3-ingredient Nutella cupcakes with peanut butter whipped cream

So far, grad school hasn't been the horrible, all-consuming experience as some people have described it to be, but I certainly don't have as much free time as I used to. Baking is still a priority (I haven't missed a week), but time management skills are as important as ever now.

That's why quick and easy recipes are becoming more and more attractive to me now. Take these cupcakes for example - only three (THREE!) ingredients and a fast bake in the oven. The star ingredient to make this happen is Nutella - containing the fat, sugars, and delicious chocolate flavors needed to substitute for the usual ingredients.

It was surprising to me how well these turned out. After mixing, the batter still mostly looked like Nutella, and it was hard to imagine it baking up like a cupcake. Less than 15 minutes later though, they turned into beautiful little cupcakes that were dense, fudgey and chock-full of that Nutella flavor.

The whipped cream I decided to pair this with was just as easy. It also contained three ingredients, including just a taste of peanut butter, to give it a nutty flavor that would complement the cupcake well.

All in all, these took less than an hour to make, giving me plenty of time to go back to studying! As a preview of my next post, I will be posting another pumpkin-inspired recipe later in the week that I made last weekend...got to love the fall!

3-Ingredient Nutella Cupcakes (makes about 2½ mini-cupcakes)
(Recipe adapted from Oh Nuts!)

Cupcakes:

• 1½ cups (450 g) Nutella
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup (125 g) flour

Whipped cream: 

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 tbsp white sugar
• 1 tbsp peanut butter

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Mix Nutella and eggs together in a stand mixer on medium speed until completely smooth. 
3. Sift in flour and continue mixing until the flour is completely incorporated - do not over-mix!
4. Scoop batter into lined mini-muffin tins. 
5. Bake for 13-15 minutes, or until the tops of the cupcake are cracked. 
6. Let cool before frosting with whipped cream. 
7. To make whipped cream, beat heavy cream in stand mixer on high speed until soft peaks form.
8. Add the sugar and peanut butter and continue mixing until stiff peaks form. Do not over-beat or the whipped cream will turn into butter!
9. Top-off cupcakes with whipped cream.
10. Enjoy!