I do not recommend eating three of these cupcakes after dinner unless you too have blog posts you need to write at 3 a.m.
Their innocent flower-topped, chocolate look-a-like demeanor is deceptive, but these cupcakes have a caffeinated kick! Per cupcake the caffeine load isn’t too crazy in these Caramel Espresso Cupcakes, just maybe don’t eat as many at one time as I did or they might become Keep You Up All Night Cupcakes. Consider it built in portion control.
the espresso flavor
To get that lovely rich espresso flavor I used both brewed coffee and espresso powder. The strength of your coffee and quality of your espresso powder will have quite a big effect on the flavor of your cupcakes. So adjust based on what you are using and your preferences…
– To tone down the flavor (especially if you are using a strong high quality espresso powder), replace the 1/2 cup of brewed coffee with 1/2 cup more water.
– If you are using the low quality grocery store espresso powder like I did, then I would suggest leaving the coffee in for extra flavor or even use a full cup of coffee and no water.
– Or if you don’t want a caffeine-free option, then use 1 cup of brewed Teeccino (an herbal coffee replacement) in place of the brewed coffee and water called for in the recipe and leave out the espresso powder.
Frosting Options
The caramel frosting you see in the photos is made with full fat coconut milk, dates, and a little espresso powder. It is incredibly rich and will become firmer and thicker if you chill it for a few hours or even chill the cupcakes after frosting.
For a low fat frosting, you can use almond milk or another light non-dairy milk to make an espresso date paste. It’s not as thick and creamy, but still a very sweet cupcake topper. I included the exact measurements for that in the recipe as well.
Vegan Caramel Espresso Cupcakes
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 6 cupcakes 1x
Ingredients
Cupcake
- 12 pitted Medjool dates
- 1/2 cup brewed coffee or espresso
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 cup oat flour
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 2 tsps espresso powder
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1/4 cup non-dairy milk
Frosting
- 6 pitted Medjool dates
- One can of full fat coconut milk (chilled overnight)
- 1 tsp espresso powder
Low Fat Frosting
- 10 pitted Medjool dates
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tsp espresso powder
Instructions
- Cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Blend the dates, water, and coffee.
- Spoon out into a bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients. Stir to combine.
- Divide into 6 cupcake tins that have been lightly oiled. Fill them so the batter is almost to the top of the muffin cup for a tall domed top.
- Bake for 25 minutes at 350F.
- Let them cool completely before frosting.
- Frosting: Scoop out the thick coconut cream from the can of coconut milk leaving the liquid behind.
- Blend all the ingredients till smooth. Add a tablespoon of liquid if needed to blend. Don’t over blend, it will get less fluffy and light.
- Refrigerate for 3-4 hours for a thicker consistency.
- Frost your cupcakes, garnish with a few espresso beans, and enjoy!
This is some serious cupcake perfection right here :O Love the coffee bean deco – so cute! I don’t drink coffee, but I’d totally make an exception for these beauties <3
I don’t drink coffee either, hence the fact that the caffeine really hit me hard from eating 3 of these lol! But I do love the flavor, it makes the chocolate even richer 🙂
These cupcakes look amazing Nat! No wonder you took 279 photos of them 😀 I love those little flowers – do you know what kind of flowers they are? These cupcakes might be a great study snack for me – I normally stay clear of caffeine, but with my end of term assessments coming I will need to pull a few late nights! (By the way, I love your blog redesign too! I’ve been meaning to come by and check it out…looking good <3 )
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Haha yes they were fun to photograph, I got a little carried away 😀 Narrowing it down was so hard. I just tried googling to figure out what kind of plant those flowers came from and I can’t find anything that looks like it. It’s nothing super special, just a ground cover plant that is pretty common here, but i have no idea what it’s called. I normally don’t drink (or eat) any caffeine either, this was a reader request, but they could definitely be of assistance if you need to stay up late 😀
These are so pretty!! And I’m in love with the combo of espresso and caramel. I have a full thing of dates I’m about to open into and now I know where most of them are going to end up 😉 Also that shot of you breaking into the cupcake in the video had me swooning!
Thank you Leah! That is one of the problem with these cupcakes though, they use so many dates!! I try so hard not to have to do a second test batch on recipes like this because dates are a precious resource. I am in love with this flavor combination too. Coffee isn’t a usual in my flavor repertoire, but I do love it 🙂
Gorgeous cupcakes!! I would be the one to use a full cup of coffee plus the espresso powder…yum!
