Make your own Espresso Powder for baking with this easy recipe! A secret ingredient of many professional bakers, it’s amazing in so many recipes and treats!
Today, I’m sharing that one special ingredient that intensifies the chocolate flavor in your baking for the best chocolate cakes, fudge brownies, brownie cookies, (and any other chocolate baked goods!).
Imagine everyone drooling over that chocolate cake topped with chocolate buttercream frosting that everyone requests for their birthday, anniversary, or any other special occasion.
Well, I shared that cake and frosting with you many, many years ago, and I even shared the one secret ingredient that I think takes that cake to the next level of deliciousness – espresso powder!
Now, let’s learn how to make it at home!
Espresso Powder Recipe
Many of you have asked me where to find espresso powder over the years. You can purchase it online at many bakery supply stores, Amazon, and grocery stores. I’ve seen it in my local Publix and Kroger grocery stores recently. But I still want the absolute best – and I can make it myself!
Friends, this super simple recipe is one that once you make your own, you’ll want to make sure to have a supply of it at all times!
What Do You Need to Make Homemade Espresso Powder for Baking
You only need a few items to make homemade espresso powder for baking.
- Espresso beans
- Baking Sheet
- Coffee or spice grinder
- Airtight spice container
Espresso Beans
I prefer to use organic, medium roast espresso beans for my espresso beans. I love picking up a small bag of locally roasted beans from my local CSA or farmer’s co-op, but your local grocery store may also have a good selection. I’ve also found a few brands I’ve enjoyed online, such as Jo Espresso and Kicking Horse Cliff Hanger Espresso.
If organic espresso beans aren’t available, you can use your favorite espresso beans from your local grocery store or order online. Some that I have used and enjoyed are Starbuck’s Espresso (I use their dark roast) and Cafe Don Pablo.
Baking Sheet
I highly recommend having at least one good baking sheet in your kitchen. If you can possibly have two, please do! My favorite baking sheet is a rimmed half-sheet pan. It is perfect for toasting the espresso beans since it heats evenly in the oven, and the sides contain the espresso beans inside the pan.
Coffee or Spice Grinder
You will also need a coffee or spice grinder for grinding your toasted espresso beans. Many people love to grind their coffee freshly; that grinder is also excellent for your espresso powder. I often use a small burr-style conical grinder to grind coffee beans for making coffee. So, if you have one on hand, I highly recommend it for grinding your espresso beans for your espresso powder. I use a dedicated grinder for making my espresso powder since I use it so often in my baking. It was inexpensive and did a wonderful job evenly grinding my espresso beans in just a few seconds.
Airtight Spice Container
Once you’ve made your espresso powder, you’ll want to store it in an airtight container to maintain the flavor. I use the same style container for all of my seasonings and spice blends and for this. I’ve had wonderful luck with it keeping items fresh.
How Many Espresso Beans Do You Need to Make Espresso Powder
One question that I had when I first started making my own espresso powder was how many espresso beans I needed to make my own. I have found that generally, one cup of espresso beans will yield close to 1 cup of espresso powder. So, if you need more or less, you can easily make as much as you need.
I will say that I love to make a larger batch and then give it as a gift to friends and family!
How to Make Homemade Espresso Powder for Baking
Once you have all of your needed supplies for making your homemade espresso powder, you are ready to start making your own for baking! To make it, you preheat your oven and then spread your espresso beans in a single layer on your baking sheet. Next, you’ll bake your espresso beans until they have dried and are lightly toasted. I’ve found that this generally takes about an hour.
Then, remove the pan from the oven and allow the espresso beans to cool. Working in batches, grind your espresso beans into as fine powder as your grinder will grind.
Transfer your powder to your airtight container and store it for up to 5 months.
Favorite Recipes Using Espresso Powder
Once I discovered the power of a little espresso powder to enhance the flavor of chocolate baked goods without leaving a bitter coffee aftertaste, I never looked back! I’ve included a list of some of my favorite recipes using it for you below. These are all great ways to use this in your baking!
The Best Chocolate Cake
Perfect Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
Chocolate Banana Bread Recipe
Best Chocolate Cupcakes Recipe
Fudge Brownies Recipe
… and more
Frequent Questions Regarding Espresso Powder in Baking Recipes
I receive many of the same questions and comments regarding espresso powder for the recipes that I share with it included.
Does espresso powder leave your baked goods tasting like coffee?
I do not believe that espresso powder leaves a coffee flavor in baked goods when the right amount is used in the recipe. You’ll notice that for my chocolate cake, only 1 teaspoon of espresso powder is used.
Does espresso powder leave an aftertaste in your recipe?
No. I believe that there is no aftertaste in your chocolate recipe when using the right amount of espresso powder in your recipe. Again, you’ll want to make sure you aren’t adding too much espresso powder to a recipe when using it. I make sure to test, test, test my recipes to make sure that the ratios are perfectly balanced especially when including an ingredient like espresso powder.
