Ooooh…..do you sometimes crave a brownie AND a cupcake? Taste and Tell has just the thing to quench that craving with these brownie like cupcakes made with chopped hazelnuts topped with a hazelnut flavored buttercream. Now you can have the best of both worlds!
Hazelnut Brownie Cupcakes
Makes about 12 cupcakes
Ingredients
For the Cupcakes:
- ¾ cup chocolate chips
- ¾ cup butter
- 3 eggs
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup flour
- ½ cup chopped Diamond hazelnuts
For the Buttercream:
- ½ cup butter
- ½ cup chocolate hazelnut spread
- 1¼ cups powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- milk, as needed
- chopped Diamond hazelnuts, for topping
Directions:
To make the cupcakes:
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Line 12 muffin tins with paper liners.
- In a microwave safe bowl (or in a small saucepan over medium heat), melt the chocolate chips and butter together.
- In another bowl, whisk together the eggs and the sugar. Stir in the chocolate mixture and the vanilla. Fold in the flour and then the hazelnuts.
- Divide the mixture evenly between the 12 muffin tins. Bake in the preheated oven until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 20-25 minutes. Cool completely.
To make the buttercream:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and hazelnut spread together until smooth. Add in the powdered sugar, vanilla and salt and continue to beat until light and fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Add milk as needed to thin out the buttercream to reach your desired consistency.
- Pipe the buttercream onto the cupcakes and top with chopped hazelnuts.