Haha that would be a powerful little cupcake!
Hi there 🙂 First of all, send me a cupcake or two, please!! And second, I really really love what you’ve done with the blog!! Very cool new design!! And I guess somewhat easier to navigate? Well back to these cute treats..I mean how can they be so cute?!?! I love the espresso, the frosting, everything. And the fact that they’re HEALTHY (I can eat at least two in a row) with no refined nasty ingredients. I do love coffee but I would totally skip my morning coffee and eat four of these 🙂 Hope all is well and like I wrote, SEND ME SOME!!!!! <3
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Oh thank you Tiina! I’m not sure if its easier to navigate or not, but I was having lots of issues with images doing strange things in various browsers with the old theme something had to be done and I hate paying someone else to fix it. Alright I will box one up right now, but it might be a caramel coffee puddle by the time it arrives haha! But just stick a flower on top and I’m sure it will still look cute 😀
Such a fun flavor combination!
Thanks Becky! Major coffee shop vibes going on here 🙂
Oh Natalie these are sooo pretty!! You know I’m a huge espresso loving fan girl!! I use espresso in so many chocolate recipes, to me it’s a no brainer to make the chocolate taste even more chocolatey. It also happens to be my #1 favorite combo of all flavor combos. I’m in love with that color of the frosting, it is just beautiful! It also looks like there is a little sprinkling of sugar on top? So pretty! I can totally see why you were wired from these, hahaha! I always get a little jolt myself, but oh man, is it worth it! Such an awesome recipe Natalie! I love your pics!
Thank you Brandi! I am a totally newbie when it comes to espresso, I actually stalked your site and your various espresso recipes just to get a general idea of how much is reasonable to use in one recipe 😀 I was blown away by how rich it made the chocolate flavor! I can totally understand why you put it in so many chocolatey things, I just have to remember it’s in there when choosing my time of day to devour lol! Oh and the sugar look is actually just because I popped them in the freezer for a bit because I didn’t feel like waiting for the frosting to chill to take pics 🙂
Ahhhh that makes sense!! Well, it looks gorgeous!! And yes, I’ve eaten my double chocolate espresso almond cookies at night before and am up ALL night, hahaha!
such beautiful little cupcakes! love the flavour and i can’t get enough of those little flower decorations.
Thank you so very much Thalia! Flowers are my current favorite photo prop, makes everything magically cuter 🙂
These are lovely and I love that super-healthy frosting! I will have to try that.
I certainly wasn’t mad to have some extra frosting 🙂 Thanks Alisa!
Beautiful, delicious sounding cupcakes and your photos are so pretty. The chocolate, caramel, espresso combo here sounds totally amazing. I am on a dessert ban at the moment as I have been eating far too many while recipe testing…now I m fighting with myself as I want to go bake these….
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I was just thinking of you yesterday while planning what to make next because I have a steady stream of chocolate ideas that I really need to space out hahaha! So I know what you mean Mel 😀
Once again, I’m in awe of your recipes! These sound divine, I love the ingredients and the photos are gorgeous <3
Thank you Aimee <3
I drink coffee and i love anything that coffee in it lol but i can’t find espresso powder though ,sometimes i use instant coffee instead or completely omit it and put more espresso but i think outcome is different… I love your videos by the way <3
It’s not as easy to find as you might think! This is my first time buying it as it’s not a flavor I bake with often, and it took me two stores to find it. Lots of coffee beans and powders, but only one slightly untrustworthy looking brand of espresso powder. I’m not sure where you live, but it’s definitely something you could order online if you really love baking and flavoring things with it!
I hated baking before actually but i really like it now and if i didn’t make my own food i couldn’t be vegan anymore because nothing here is vegan and espresso powder is not really important at all among other things lol
Is there ever a bad result when you combine caramel and chocolate and coffee? And especially when you throw in all those lovely dates and the coconut milk for icing. That’s my fave. These look delicious Natalie:)
Nope, I don’t think it’s possible to mess up chocolate + caramel + coffee! Even if the whole recipe failed and you just had a messy bowl of batter and cupcake flops it would still be delish haha! I wish I had a tiny itty bitty blender so I could blend the dates with a tiny bit of water first and not have to blend the coconut for as long to keep it fluffy, but oh well it was still delish 🙂
You are the master of hidden fruits! That needs to be an official title for you. 🙂 I have never had coffee in a cupcake as I am not a big fan of it, but I would totally try these. Also, I totally want to try oat flour!
