Delicious Biscoff cupcakes (made with both Biscoff biscuits and spread to really pack in the flavour) topped with smooth Biscoff buttercream and finished with a crunchy Biscoff Biscuit.
One thing I learned when I made my Biscoff Cheesecake recently, was that it’s trickier than you might think to pack Biscoff flavour into baked goods. The flavour is actually more subtle than it at first seems when you eat those classic little biscuits with a cup of coffee.
I thought when I set out to make Biscoff Cupcakes, that I could follow a similar method to my Nutella Cupcakes, substituting some (or all) of the butter and sugar with Biscoff spread. Enough to really pack a punch. However, as with the cheesecake, I found that using the spread alone wasn’t enough to fill every mouthful with delicious Biscoffiness. After much experimentation, I realised that it needed the same solution as I used for the cheesecake – using the actual biscuits in the cake mixture.
But how to incorporate the biscuits into the cake mixture?
The solution – treat the biscuits like flour.
By grinding the biscuits up finely (like flour) you can substitute some of the flour in the cupcake mixture with biscuits. The only little extra that’s needed is a teaspoon of baking powder to help give the cupcakes a bit more of a lift.
To add one final extra hint of Biscoff flavour, I’ve switched the caster sugar, I usually use in my cupcakes, for brown sugar, which is what’s used to make the biscuits, to give an extra hint of caramel.
The result is delicious, fluffy cupcakes that are jam-packed full of Biscoff flavour.
Even better – they’re incredibly easy to make. Grind your biscuits into a powder, mix it with the other ingredients and bake. What could be simpler?
How long do these cupcakes last for and how should they be stored?
These cupcakes will last for up to a week after baking if you keep them stored in an airtight container.
❄️ Suitable for freezing
These cupcakes are also suitable for freezing. You can either store just the sponges or the iced cupcakes (without the biscuit).
To freeze just the sponges, simply pop them into an airtight container or wrap them with clingfilm and freeze.
To freeze the decorated cupcakes, pop them onto a tray and then freeze them for a couple of hours. This will allow the buttercream to harden. Once the buttercream is firm you can then pop them all into a container.
When you want to defrost your cupcakes, remove them from the container while they’re still frozen (so that when the buttercream softens they don’t all stick together and it still holds it’s shape) and then defrost them.
The buttercream can also be frozen. by itself to use at a later date.
I have found that the texture of the buttercream changes slightly after freezing, but it still tastes delicious 😀.
What should I decorate these cupcakes with?
I’ve decorated mine with Biscoff buttercream and a Biscoff biscuit. However, they also work extremely well with coffee or caramel buttercreams.
Can these cupcakes be baked as a full-sized cake?
Yes, if you’d like to bake these cupcakes as a full-sized cake you can find the recipe here.
The recipe includes a calculator so you can find the ingredients to make this in any size of round, square or rectangular tin.
What are these cupcakes free from? Who are they suitable for?
The ingredients I used to make this recipe are all free from the following allergens. However, please check any labels carefully for allergens you need to avoid as brands can vary, and product recipes can change over time.
- Suitable for Vegetarians
- Tree Nut-Free
- Peanut-Free
- Sesame-Free
- Sulphur Dioxide & Sulphite-Free
- Lupin-Free
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Biscoff Cupcakes
INGREDIENTS
For the cupcakes
- 105 g soft margarine - or butter which is soft at room temperature
- 90 g soft light brown sugar - you can use dark brown or muscovado sugar if you prefer
- 180 g smooth Lotus Biscoff spread
- 90 g self-raising flour
- 90 g Lotus Biscoff biscuits - 12 biscuits
- 3 medium eggs
- 1 tsp baking powder
For the buttercream
- 160 g smooth Lotus Biscoff spread
- 80 g butter - soft at room temperature
- 120 g icing sugar
- A little milk
To decorate
- 12 Lotus Biscoff biscuits
INSTRUCTIONS
Make the cupcakes
- Pre-heat your oven to 160°C/140°C fan.
- Line a muffin tin with 12 cupcake cakes.
- Finely grind the Biscoff biscuits (90g) – I use a pestle and mortar, but you could also use a food processor or pop them into a food bag and bash them with a rolling pin.
- Place all of your cake ingredients into a large bowl (ground Biscoff biscuits, 105g margarine, 90g brown sugar, 180g Biscoff spread, 90g self-raising flour, 3 medium eggs, 1 tsp baking powder).Beat together the ingredients until fully combined – if you're using an electric mixer, keep the speed low.
- Divide your cake mixture between the 12 pre-prepared cupcake cases.
- Bake for c. 20 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre come out clean.
- Once baked, pop the cakes onto a wire rack to cool completely.
While the cupcakes are cooling, make the buttercream
- Beat together the Lotus Biscoff Spread (160g) and butter (80g) until fully combined and soft. Either use an electric mixer on a low speed or beat by hand.
