One Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes with Nutella Cloud Frosting

Gah, I love that it takes me roughly three months to write a new blog post. I know, I'm just #thatawesome. Actually it's legit been crazy busy around here. Since my last post this has happened: 

• Josh moved back from his internship stint in Virginia
• Josh graduated from Chiropractic School
• I visited San Francisco
• Holiday Inn hit 100,000 fans on Facebook
• Josh completed his last board exam! #woot
• My cousin's 1st Holy Communion

We've had family & friends in and out of town to celebrate the various goings on so we've been taking time to really hang back and enjoy life. Too often we, get caught up in trying to stick to a strict schedule, or participate in EVERYTHING going on around us. But lately it's been nice to sit back and relax for a little while. 

So these cupcakes were a celebration of all the things that we've accomplished as of late.

Oddly, this was the smallest batch of cupcakes that I've ever baked. The recipe made a grand total of nine. That's right...nine cupcakes. I should have known when I was reading through the recipe that the dimensions were all really small, but of course I didn't. The great thing is that the recipe can be easily multiplied without having to do "higher" math. Or you could just keep the recipe small and simple, as is.

I made these cupcakes to celebrate the Holiday Inn Facebook wall milestone of 100k fans. Which may seem odd, but seeing as I know the gal that manages the page, I think it's quite appropriate!

The great thing about these cupcakes is that they're beyond easy to make, and you can keep your dirty dishes down to a max of two mixing bowls. #score

The cake is super chocolate-y and moist thanks to the addition of brewed espresso in the batter and the frosting is exactly as it sounds. Nutella cloud goodness. You must try some. today.

One Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes

Adapted from: Sweetapolita

3/4 Cup All-Purpose Flour

3/4 Cup White Sugar

1/4 Cup Dark Cocoa Powder

3/4 teaspoon Baking Soda

3/4 teaspoon Baking Powder

3/4 teaspoon Cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 Cup Buttermilk

1/4 Cup Brewed Espresso (hot)

3 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil

1 Egg, room temp

2 teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract

Preheat the oven to 350 and line cupcake pan with cupcake liners.

Sift all dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl (if using a KitchenAid, use the paddle attachment) and stir together.

Add all remaining ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients and mix for 2 minutes on medium speed.

Pour batter into cupcake molds and bake for 15-17 minutes (I found 15 minutes to be the perfect time). Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then let them completely cool on a wire rack for 20-30 minutes.

Nutella Cloud Frosting

1 Cup Unsalted Butter, softened

1 1/2 Cups Powdered Sugar

2 teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract

3/4 Cup Premium Bittersweet Chocolate, melted but cool (I used Scharffen Berger)

1/3 Cup Nutella

1 Tablespoon Milk

Pinch of Salt

Beat the powdered sugar and butter on low speed for 1 minute (if using a KitchenAid, use the paddle attachment).

Add vanilla, and beat on low until combined. Then slowly pour in the melted and cooled chocolate and beat on medium speed until smooth (about two minutes).

Add the Nutella, milk and salt and beat on medium-high for another minute.

Taste the frosting...you know, just to make sure it's cupcake worth :)