Brb gotta go change my tagline to “master of hidden fruits” hahaha 😀 If you aren’t the biggest coffee fan then just chocolate cupcakes with caramel on top sound pretty spectacular to me. But the coffee flavor isn’t that pronounced, it just makes everything really rich. And yes yes yes you gotta try oat flour!
Mmmmmmmm these caramel and espresso cupcakes look sooo amazing Natalie. I can’t believe I still haven’t tried those two flavours together yet. They sound incredible! I definitely need to make these beautiful cupcakes! The frosting sounds so tasty too – I could easily eat all of it in one sitting hehehe! <3
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Really!? With all the sophisticated chocolate desserts you’ve made that is rather surprising! You really should, it’s a heavenly pair! And I’m with ya, I ate 5 out of 6 in one day lol 😀
Wow these look divine! I love espresso-caramel flavored things, and I love that these are low fat! Definitely putting them on my to bake list!
I don’t know where this combo has been all my life, but I can totally see why you love it! Let me know if you try them Kerri 🙂
I am seriously loving EVERYTHING about this recipe, from the double coffee incorporation, to the whole dessert and the gorgeous photos!
Thanks Jackie!
Good morning Natalie. I just went pinning crazy with your recipes. I’m new to your blog and I love it. Your recipes are gluten free, sugar friendly and oil free. That has Jill written all over it. Now, that I”m here I want one of these cupcakes.
Oh yay, thank you so much Jill! Wow, it sounds like we have similar styles then, I need to check out your recipe section 🙂
Coffee addict right here! And now I can have it in muffin form!? Girl, you are speaking my language!!! These are SO PERFECT. Love that they’re date sweetened of course! 😉
I’m just a coffee addict in denial I think, I love the flavor more than I let on haha! Together we are just flooding the internet with date sweetened recipes 🙂
Wow, I don’t drink coffee but I think I might have to start! These look delicious Natalie!
Haha I don’t either, but the chocolate and caramel parts still won me over 😀
These are just the CUTEST!! I love the little flower on top. And of course they sounds amazing too!
Thank you Sophia 🙂 So much brown needed a pop of color!
So gorgeous! I have been waiting for this email! 🙂 I’m a little under the weather at the moment but the second my taste buds are back in action I am going straihgt for these gorgeous little guys!
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Oh bummer, I’m sorry you aren’t feeling well. No point wasting your time baking when you won’t even taste it properly, plus my cravings for sweet things tank when I’m sick. I hope you feel better soon though Ashley <3
I just made these! I forgot to add the almond milk so they were a little bit lumpy but the espresso flavour was soooo good! Literally addicted
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Yay!! I wouldn’t be mad about lumps either as long as they taste good 🙂 I’m so glad you love them, thanks for taking the time to leave feedback!
Keep You Up All Night Cupcakes? That’s not built in portion control, that’s the perfect exam time food! Goodby Red Bull, hello gorgeous cupcakes <3
Haha well that too! But when I don’t have studying to do then the desire to actually sleep tonight keeps me from eating too many 🙂
OMG Natalie these look AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Cannot wait to try these!! xoxo
Thanks Vicki! If you are a chocolate fan you will love them!
