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If you’ve been looking for the best Chocolate Cupcakes Recipe, you’ve landed in the right place! These completely from scratch chocolate cupcakes are soft, moist, and rich – the only chocolate cupcake recipe you need forever!
Looking for the best chocolate cupcake recipe that will make you swoon? You’ve come to the right place! These ultra-chocolatey, fudgy cupcakes are a dream come true. They’re easy enough for beginners but have that bakery-level flavor – super moist, rich, and chocolatey with a silky smooth chocolate buttercream frosting.
While I love a box cake mix, it never achieves the same level as making the recipe homemade. These cupcakes are made completely from scratch and they are so fluffy, moist, and delicious with the best chocolate flavor. I may be a vanilla girly but I will choose these over any other cupcake, hands down.
Ingredient Notes
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder: Make sure to use regular cocoa powder not dutch-process cocoa powder. Since these cupcakes are leavened with Baking Soda, the recipe may have issues with dark cocoa.
- White Vinegar: This activates the baking soda for a moist and fluffy cupcake. Don’t have it? Use lemon juice instead.
- Vegetable Oil: I find oil in cupcakes keeps them super moist – canola oil may be substituted.
- Hot Water: Helps bloom the cocoa powder release all its flavor. You can also add some espresso powder or Instant Coffee Granules to bring out the flavor even more.
How to Make Chocolate Cupcakes
- I like to whisk all the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt) in a large mixing bowl.
- Then I whisk the wet ingredients in a large measuring cup. The recipe isn’t wrong: this is a no egg cupcake recipe!
- Once you add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients the batter will be thin.
- Fill cupcake liners in a muffin pan about 2/3 full with batter and bake the cupcakes until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool them completely before frosting.
Frosting Choices
I love the silky chocolate frosting used in this recipe but you’re not limited to it. There are so many other delicious frostings you can use:
- Chocolate Ganache or whipped ganache
- Cooked Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting is another favorite because it’s like ganache but smoother.
- Vanilla Buttercream Frosting for a classic cupcake.
- Whipped Cream Frosting for something lighter.
- Cream Cheese Frosting is the best frosting in the world!
- Peanut Butter Frosting because peanut butter and chocolate are the best!
Expert Tips
- You don’t need a mixer – if you want to use one, mix at low speed until the dry ingredients are somewhat incorporated, then switch to high speed until the batter comes together. Use a paddle attachment if using a stand mixer. Be sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl.
- Cupcakes are done when a toothpick entered in the center comes out clean.
- If you do not have white vinegar, use lemon juice as a replacement. You won’t taste it – the acid is needed to activate the baking soda. You’ll be amazed at the tenderness of these cupcakes.
- Don’t over mix the batter and don’t over fill the muffin tin – just fill it about 2/3 full for perfectly domed tops that don’t overflow.
FAQs
You can make this into a layer cake – you’ll need 3 8-inch or 9-inch rounds. If you’re making a sheet cake, you can use a 9×13-inch pan but only fill it 2/3 full and make some cupcakes on the side.
The Best Chocolate Cupcake Recipe
Recipe Video
Ingredients
- 3 cups (372g) all purpose flour
- 2 cups (400g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (40g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt not kosher, just regular table salt
- 2 cups (474ml) hot water
- ¾ cup (177ml) vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons (30ml) distilled or white vinegar
- 1 tablespoon instant coffee granules (optional)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Chocolate Buttercream Frosting (or use your favorite)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line cupcake pans with liners (about 30).
- Whisk flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl.
- Combine water, oil, vinegar, instant coffee (if using), and vanilla in a large mixing cup.
- Whisk to combine, then add to the dry ingredients and whisk just until the batter comes together. A few lumps are okay.
- Fill cupcake liners about ⅔ full and bake for about 12-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.
- While the cupcakes are cooling, make desired frosting. Frost as desired.
Recipe Notes
- The original recipe in this post included this cooked frosting.
- Store unfrosted cupcakes in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days to keep them fresh. Once frosted, store at room temperature loosely covered.
- You can also freeze unfrosted or frosted cupcakes.
- The coffee granules are optional but help bring out the chocolate flavor, as does the hot water.
- Do not use dutch process cocoa in this recipe.
Can these cupcakes be made without the coffee?
I was really excited about this recipe. The description of how scrumptious these chocolate cupcakes are compelled me to set about making them right away. I followed all the steps, used the exact ingredients and measures given and baked 12 to 15 minutes, checking through the glass window every minute to determine when they were done. While they cooled, I made the icing. Whenever possible, I make the habit of tasting my baked goods before icing or finishing them to ensure taste and texture lends to finishing. and was horribly disappointed. My cake was heavy, dense, fudge like. I was expecting something a bit more cake like. I baked six more with the remaining batter and cooked them a full two minutes longer but the texture was still heavy and dense, just dryer. What went wrong?
Completely worth the time. I was really skeptical about midway through the frosting recipe because I thought there was NO WAY it would come out smooth. The butter, sugar, cocoa combo is very thick. But as soon as I began combining the cream mixture, it all came together. I’m so impressed with this recipe. It took about 3 hours for my frosting to cool enough to thicken, but it was worth the time. So so good! I’ll be using the frosting recipe for more bakes in the future!
first, i want to say that your page is awesome. I made the lemon cupcakes for new years eve and they were a smash. My grandmother used to make a chocolate sheet cake with frosting that looks just like yours. The minute I saw your picture, i knew it was the same and then i saw your ingredients and knew for sure. I love this recipe so much and my grandmother passed away and fore some reason, i never got her recipe. She did not have it written down, it was in her head. I was actually thinking about it last night and thought if anyone would have this it would be you. I am going to make them for a party this weekend and will let you know what everyone thought about them. As a child, i would start with a sliver of a piece and before i know it, i would be half way through the sheet, with a cup of coffee of course. I am so excited and great full.
I like to cook different kind of cup cakes
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