icing though and it was very good. I left it stiff as I piped the cupcakes, but I had to use at least 6 TBS of cream to get it to be workable. I probably added one more TBS of Nutella than the recipe stated because we so love Nutella at our house. I will definitely make this icing again. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Thank you for sharing your adaptions!
Ummmmm me parece delicioso!!!
For anyone who’s interested– I doubled this recipe and used it for a 3-layer, 6-inch cake for my birthday and it turned out AWESOME. Super buttery and flavorful, dense with a tight crumb, really moist. I put 1 cup of batter in each round and baked at 350 for 25-27 minutes. I had some batter left over so I made 5 cupcakes and they also turned out great! The cake is pretty dense, so make sure your ingredients are at room temp and don’t over-mix the batter. That will help it fluff up. 🙂 Thanks for the recipe!
So happy you enjoyed the cake, Tara! Thank you for sharing your tips, too 🙂
Best cupcakes I’ve ever had!!!
Yay! Thank you for letting me know, Sonny 🙂