Oh, my goodness! These look SO decadent! As usual, I watched the video with Willow and I had to explain that those were coffee beans on top and not chocolate chips 😉 She loved the little purple flower the best! Thanks to you (and after reading Medical Medium) we’ve been flying through dates faster than ever. I love that these are date sweetened! Kinda crazy, but I’ve been coffee-free for a month now, so I’ll have to try these with chicory instead! Gorgeous photos, as always, friend! <3
Haha that would be a nasty surprise biting into a coffee bean expecting a chocolate chip! A chocolate covered coffee bean would’ve been the perfect garnish, but I didn’t have any. Although I suppose that would’ve been even more detective 😀 Lots of date eating makes me happy to hear, how are things going with the medical medium stuff? (you don’t have to answer that here, but I would love to know how it’s going) And I really don’t do coffee either, but since someone requested I thought I should use the real stuff. Chicory would be my first choice too 🙂
Haha!! Definitely wouldn’t be a pleasant surprise! I’ll never forget biting into a chocolate covered coffee bean as a kid because I thought it was a chocolate covered peanut…so gross. I think these are garnished perfectly! I’m really excited to try these. Omg, even Willow is date obsessed these days. We picked up a grain free granola to try because it was only sweetened with dates…she ended up picking out all the date pieces and leaving the nuts/seeds for me! As for medical medium, I did a full week of starting my morning with celery juice, would have done longer but I juiced a pretty bad bunch of celery that was so bitter it made my tongue tingle, so I stopped! But I’d say things are going really well besides that 😉 such a fascinating book and I’m hoping this summer to try his 28 day program. But it’s so expensive to do fully raw and still buy food for the rest of the family. Anyways, I’m rambling; thanks for asking! I hope you have a great weekend, Natalie! <3
You have just created the most amazing cupcake, my dear. Chocolate and espresso are so amazing together. Fortunately, caffeine doesn’t keep me up, so I could eat two or three of these and fall asleep like a baby. I really want one right now.
Lucky you because they taste like the perfect nighttime chocolate snack! I rarely drink coffee or caffeine of any kind so I’m probably extra sensitive 🙂
These look sooo delicious, Natalie! Love the flavors going on here. And as always, your pictures are just stunning! 🙂
Thank you Sina! I planned on doing just a white frosting with coconut, but when that totally failed caramel saved me and made it even better I think 🙂
Thos look so cute and beautiful, Natalie! I wouldn’t dear to eat them, so pretty they are!
Great photography! <3
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Haha it was a little sad devouring them, but very happy at the same time because the flavor is just as beautiful! Thank you Natalia 🙂
as a serious coffee lover, and a vegan, I am all over these! Cant wait to try them out!
I created them just for you Greg, didn’t you know 😉 haha
Natalia, these are absolutely gorgeous. Perfect look for spring. I could see them being served for a garden party!
Thank you Michelle! They would be such a cute party dessert, I agree 🙂
I’m still in disbelief at seeing an espresso recipe on your blog. I love it though 🙂 Caramel and coffee and chocolate are like my top favorites. I think these will definitely need to be made ASAP 😉 They look gorgeous.
Me too tbh haha! I seriously had no clue what I was doing–where do you buy espresso? how much do you use? is coffee + espresso too much? I had to do a lot of research on this one because I’m a total espresso newb 😀
Made these today for my Birthday and I am reviewing them on my Youtube Channel so amazing!! Thanks for an awesome recipe!
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Happy birthday!! I’m so glad you like them, and I look forward to watching 🙂
Would this recipe work in a cake?
Yes, I have made it as a 6 inch round cake before. If you go much larger than that, like 8 or 9 inches, the center may not cook through completely.
thank you!
How many calories per serving?
Hi Amy! I choose not to calculate calories for my recipes, but if you wanted to plug the ingredients into a recipe nutrition calculator (like this one: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/recipe/calculator) you can figure it out really easily yourself 🙂
It seems like the frosting has separated — the coconut milk can do this, but if you had continued to blend it for like 10 minutes more, it would have emulsified again. 🙂
Nope, wasn’t separated. I had popped them in the freezer for a bit before photographing as my house is really warm so that may be what you are seeing 🙂
Hey! Am I missing something with the milk in the cupcake ingredients? I made these and they were extremely dense and chewy. You didnt add milk in your video unless I’m completely mad and didn’t see it lol. Should I leave the milk out?? Thanks!
I did leave it out in the video didn’t I, but honestly I’ve made them both with and without the milk and it does not make much difference since it’s such a small amount. They may dry out a bit faster without the milk, so go ahead and use it if you have it. Considering they are date-based and rely only on baking powder for leavening, they are going to be denser than your typical cupcake–somewhere between a brownie and cake texture.
Ok gotcha. They taste awesome and I’m used to the dense baked goods since I’m GF I just need to try again! It can be tricky to that fluffy texture!
The crumb should still be really lovely, not gummy at all! Over mixing can sometimes be the culprit if you are having that issue. Good luck!
OH my! These look great! Side note: there is decaf espresso powder, heehee! So crazy I can’t do caffeine. On that note, I wondered what do you think is a good substitute for oat flour in recipes for baking? I’ve been thinking just a gluten-free baking mix. I know that there are gluten-free oats, but I’m allergic to oats, boo!