As a matter of fact, when I was testing my chocolate cake recipe, I made the cake using a cup of coffee instead of boiling water. It left a strong coffee flavor with an aftertaste. For my next test, I tried using instant coffee granules and boiling water. Still a strong coffee flavor with a bitter aftertaste. Then, I tested with espresso powder (at various amounts until I got it just right!) and found that it heightened the flavor of the chocolate without adding the flavor of coffee and there was no bitter aftertaste! Eureka! 🙂
Do I have to use the espresso powder in the recipe?
If you would prefer not to use it, you can absolutely omit it from any of the chocolate baking recipes that I have included it in. It will not change the texture or the baking results of the recipe. But once you taste the cake baked with the espresso powder, you’ll be able to immediately notice when you bake it without!
Here’s my Homemade Espresso Powder recipe. I hope you enjoy it and the delicious recipes you create with it!
Espresso Powder Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup espresso beans
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200º F.
- Spread espresso beans in a single layer onto a baking sheet. Bake until lightly toasted and dried, about 1 hour. Remove from the oven and grind in batches in a coffee or spice grinder until finely ground.
- Pour into a container with a tight fitting lid, such as a small Mason jar or spice jar, and store for up to 6 months.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Enjoy!
Robyn xo
I just got back from the store. the only espresso beans they had were in a big bag 5# for 1 CAKE ? But they had small bag of Dark Roast Espresso marked “Fine Ground” I bought them, not thinking about Roasting.
Now that I am home I was thinking about put the” fine ground “on a sheet and roast it for a while or maybe toast them for a few min.’s since it is not the whole bean ? I realize it’s just a guess and you haven’t done it that way. Just asking what you think ?
I want to make the chocolate butter cream icing.
Thanks for all your hard work and information .
Hal, the Dark Roast Espresso already fine ground shouldn’t take as long to dry when roasting as the medium roast I normally use. Once they have roasted, I would grind them more into a really fine powder before using.
Hi! I’ve been trying to perfect my coffee caramel pastry cream and I’ve noticed that using instant coffee results to a bitter aftertaste, and if I try to lessen the amount of coffee, it ends up lacking that coffee depth. So I’m wondering if I could use espresso powder instead? There’s no espresso powder in my area so I’m planning to follow your recipe. I know people use espresso as more of an enhancer but wondering if it would work as the main coffee flavor in pastry cream? Thanks!
Rose, I haven’t tried this with a coffee caramel cream so I can’t tell if the flavor is what you want. I have only used this with chocolate to enhance the chocolate flavor.
Can I use an air fryer instead of the oven to roast the beans?
I haven’t tried using an air fryer, Rose.
I accidentally purchased ground espresso beans instead of whole beans, and I don’t have an espresso machine to brew them. Is there any way I can use these to make the espresso powder? Thanks so much.
You can just follow the recipe using your ground beans, Allison.
I do this all the time, even with my nuts… I roast them too. It brings the oils out of the nut, and the toasted nuts adds a nuttier flavor to the recipe. Thank you for sharing your recipes. You found like me…. I love playing and experimenting with flavours, in my kitchen.
Why do you bake the beans? Couldn’t you just use fresh ground coffee? Just wondering what the difference is.
I bake the beans to dry them out a little more and toasty. They will grind to a finer powder when you bake them. Fresh ground coffee granules are too big and your batter or frosting will be grainy. I tried instant ground coffee and the flavor wasn’t as pronounced and when I increased the amount, it had a bitter flavor.
What if I don’t roast the beans and just used grinder up espresso beans, would that work?
I have found that baking the beans dries them out a little more so they grind into a powder better, Joy.
Could you use a food processor instead of a grinder for the beans??
Thanks
I haven’t used a food processor but I’m sure you could, Melissa.
This recipe looks yummy. I will try this tomorrow However, I don’t have coffee powder. Can I use Nespresso coffee pods in the place of coffee powder? Waiting for your suggestion.
If you are talking about the Best Chocolate Cake (Ever) Recipe, Jackson, I haven’t used the Nespresso coffee pods so I can’t tell you how they would work in this cake. You can omit the espresso if you wish. Or, maybe someone on here has used the Nespresso pods and can you how it turned out for then.
Hi Robyn,
Can I use regular coffee powder instead of espresso powder? If so, how much?
Thanks
Charlene, if you are asking about substituting regular coffee powder for espresso powder in the chocolate cake, you can omit the espresso or some people have used a cup of a really strong hot coffee instead of the espresso and boiling water. Instant coffee powder does not produce the same results as the espresso. I tried it and the flavor isn’t as pronounced and to increase the coffee for the flavor gives a bitter flavor.