Fluffy Nutella Buttercream Frosting
Dessert is beautiful in many, many ways, but in our house, we especially appreciate its ability to bridge the divide between my vegetarianism and his carnivorous diet. Because unless we’re putting lard in our pie crusts or sprinkling bacon on our ice cream (and even my bacon-loving guy isn’t really on board with the bacon-in-desserts thing), dessert is naturally vegetarian. No need for our usual fork-in-the-road recipes, which really isn’t such a bad way to live, but there’s something fun about being able to nosedive simultaneously into, for instance, the same Fluffy Nutella Buttercream frosted cupcakes.
Nutella in buttercream form. Pure heaven. After all, if dessert is beautiful, Nutella is pure divinity. People write poems about it. And there’s even a holiday to celebrate it!
This fluffy, light buttercream combines your traditional buttercream ingredients, butter and powdered sugar, with a nice dose of Nutella. A little vanilla adds a perfect note, and a good pinch of kosher salt rounds out the sweetness while also highlighting that delicious chocolate-hazelnut flavor that’s uniquely Nutella. And lastly, it’s got heavy whipping cream, which I love, love, love adding to my buttercream recipes. It gives an otherwise heavy frosting such a wonderfully airy texture.
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In this case, I topped basic vanilla cupcakes (from the same vanilla sponge cake recipe I used for my Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes) with the stuff. Pure, simple perfection. It’d also be magical atop banana cupcakes, or maybe even sandwiched between two peanut butter cookies.
Dessert – especially this one – is a beautiful thing indeed.

Fluffy Nutella Buttercream Frosting
This fluffy – and super easy – buttercream frosting recipe features everyone’s favorite chocolate-hazelnut spread, Nutella. Pure perfection. One batch of this buttercream should be plenty to frost one standard-sized layer cake or generously top a dozen cupcakes.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2/3 cup Nutella or other chocolate-hazelnut spread
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Pinch kosher salt (up to 1/4 teaspoon, to taste)
- 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
Directions:
- In a stand mixer afixed with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and powdered sugar on low until well-blended. Add the Nutella and increase the speed to medium. Beat for two minutes.
- Add the vanilla extract and salt and whip for an additional 30 seconds.
- Add the whipping cream and beat for about one minute, until the frosting lightens slightly in both color and texture.
I made this frosting today…modified the measurements to fit what i had on hand…added a bit more nutella and heavy cream…but it was awesome…!
Just wanted to let you know that this photo is floating around Pinterest but someone has stolen your photo and redirected the pins to their site. It’s obviously a page just for ad revenue. I really wanted to find the recipe, so I did a reverse image search and found you, but I can’t report the pin because it’s not my intellectual property. I’ve seen 100’s of pins this morning that all point to the same fake website. Just thought you’d like to know! And I’m pinning this with your URL for my boards 🙂 Yum!!!
Made this today in a pinch for my husband who loves hazelnut – perfect! Fluffy, nutella flavored, maybe a little sweeter than I’d like, but yum! Thank you!
Can I use shortening instead of butter?
I’ve never made it with shortening so I can’t say – sorry. I do definitely think butter would taste better!
Can this be frozen?
Hmm, I’ve never tried to freeze it so I’m not sure. But I’m not confident it would turn out very well.
can i substitute whipped cream from the can?
I haven’t tried it so I can’t say if it would work. Whipping cream is different than whipped cream so I’m thinking it might not turn out. Sorry!
Hi, are your volume measurements in metric or US standard measurements? I can’t find a declaration on your page. Thanks.
US standard measurements.
Can use milk instead of whipping cream?
Yes, just start with a little less, and keep in mind that it won’t get quite as fluffy.
once the cupcakes are frosted do they need to be refrigerated?
i am making these tomorrow but for an event on sunday, so will i need to refrigerate overnight as it has heavy cream in it?
Just made it. Absolutely yummy ! I give this a 5 star!!!!
I have been making this for about 5 years now and it is ALWAYS a HUGE HIT! I use it to top store bought mini brownies and one of my friends BEGS me for them with this frosting. I also love to use the leftover frosting as a dip for pretzels. I can’t get my 5 star rating to register, but I definitely give it 5 stars!
Can I use soy milk to substitute heavy whipping cream or will it ruin its texture?
It might not be as fluffy but it should still turn out fine.
Delicious and easy. I made this for a chocolate cake that didn’t look very pretty on top. Thank you, Kare.
I was not expecting this level of deliciousness. I might have swore when I tasted it, it was THAT good!
Hi! It can be refrigerated?!? For how many days?!?
Thnx
After I frost my dessert can it be refrigerated or will it ruin the frosting?
Yes, you can refrigerate it.
Delicious! Added an extra tablespoon of whipping cream to make it slightly less sweet, but is a wonderful recipe!
So glad you like it! Extra whipping cream can never be a bad thing. 😀
Can the sugar be halved…at least?
No, it won’t work with less sugar. Sorry!
Made this today for my sons birthday cake and WOW…DELICIOUS! I did add a little extra nutella because, well…it’s nutella and I added half and half cream because that’s what I had. This will definitely be my go to buttercream.
I did double the recipe as the cake was a construction cake and I needed lots of dirt?
That sounds like such an adorable cake! 🙂 Happy birthday to your son!
Just made this frosting for my chocolate cake it was a big hit. Thank you 🙂
This is my favorite frosting for brownies. I have been asked to make this just to eat plain! I’m always getting requests for this frosting. So fluffy and delicious!
Best frosting!
We made it and it needed more powdered sugar than called for. Might have been because of how soft our butter got.
I’m planning to make the frosting today. I have a 3 hour drive before it reaches the table. Just wondering if I should make the frosting and carry it or make it on-site before frosting. How does it stay at room temperature?
I’d suggest making it on-site.
Soooooooo good. This may be my new favorite chocolate frosting!