Nutella Buttercream Frosting

Nutella Buttercream Frosting is sweet and fluffy and deep and nutty. Spread it on cakes, brownies, or cupcakes to add a deep, rich flavor that's absolutely awesome.

There are basically two kinds of people in the world. There are those people who scrape most of the frosting off their grocery store birthday cake, smugly proclaiming "It's just too sweet." Then there are the people who will elbow you in the ribs or trip you to get a corner piece with the extra billows of piped frosting around the edge, or one of those precious center pieces with the extra thick bands of rainbow-colored frosting. Nothing is too sweet for them. Sugar is life.

I'm sure you can tell which camp I'm in. Sadly, I now live in a country with very few grocery store birthday cakes with their perfect shell-piped borders and elaborate cursive script. So these days I make my own frosting and pile it on, but it's never the same as having a cake appear in front of you with your name on it. Which frosting team are you on?

What makes this Nutella Buttercream Frosting so awesome?

This fluffy Nutella Buttercream turns your basic frosting into something truly awesome by incorporating your favorite chocolate hazelnut spread. It's like chocolate frosting's dark and mysterious friend who you're just dying to get to know. There's something so deep about the flavor. It's hard to describe. I guess you'll just have to try it.

This frosting recipe is obviously great to pipe on cupcakes, but you could also use it in a layer cake or a rectangular cake. It's a great way to elevate a box cake mix. I think this would also be fantastic piled on top of some brownies to really take them to the next level. You could use this frosting as a filling for sandwich cookies. Pair it with chocolate cake, vanilla cake, strawberry cake, whatever you want. It's all awesome.

Make it magical

Chocolate carries the energy of prosperity, positive energy, happiness and love. Hazelnut can be used to call in wisdom, luck, fertility, and inspiration. It can even be used in spells for granting wishes. I think that makes this the perfect birthday or celebration spell. Stick a candle in your cloud of frosting, and no matter what is wished for, these two ingredients can help amplify that positive energy and draw it to everyone who eats it.

For full details on the magical properties of the ingredients in this recipe, check the Kitchen Magick page.

Ingredients

Here's everything you'll need to make this recipe. All the details are in the recipe card below.

• Butter - unsalted and room temperature
• Nutella - or your favorite chocolate hazelnut spread
• Salt
• Vanilla extract
• Powdered sugar - aka confectioner's sugar or icing sugar
• Cream - or whole milk or half and half, whatever you got

Tips for making Nutella Buttercream Frosting

Making frosting is super easy, especially if you have a stand mixer. It handheld electric mixer would also work. You want to make sure that your butter is soft, but not too soft. If you press your finger into it, it should leave an indentation but still have some resistance. You don't want it to be droopy and gloopy, otherwise it won't be stiff enough to pipe.

Add your butter and Nutella to your mixing bowl and beat this together on medium speed for about five minutes to incorporate and work in some air. This will give you a fluffy frosting. Then you'll start working in your powdered sugar. I like to add it about a half cup at a time. I also put a tea towel over my stand mixer to keep the powdered sugar from flying all over the kitchen. It's not a perfect solution, but it's better than nothing.

Finally, you'll add a pinch of salt and vanilla extract to boost the flavor. The work in your cream or milk a tablespoon at a time until you get your ideal consistency. Then all that's left to do is apply it to your cooled cake or other baked goods. You can simply spread it or pipe it. It will be thick enough to hold a good shape.

You're gonna want to put this Nutella Buttercream Frosting on just about everything. I'm not gonna stop you. Make it awesome.

Looking for more awesome Nutella recipes? Try these easy Nutella Cheesecake Parfaits or some hearty Nutella Oatmeal.

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Recipe slightly adapted from My Baking Addiction.