Coffee Cupcakes with Coffee Buttercream
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Who doesn’t love a couple of good coffee recipes? These coffee cupcakes with coffee buttercream are downright delicious. They’re the ultimate for coffee lovers: coffee-infused cupcakes filled with whipped mocha ganache and topped with coffee buttercream. Seriously.
If you missed my previous coffee recipes, there are the coffee syrup, coffee cookies, and coffee jello shots. The jello shots will knock your socks off.
Don’t forget the most adorable Clear 4 Oz Espresso Cappuccino Mugs to put the shots in. It makes them. Trust me, people will drive you crazy asking for the recipe and where they can find the little mugs.
The coffee cupcakes themselves are soft and spongy. Coffee has been infused into them, but these cupcakes are sensational because they are filled with whipped mocha ganache and topped with incredibly rich coffee buttercream. I love chocola
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Homemade – You have a chocolate coffee cupcake made from scratch and the chocolate ganache and coffee buttercream frosting.
Customize – Feel free to adjust the ingredients or the intensity of the coffee flavor to your preference. You can also decorate the cupcakes to fit the occasion.
Birthday Approved – If you want to make a cupcake that stands out for a birthday bash, these coffee cupcakes are approved for a birthday party!
Ingredients
See the recipe card at the bottom of the post for all ingredients and quantities.
Vegetable Oil: Use a neutral tasting oil like vegetable oil, canola oil, or avocado oil. This helps keep the coffee cupcakes moist.
Sugar: Granulated sugar is the sweetness for the cupcakes, and it helps to create a tender texture.
Instant Coffee: The coffee is used to infuse the batter. Coffee will also richen the chocolate flavor as well.
Sour Cream: Sour cream adds an excellent tangy component and moisture to the cupcakes.
Semi-sweet chocolate: Ganache is typically pretty sweet, so semi-sweet chocolate is an excellent chocolate flavor to use.
Substitutions and Variations
- Caramel: Drizzle the top of the frosting with some caramel and even sea salt to make more of a caramel macchiato-flavored coffee cupcake!
- Chocolate Chips: Add chocolate chips to the cupcake batter for an extra pop of sweetness. You can keep the ganache or swap it out for chocolate chips.
- Ganache: Leave the ganache out of the recipe, and don’t fill the cupcakes; serve them with just frosting on top if you would like.
- Hazelnuts: Hazelnut pairs well with coffee, so add some chopped hazelnuts to the cupcake batter for an excellent crunch option.
NOTE: This recipe has not been tested with other substitutions or variations
How to make Coffee Cupcakes with Coffee Buttercream Frosting
Make the Coffee Cupcakes
First let’s do our prep work of preheating the oven and lining our cupcake pans with paper liners.
Step 1: Whisk the wet ingredients into a large bowl until the eggs and sour cream are well incorporated.
Step 2: Whisk the dry ingredients into the wet until the batter is smooth. It will be quite liquidy.
Step 3: Fill the cupcake liners 3/4th full with the cupcake batter.
Step 4: Place in the preheated oven and bake.
Make the Mocha Ganache
Step 5: Stir together the heavy cream, chocolate chips, and instant coffee granules in a microwave-safe bowl.
Step 6: Microwave the ingredeints in 30-second intervals and stir after each interval until the mocha ganache is smooth and creamy.
Step 7: Let the ganache cool in the fridge until thickened. Whip with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add the whipped mocha ganache into a disposable piping bag fitted with a large round tip.
Step 8: Cut the centers out of the cooled cupcakes making sure not to cut all the way through the cupcake. Pipe the whipped ganache into the centers of the cupcakes.
Make the Coffee Buttercream Frosting
Step 9: Add the coffee frosting ingredients into a large mixing bowl and beat until whipped to a light and fluffy consistency with an electric mixer.
Step 10: Add the frosting to a disposable piping bag fitted with a Wilton 1M piping tip and pipe tall swirls of frosting on top of the cupcake and ganache.
Tips and Tricks
How to Store and Freeze
You can store the cupcakes at room temperature for 2 days or refrigerate them for up to 4-5 days to extend their life.
For freezing the cupcakes can be frozen for 2-3 months in a freezer bag or freezer container. Then, thaw them on the counter or in the fridge when you are ready to eat them.
Recipe FAQs
Feel free to make the cupcakes a day before you plan to serve them. Keep them in a covered container so they don’t dry out.
You won’t be able to get enough flavor in your coffee cupcakes with the small amount of liquid that can be added, so it’s not recommended. You can however use espresso powder.
Swap the sour cream with a plain Greek yogurt if you would like. You need the moisture to help create fluffy and moist cupcakes. So you have to swap the sour cream out with a yogurt.
More coffee desserts you’ll want to try:
This post was originally published December 30, 2015. It’s been updated with more information and new images.
If you try this recipe, be sure to leave a rating below and also share it on Instagram, and tag me! You can also find me on Facebook and stay up to date on recipe releases by joining the Newsletter!
