Ultimate Hazelnut Cupcakes; soft fluffy cupcakes studded with toasty hazelnuts, swirled with light chocolate hazelnut frosting and topped with crunchy hazelnut pieces.
Good day, fellow hazelnut enthusiasts.
This is a safe corner of the internet. Far away from life-threatening allergy sufferers, people who don’t like nuts, or those who berate Nutella for its various environmental missteps. You can relax here.
Here we bow to the cult of all things gianduia, praline and nocciola. We forget every other glorious nut that nature provided us with in favour of everything and anything hazelnut. If you haven’t been scared off yet, you’re exactly the kind of person who’ll be caught on these cupcakes.
Ultimate Hazelnut Cupcakes. These celebrate the nuts themselves, in all their bare glory. They won’t be overshadowed by chocolate or alcohol as they are in many other recipes – here they really shine. Fluffy brown sugar cupcakes with a plentiful handful of hazelnut pieces baked right into them. Whipped buttercream frosting with a gorgeously addictive balance of hazelnut, vanilla, and chocolate stirred through. And, of course, a wee sprinkling of hazelnut pieces to crown these little beauties.
Love hazelnuts? Try out this Chocolate Hazelnut Gelato recipe!
Crunchy, fluffy, smooth, all in one mouthful. Nothing too rich, nothing too sweet, and just the right amount of heady hazelnut flavour. While we have plenty of Maverick Baking recipes that revolve around these nuts already, most are paired with an equally heavy chocolate or coffee flavour. This recipe was one that I wanted to highlight hazelnuts alone.
You’ll find these ideal for any time of year. They don’t heave with dense winter flavours, or leave you longer for more as some summery desserts can. You’ll also find them simple to whip up, with an all-in-one cake method and a simple 4-ingredient frosting.
No need to dig out some fancy 1970s-style hazelnut liqueur, or any synthetic flavourings. Whole hazelnuts and widely available Nutella will make you a batch of 12 perfect cupcakes. If you don’t partake in Nutella, for whatever reason, you can easily swap this out with any brand of hazelnut spread or even with some of this incredible praline paste (which I cannot recommend enough!). Otherwise, grab yourself a cupcake tray and some cupcake cases and you’ll be all set to make these Ultimate Hazelnut Cupcakes!
Want to save these Ultimate Hazelnut Cupcakes for later? You can pin the image below!
To make these Ultimate Hazelnut Cupcakes, simply follow the recipe below!
Ingredients
For the hazelnut cupcakes:
- 200g (1 ¾ cups) self-raising flour
- 200g (13 ½ tbsp) soft salted butter/margarine
- 180g (1 cup, not packed down) soft light brown sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 100g hazelnuts, chopped into small pieces
For the hazelnut frosting:
- 220g (14 ½ tbsp) soft salted butter
- 250g (2 cups) icing sugar
- 100g (6 tbsp) Nutella
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Handful of hazelnuts to decorate
Instructions
For the hazelnut cupcakes:
- Preheat your oven – 180°C / 160°C fan / 350°F / gas mark 4 – and line a 12-hole cupcake or muffin tin with some paper, foil or silicone cases.
- In a large bowl, beat all the cupcake ingredients together until smooth and combined. This is best done with an electric whisk or stand mixer but can also be done by a good old wooden spoon!
- Spoon the mixture evenly between the 12 cases and bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes until risen and springy to touch.
- Allow the cakes to cool completely in their tins.
For the hazelnut frosting:
- Place all your frosting ingredients (except the decorative hazelnuts) into a large bowl and beat together until combined.
- Beat the icing vigorously until fluffy and noticeably lighter in colour.
- Once nicely whipped up, either spread or pipe your icing onto your cooled cupcakes.
- Top and decorate the cupcakes with some hazelnuts, or whatever you like.
- Enjoy!
BE A MAVERICK: why not throw some white chocolate chips into the cupcake batter before baking for a sweet chocolatey lift?
These Ultimate Hazelnut Cupcakes will keep well in an airtight container or covered cake stand for up to 3 days. No need to refrigerate, unless you live somewhere warm or have a preference for cold cake!
