Have I already told you that I’m a sucker for a vanilla cupcake? Well this takes my love for vanilla to a whole new level. The vanilla bean extract adds the best vanilla flavour, and those little black dots from the beans. These cupcakes are tender and soft, and hold up great to a spoonful of frosting. Is there any other way to have your cupcake frosted? I love that this recipe makes 12 cupcakes because I don’t have to worry about filling 2 more cupcake liners after my first batch comes out, and its less cupcakes for me to have lying around my apartment. This Nutella frosting is light and fluffy and so creamy, which I wasn’t expecting since nutella is so thick on its own. The frosting was a huge hit – it went perfectly on top of the vanilla cupcakes. I highly urge you to use heavy cream while making the frosting to get the creamy softness. You won’t be able to get enough of these cupcakes – trust me and try them for yourself!
What You’ll Need
- Stand Mixer
- Medium Bowl
- Cupcake Pan
- Wire Cooling Rack
- 1 and 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter - melted
- 2 egg whites
- 1/4 cup vanilla greek yogurt
- 3/4 cup milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste, or vanilla extract
- 1 cup unsalted butter - softened to room temperature
- 2 cups icing sugar
- 3/4 cup Nutella
- 3-4 tablespoons heavy cream
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line your cupcake pan with liners and set aside.
- In a medium bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt - set aside.
- Using your stand mixer mix the melted butter and sugar together, the mixture will be gritty.
- Add the egg whites, greek yogurt, milk and vanilla bean extract and mix until well combined.
- Slowly beat in the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until no lumps remain - the batter will be thick.
- Fill all 12 cupcake liners evely and bake for 18-19 minutes - do not bake longer than 20 minutes.
- Allow to cool on a wire rack before frosting.
- Using your stand mixer beat softened butter on medium speed for 4-5 minutes until smooth and creamy.
- Add 2 cups of sifted icing sugar - to make sure its not lumpy - and continue to beat on medium speed - the mixture will be fairly thick.
- Beat in the Nutella and continue to beat on medium speed.
- Add 3 Tablespoons of heavy cream and the vanilla extract.
- Beat for 2-3 minutes on medium speed until you reach the consistency you desire.
- Frost your cupcakes and enjoy!
- I piped mine with the Wiltons 1M.
- If the frosting is too thick, add more heavy cream - 1 tbsp at a time.
- If the frosting is too thin, add more icing sugar - about 1/4 cup at a time.