Coffee Cupcakes with Coffee Buttercream
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Ingredients
Cupcakes
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- 2 1/2 tablespoons instant coffee
- 3 teaspoon water
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Ganache
- 1 cup milk chocolate chips
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon instant coffee
Buttercream
- 1 cup butter, room temperature
- 3 tablespoons instant coffee
- 3 teaspoons water
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 14 chocolate covered espresso beans for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place cupcake liners in your cupcake pan and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, add in the vegetable oil and granulated sugar. Mix until incorporated.
- Add the vanilla and eggs into the sugar mixture. Mix on medium until the eggs become pale. (about 1 minutes)
- In a small bowl, add in the instant coffee and water. Stir until all the granules are dissolved. Add into the large bowl.
- Add the sour cream into the bowl with the remaining wet ingredients. Mix until the sour cream in incorporated.
- Add in the baking powder, baking soda, salt and flour. Mix just until the flour is incorporated. The batter won’t be super thick.
- Scoop the batter into the prepared cupcake pans.
- Place into the preheated oven for 18 – 20 minutes or until done. Add a toothpick to the center of the cupcakes, if it comes out clean or with moist crumbs, it’s done. If it still has batter on it, let it bake awhile longer.
- Set aside to let cool.
Ganache
- In a microwave-safe bowl, add in the milk chocolate chips, heavy cream and instant coffee. Stir to combine.
- Microwave for 1 minute. Stir until everything combines and becomes smooth.
- Place in the fridge for about an hour to cool down and thicken.
- Remove from the fridge and whip with a hand mixer until it lightens in color and becomes fluffy.
- Remove the centers of the cupcakes, but be sure not to go all the way through them. Leave a bottom so your ganache doesn’t fall out.
- Add the whipped ganache into a piping bag or sandwich bag. Pipe the ganache into the center of the cupcakes. You can add a small mound above the cupcake for a surprise center of the buttercream. There should be some left over after filling all the cupcakes depend on how big of a hole you’re filling.
- Set aside.
Buttercream
- In a large mixing bowl, add in the butter. Mix with the hand mixer to get the butter blended.
- In a small bowl, add the instant coffee and water. Mix until all the granules are dissolved.
- Add the coffee mixture and powdered sugar in with the butter. Mix until it comes together.
- Add in the milk and continue to mix for about 2 minutes. It will make the buttercream light and fluffy.
- Place the buttercream into a piping bag with a straight tip. Pipe swirls on the tops of the cupcakes.
- Top each cupcake with a chocolate covered espresso bean.
- Serve!
Notes
Nutrition
(Nutrition facts are an estimate and not guaranteed to be accurate. Please see a registered dietitian for special diet advice.)
Oh my goodness!! Heavenly flavor, love everything about this recipe. I usually will change something but not with this one. I shared the cupcakes with 6 of my neighbors and they were all wanting more. Their responses were “seductive”, “heavenly”, “moist”, “delectable”. This is my #1 go to recipe now for any cupcake request I get. Thank you, Thank you for sharing! Definitely a Winner 🙂
SO glad it was such a hit!
These look beautiful and ii’m sure they will taste good too . Just wondering how you managed the heart shape with the ganache . TIA
Hi there! Can’t wait to make these for my grandma’s birthday. I just want to ask how much batter should I put into each cupcake? Thanks a lot! 🙂
Fill it a little over 1/2 way up on the cupcake liner.
Can i substitute instant coffee with fresh brewed espresso instead? Would it be the same measurements as well?
You can as long as you use the same amount as the 2 1/2 tablespoons of coffee granules and 3 teaspoons of water yields.
How many cupcakes will it make? I wanted to do a stacked cake!
14 cupcakes
Hi!
If I wanted to make a larger serving size for these amazing looking cupcakes, what would I need to do? Would you happen to know by any chance? I know it says 14 cupcakes but I was aiming to go for maybe ~50-60 for a family event!
Thank you!
Very upset with the ganache it never thickened and would not whip up. I followed your directions. What went wrong? Terribly disappointed.
Hi Nance. I’m sorry you’re disappointed. It may have needed longer to set up. It should have been pretty thick without chilling. If you made the recipe today and still have the ganache on hand, place it in the fridge overnight and whip it up tomorrow morning. It will probably need to be warmed slightly before whipping. I would say 20 – 30 seconds so it isn’t a hard dense hunk of ganache. You’ll want it incredibly thick but pliable.
The longer I stay at your blog, the hungrier I get. Is there a correlation here, Miranda? 😉 I think so! Lol. These cupcakes pretty much combine everything that’s delicious in the world: cupcakes, coffee, chocolate. *Happy sigh* What more do you really need? Love that you also have so many other coffee recipes on the site. Score for coffee lovahs! 😉
I made these yesterday & what a hit! I just wanted a subtle coffee flavor so I did cut that in half in the buttercream & cupcakes. I couldn’t find chocolate covered espresso beans anywhere (maybe next time I’ll order online) so just garnished with a piece of a pirouette cookie & another drizzle of ganache. So beautiful & delicious! Thanks so much for this great recipe. I look forward to trying some others from your blog soon 🙂
These coffee cake cupcakes sound sooo good. Will be making some of these real soon.
Thank you Sharon! I look forward to hearing how they came out for you!