- Add the icing sugar (120g, a tablespoon at a time). Beat in each addition of icing sugar until fully combined before adding more.
- Check the consistency of your buttercream, it should be soft but not runny. If it is a little too stiff then add little milk (no more than one teaspoon at a time). Fully beat in each addition and recheck the consistency before adding more.
Decorate your cupcakes
- Pipe your Biscoff buttercream onto your cupcakes (I used a piping bag fitted with a JEM1B star nozzle).
- Top each cupcake with a Biscoff biscuit.
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
Any nutritional information provided is the estimated nutritional information per serving. Please refer to my guide to Charlotte’s Lively Kitchen nutritional information if you would like to learn more about how this is calculated.
Diane says
What an absolute winner. Delicious and a slightly different lunchbox offering. Thank you for sharing the recipe.
Thanh says
I absolutely love the true Biscoff taste in this recipe! I might have over baked by a minute..but I’m wanting something with a softer crumb. Would it be possible to add oil to this recipe? If so, how much can I add?
Charlotte Oates says
This isn’t something I’ve tested – sorry.
Nitika Sharma says
Absolutely amazing recipe – thank you. I love Biscoff and have struggled to find a recipe that keeps the taste of Biscoff. My 2 year old nephew loved it- had 2 helpings in one go when we were not looking!! – will be trying the biscoff cheesecake next. Thank you
Rosie says
Hi I was just wondering what type of butter to use for the buttercream? Salted or unsalted ? Thank you x
Charlotte Oates says
I always use unsalted.
Tracy Drew says
Hi Charlotte, I made your cupcakes yesterday they came out lovely and taste amazing thanks for your recipes
Tracy.
Gem says
Unfortunately mine sunk dramatically and were not suitable for decorating. I read a couple of reviews beforehand so I actually used slightly less baking powder to avoid this problem, however, they still came out a mess. Waste of ingredients that were not cheap to buy.
Samantha Renee says
Loved these so much! They were not as sweet as I thought they would be but such good flavor. Will definitely be a go-to cupcake for any occasion!
Yasmin Wheelwright says
Perfect every time. Thank you so much!
Nagamani Komarla says
Hi. The self raising flour already has baking powder and again the recipe calls for one more tsp of baking powder? Isn’t it a little too much?
Charlotte Oates says
Nope, I find it’s just the right amount.
In this cake I’ve substituted some of the flour I’d normally use for ground biscuits. The ground biscuits don’t contain raising agent in the same way that the self-raisinf flour does so I’ve treated it more like if I’d used plain flour and added extra baking powder.
steph says
Hi,
Really keen to make these for my daughter’s b’day party. Can you confirm the size of the cup-cake cases please. I’m not an expert but I know there are smaller ‘fairy’ cake cases and really large ‘muffin’ cases. Just want to ensure I get the quantity right.
Many thanks and so pleased to find this recipe!
Charlotte Oates says
I use the larger muffin cases.
Sarah says
Very impressed with this recipe, the cupcakes produced are fab!
Cetty says
Hi, are there 443 calories in each cupcake? Or 443 calories for all 12? Thanks
Charlotte Oates says
That’s per cupcake.
Nanny says
Perfect every time and everyone that tries them rave about the flavours.
Mya Ahmed says
I love this recipe so much! I was really wanting to make a batch of 6 what would the measurements be? x
Charlotte Oates says
Just divide them by two and follow the recipe with those measurements.
Bina says
Hi Charlotte, would this recipe work with large eggs?
Charlotte Oates says
It will, although you will likely have a slightly less fluffy sponge. Have a read of my egg size guide to find out more about the impact of egg size on cakes.
Shannon Perkins says
Perfect every time! Thank you so much for this amazing recipe that is jam packed with Biscoff flavour.
Just to confirm, is the nutritional information on this page based on a decorated cupcake?
Thank you
Charlotte Oates says
Yes, it includes the cupcake, buttercream and biscuit.
Fran Barnes says
Can these be frozen before decorating
Thank you
Charlotte Oates says
Yes, that should be fine.
Aims says
I can confirm mine sunk in the middle too. Yes, I used a measure for my baking powder. Yes my oven was the correct temperature. No I didn’t open the oven halfway.
Unfortunately I won’t be using this recipe again… Wasted ingredients.
Amy says
Well nice
Georgina says
I don’t know what happened to mine but they sunk in the middle
Charlotte Oates says
I’m sorry to hear that. My guess would be that you added a little too much baking powder. If you do, the cupcakes rise too much and then don’t have the structure to support the height so they sink in the middle. You need to make sure you measure it using a measuring spoon rather than a regular teaspoon and also that your baking powder is level on the spoon.
Niamh says
Hi I was wondering if it would be possible to meet ut a dollop of biscoff spread in the middle of each cupcake- would that work?
Charlotte Oates says
You can. I’d probably bake the cupcakes and the use a spoon or wide end of a piping nozzle to remove the middle and add the Biscoff spread.