Chocolate Almond Acorn Cupcakes

Celebrate Autumn with these cute Chocolate Almond Acorn Cupcakes topped with almond buttercream and an acorn made of a Vanilla Wafer and almond Kiss.

Chocolate Almond Acorn Cupcakes

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I grew up where there are tons of beautiful green trees that in the fall give way to hundreds and hundreds of acorns.  I’m talking squirrel heaven.  We always had tons of squirrels running across our lawn and scurrying up the trees… and then there would be the occasional flat as a pancake one on the road. But I guess if real acorns tasted as good as these Chocolate Almond Acorn Cupcakes I might risk my life too.
Well if you didn’t know, real acorns are way bitter but these chocolate and vanilla wafer acorn look a likes are super yummy!  And aren’t they just too darn cute?!?!

This is my favorite chocolate cupcake recipe that I used in these Raspberry Chocolate cupcakes (you really need to try that one if you haven’t yet).  It’s moist and has such a tender crumb thanks to the sour cream, butter, and buttermilk.  Plus it has the best chocolate flavor because it’s full of cocoa powder AND melted chocolate.  It’s then topped with smooth vanilla-almond buttercream frosting.

To mix things up a bit I decided to add another nut into the equation– Almonds!  The Hershey Kisses have an almond in them and then I used almond extract in the cupcake and frosting.  It’s so so good but if you’re allergic or not an almond fan you can just use plain Kisses and vanilla extract. (Oh, or caramel kisses would be awesome!)

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5 from 1 vote

Chocolate Almond Acorn Cupcakes

Prep Time25 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Total Time45 minutes mins

Servings: 15

Author: Garnish and Glaze

Ingredients

For the Cupcakes:

• ▢ 1 1/2 cups flour
• ▢ 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• ▢ 1/2 cup brown sugar
• ▢ 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon salt
• ▢ 4 tablespoons butter
• ▢ 2 ounces semi-sweet baking chocolate, chopped
• ▢ 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• ▢ 1/2 cup boiling water
• ▢ 1/2 cup buttermilk
• ▢ 1/3 cup sour cream
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• ▢ 2 eggs

For the Frosting:

• ▢ 3/4 cup butter, room temperature
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ 1/4 tsp salt
• ▢ 3 cups powdered sugar

For the Acorns:

• ▢ 15 mini vanilla wafers
• ▢ 15 mini chocolate chips
• ▢ 15 almond Hershey Kisses
• ▢ 10 almonds, finely chopped

Instructions

For the Cupcakes:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with 15 cupcake liners.
• Mix flour, sugars, baking soda, and salt together and set aside.
• Place butter, chocolate, and cocoa together in a bowl and pour boiling water on top. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit two minutes. Mix until smooth and then add in the buttermilk, sour cream, eggs, and vanilla.
• Whisk the liquid ingredients into the dry until smooth.
• Pour 1/4 cup batter into each paper liner. Bake for 17-20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
• Leave cupcakes in tin for 5 minutes before removing onto a cooling rack.

For the Frosting:

• Beat butter in an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Mix in extracts and salt. Add the sugar and begin mixing at a slow speed and gradually turn up the speed and cream 2-3 minutes.

For the Acorns:

• Using a toothpick, place a dot of the icing on the bottom of a mini chocolate chip and stick it on the top of a wafer and repeat with remaining chips and wafers.
• Dab the bottom of each Kiss with a little frosting and then stick it to the bottom of a wafer.

Assembling the Cupcakes:

• While the cupcakes cool, make the acorns. Once the acorns are made use the remaining frosting to pipe onto each cupcakes. Top with an acorn and then sprinkle with chopped almonds.

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