Espresso Cupcakes | Cream Cheese Frosting

If you’re a fan of chocolate-covered espresso beans then you are going to LOVE these Espresso Cupcakes with Espresso Cream Cheese Frosting. Everything you love about coffee and cupcakes in the perfect little dessert treat.

Amp up the flavor of your cupcakes with these delicious and easy to make Espresso Cupcakes with Espresso Cream Cheese Frosting. Inspired by chocolate-covered espresso beans, these adult cupcakes have the perfect texture and sweetness.

Coffee Lover Cupcakes

Sometimes you need to kick overly sweet and sugar-laden cupcakes out the door! These little cupcakes are perfect for your next get together and are perfect for the coffee lover in your life.

My husband and adult family members all loved these cupcakes; they couldn’t get enough! However, truth be told, these are not for the kiddos. Perhaps they do like the coffee flavors, but with the addition of ground espresso and crushed chocolate-covered espresso beans, they may not be great for the littles.

I like to serve these at parties in addition to something sweet for the kids. If you are looking for a great cupcake that kids will love, be sure to check out my Strawberry Cupcakes or really surprise everyone with my awesome Giant Cupcake Cake.

How to make Espresso Cupcakes

These cupcakes pay homage to those espresso lovers in your life. Firstly, you must be sure to have chocolate-covered espresso beans. They do more than just garnish this cupcake. Crushed, they serve as the tasty texture component that really makes these cupcakes special. For this recipe, I used the dark chocolate beans, however the milk chocolate-covered espresso beans would work just as well.

To start, line a 12 cup muffin tin with cupcake liners. I used these pretty gold cupcake liners, but you can use whatever you have on hand. I would recommend using liners, as they give the treat a cupcake feel, rather than it just being a muffin.

Firstly, you will need to make the batter for the cupcake. This is a fairly standard batter with oil, sugar, and flour, but you don’t want to skip the addition of instant espresso granules. You can find them in the coffee section of most grocery stores or buy Medaglia D’Oro instant espresso coffee online, which is the brand I use for my baking.

Once the batter is prepared, fold in the crushed chocolate-covered espresso beans. To crush them, place in a ziplock bag and smash with a mallet, rolling pin, or heavy pan.

Use a muffin scoop to pour even amounts of the batter into the cupcake lined muffin tin. You could also make smaller bite-sized cupcakes using a mini muffin tin instead.

Bake for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cupcake comes out clean. Remove from pan and let cool on a wire baking rack. Meanwhile, make the espresso cream cheese frosting.

Espresso Cream Cheese Frosting

Keep the espresso flavor going with this simple espresso cream cheese frosting recipe. This simple-to-make frosting uses just a few ingredients and is the perfect way to top off espresso or any coffee-flavored cupcakes.

To start, use a handheld mixer to cream together the butter and cream cheese. Add in the powdered sugar, vanilla, and the instant espresso coffee. Mix until well combined.

Use a piping bag fitted with a star attachment to apply the frosting to the top of the cupcakes. Be sure not to frost the entire top of the cupcake; you want to leave some of the chocolate-covered espresso bean cupcake showing.

Lastly, top the cupcake with a chocolate-covered espresso bean! Simple and delicious, you are going to love this recipe. Comment below and let me know what you think.

Looking for more delicious adult-centered desserts? Check out some of these fan favorites:

• Amaretto Mascarpone Cheesecake
• Bourbon Pecan Banana Bundt Cake
• Limoncello Ricotta Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
• Cranberry Orange Spice Cake
• Amaretto Pound Cake

Hope you enjoy these recipes!

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5 from 5 votes

Espresso Cupcakes with Espresso Cream Cheese Frosting

Calling all coffee and cupcake lovers! Really showcase your love of coffee with this chocolate-covered espresso bean inspired cupcake.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American, Italian

Keyword chocolate covered espresso bean, espresso cream cheese frosting, espresso cupcake

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Servings 12 cupcakes

Calories 289kcal

Author angelakallison

Cost 8-10

Ingredients

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons instant espresso powder
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¾ cup milk (2% or whole)
• ¾ cup vegetable or canola oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• ¼ cup chocolate-covered espresso beans crushed

Espresso Cream Cheese Frosting

• 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
• ¼ cup butter, softened (half a stick)
• 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
• ½ teaspoon vanilla
• ½ teaspoon instant espresso powder
• 12 whole chocolate-covered espresso beans (for topping)

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin tin with 12 muffin liners; set aside.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, 2 tablespoons of instant espresso powder, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the vegetable oil, milk, eggs, and vanilla. Pour in the dry ingredients and stir to combine. Fold in the ¼ cup of crushed chocolate covered espresso beans.
• Use a muffin scoop to fill the cupcakes about three quarters full (you may have some leftover batter). Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cupcake comes out clean. Cool on wire baking rack completely before frosting.

Espresso Cream Cheese Frosting

• In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter using a handheld mixer. Add in the powdered sugar, vanilla, and ½ teaspoon of instant espresso powder. Mix to combine.
• Spoon frosting into a piping bag fitted with a star attachment. Pipe on frosting leaving about a half an inch of the cupcake top border showing. Top off with a chocolate-covered espresso bean.

Notes

Make these cupcakes ahead of time and store in a refrigerator for up to a week, or freeze for up to a month. Top with frosting before serving.