Best Chocolate Cupcakes recipe

Looking for the best chocolate cupcakes recipe ? Follow this easy recipe and my video directions and you'll have soft, super moist and rich chocolate flavor cupcakes to go with your favorite chocolate buttercream frosting.

this recipe

Easy chocolate cupcake recipe

These chocolate cupcakes are the same ones you can find in my hi-hat cupcakes and marshmallow frosting recipe. And it's after the many feedbacks from both my family and my readers that I decided to dedicate a full article on my blog to them.

These chocolate cupcakes clearly seduced everyone who made these them. And even though I'm not a big fan of cakey texture, I'm more attracted to the fudgy texture like this flourless chocolate cake or even denser like the chocolate brownies. Well, I really love this recipe myself because they are absolutely delicious.

These homemade chocolate cupcake recipe are the perfect base for all your homemade chocolate cupcakes. They are light, rich in chocolate flavor and perfect with a chocolate frosting like chocolate buttercream, chocolate ganache like here or a chocolate mascarpone whipped cream.

And if you like spongey cakes then you can also use this recipe to make a chocolate cake for your layer cake recipe instead of cupcake recipe.

Composition of the best chocolate cupcakes

And did you know that you only need simple ingredients to make these homemade chocolate cupcakes. Nothing too complicated except for the buttermilk. I use buttermilk in many of my recipes because it gives incredible results like in this recipe for vanilla cupcakes with lemon icing.

But don't worry, buttermilk can easily be replaced by other ingredients such as yogurt, milk and even sour cream. Your recipe will still be perfect and you will still have that soft texture that makes them so perfect.

Also made of unsweetened cocoa powder that brings that chocolate flavor and vegetable oil that gives it that super moist texture.

Tip: And you can enhance the taste of chocolate and make its texture denser by easily adding semi sweet chocolate chips. I give you a note in the recipe card.

Ingredients to make the chocolate cupcakes

• Flour: Use white wheat all purpose flour, you can easily replace the all purpose flour with a gluten-free flour like rice flour.
• Cocoa powder: Use unsweetened cocoa powder to add the chocolate flavor.
• Baking soda: To make the cupcake batter rise, you can replace it with baking powder.
• Salt: Essential to bring out all the flavors.
• Vegetable oil: Use vegetable oil instead of unsalted butter such as grape seed oil or coconut oil that provides a moist texture.
• Sugar: Use white granulated sugar or you can replace it with brown sugar.
• Eggs: At room temperature.
• Vanilla extract: Adds a delicious vanilla flavor by adding pure vanilla extract.
• Buttermilk: You can replace it with milk, sour cream or plain yogurt, the acidity of the buttermilk adds a more tender texture and makes the cake softer and super moist.

Useful tools : Cupcakes pan, baking cups

How to make chocolate cupcakes

No need to get out your electric mixer or turn on your stand mixer to make this recipe. You'll only need your hands and a whisk to make the batter.

Mix the dry ingredients

1. In a small bowl, put all the dry ingredients, all purpose flour, unsweetened cocoa powder, salt and baking soda (or baking powder instead).
2. With a tablespoon, whisk together all ingredients until you have a homogeneous mixture.
3. And set aside.

Tip: You can sift all the ingredients to make sure the cocoa powder and flour are well mixed.

Beat the wet ingredients

1. In a large bowl, place the vegetable oil, granulated sugar, room temperature eggs and vanilla.
2. Then, using your hand whisk, mix until you have a homogeneous mixture.

Tip: Stir enough to dissolve the sugar into the mixture.

Stir in remaining ingredients

• Add alternately the mixture of dry ingredients and the buttermilk to the bowl containing the wet ingredients, oil, sugar and eggs.
• While mixing with the hand whisk gently until you obtain a homogeneous and smooth mixture.

Tip: The batter is liquid, so don't worry, it's perfectly normal.

Baking chocolate cupcakes

• Preheat the oven to 350°F / 175°C and prepare a standard muffin tins or cupcake pan with cupcake liners.
• Using an ice cream scoop or a tablespoon, fill the cupcake liners halfway with the cake batter mixture.
• Bake for about 15 minutes until the chocolate cupcakes have puffed up to the top of the paper liners.
• The chocolate cupcakes are done when the toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Be careful not to overcook them or they will dry out and lose their moisture.
• Let them cool a bit before removing them from the muffin tins and place them on a rack to cool completely.

Tip: Be careful to fill the cupcake liner by ½ full and not ¾ full or they will overflow.

Which frosting to choose to decorate your chocolate cupcakes

What makes the difference between cupcake recipes and muffin recipes is the topping that is added. This makes these cupcake recipes really appetizing and very pretty. You can add plenty of chocolate frosting to go with these chocolate cupcake. You have the choice in flavors or if you prefer to stay on a chocolate buttercream frosting, then you are right.

• Vanilla mascarpone whipped cream
• Chocolate ganache
• White chocolate Swiss meringue buttercream
• American buttercream
• Cream cheese frosting
• Russian Buttercream

Tip: Mix flavors like chocolate raspberry, strawberry and chocolate, banana and chocolate etc.

Conservation

Room temperature: The chocolate cupcakes will keep for about a week in a storage box with a tight fitting lid and without the frosting of course.

In the freezer: And you can even make ahead of time your chocolate cupcake or keep them for a very long time by storing them in your freezer for up to 3 months. When they are baked and cooled, place them in a storage box or in freezer storage bags. Just let them thaw out of the freezer at room temperature gently.

Others recipes

• Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting
• Peanut butter chocolate chip cookies
• Easy carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese frosting
• Brown butter recipe

Did you like this recipe? Don't forget to rate it and leave me a review in comments! And to not miss any recipes follow @sweetlycakes on Instagram and tag me to share it if you make this recipe 😊!

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