Homemade chocolate cupcakes are easier than you think to whip up from scratch. These cupcakes are soft, moist, and topped with a velvety chocolate buttercream frosting.
Recipe summary
Flavor/texture: Moist chocolate cupcakes are topped with rich, velvety chocolate buttercream frosting. A classic chocolate cupcake!
Easy to make: The batter is made with two bowls and a spoon, and the frosting whips up quickly while your cupcakes cool.
Yield: 18 cupcakes
Similar to: Chocolate Sheet Cake and Chocolate Layer Cake
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Ingredients and substitutions
- Wet ingredients - Buttermilk, granulated sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla add moisture and flavor to your cupcakes. Reducing or omitting any of these ingredients will result in a dry cupcake. Don't have buttermilk? Add 1.5 teaspoons of white vinegar to a liquid measuring cup, then fill to the ½ cup line with whole milk and wait 5 minutes.
- Dry ingredients - All-purpose flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt balance with the wet ingredients and help your cupcakes rise in the oven.
- Cocoa powder - This recipe is made with natural cocoa powder. Dutch cocoa powder does not work as a substitute because it's less acidic and won't react in the same way. If you decide to use Dutch cocoa anyway, your cupcakes will rise less in the oven and have a darker, milder flavor.
How to make chocolate cupcakes
- Whisk dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
- Mix wet ingredients in a separate bowl.
- Add dry ingredients, half at a time, to the wet ingredients and stir to combine.
- Use a large cupcake scoop for easy batter portioning.
- Portion batter between 18 cupcake liners.
- Bake until the centers pop back when gently pressed.
- While your cupcakes cool, prepare the frosting with a hand mixer.
- Pipe frosting onto cooled cupcakes and serve.
Heather's Top Tip
For accurate results every time, use a kitchen scale to measure flour by weight. If you don't have a kitchen scale, use the spoon and level method. Stir the flour (especially if it's been packed down in a bag/container), then gently spoon into the measuring cup, leveling off the top with a knife. Scooping with a measuring cup compacts flour into the cup and adds up to 25% extra to the recipe, resulting in dry, bland baked goods.
Tips and tricks
Bring ingredients to room temperature - Room temperature buttermilk and eggs blend seamlessly with the other ingredients to create a smooth, even batter.
Don't overmix the batter - All you need is a bowl and a spoon to mix your batter today. Only mix your batter until the ingredients are incorporated. Overmixing your batter can whip extra air in, causing your cupcakes to rise quickly and then fall in the center when they bake.
Allow cupcakes to cool - Do not unwrap your chocolate cupcakes while they're still warm. Your cupcakes will stick to the liners until they are fully cooled throughout. Once cooled, your cupcakes will easily unwrap.
Do not frost warm cupcakes - Buttercream is sensitive to heat and will melt between 90 to 95 degrees Fahrenheit. Instead, allow cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.
Testing for doneness - I use these three methods every time I bake a cake.
- Thermometer - Use an instant read thermometer to test for doneness. Cake is done when it reaches 210 degrees Fahrenheit in the center.
- Jiggle test - Gently jiggle the pan. Is your cake still jiggly and liquid in the middle? It needs more time.
- Spring back - Gently press the top of your cake. If it springs right back, your cake is done. If it leaves an indent, it needs more time.
Frequently asked questions
To bring eggs to room temperature quickly, place whole eggs in a bowl of warm water for ten minutes. Buttermilk can be microwaved in 10 to 15 second increments, stirring in between, until room temperature. Take care not to bring milk to a warm or hot temperature. Hot ingredients can ruin the texture of the batter, causing cupcakes to turn out dense when baked.
Buttercream frosting is made with two main ingredients: confectioner's sugar and butter. It's popular because it's easy to prepare with minimal ingredients. However, because it's mainly made of sugar, it's very sweet. Unfortunately, making it with less sugar means it will begin to taste like butter, the other main ingredient. Instead, I highly recommend making a frosting that's already written to include less sugar, like ermine frosting. You could also add a dollop of whipped cream instead.
For years I've used this simple Wilton cupcake decorating kit (Amazon) to decorate my cupcakes. It comes with four piping tips, bags, and easy to read instructions. I also purchased this additional coupler (Amazon) to make it easy to secure the piping tips and to change out tips halfway through decorating.
Yes, with adjustments. Follow my recipes for Chocolate Layer Cake or Chocolate Sheet Cake, which use the same recipe adjusted for larger pan sizes.
The reason natural cocoa powder can't be substituted with Dutch process cocoa powder is because they have different levels of acidity. Each type works differently with the rest of the ingredients in the recipe. I have formulated this recipe to work with natural cocoa powder, so this is the type of cocoa you will need. If you only have Dutch process cocoa powder on hand, I suggest searching for a Dutch process cupcake recipe so that you can guarantee your cupcakes will turn out properly.
Troubleshooting
Cupcake can turn out dense from expired leavening, overmixing the wet and dry ingredients (this overworks the gluten) or adding extra wet ingredients (like adding sour cream or applesauce to make cupcakes "extra moist"). If the balance of wet and dry ingredients is off, this can cause a change in texture, preventing your cupcakes from rising properly in the oven.
Sinking can happen for many reasons. Overmixing the batter (which adds extra air that's released during baking), underbaking, using expired leavening, using the wrong leavening, or accidentally doubling the leavening can all cause your cupcakes to sink in the middle.
This can be caused by humidity in your home or storing cupcakes in a sealed container while they're still warm. This can't really be fixed, but can easily be covered with frosting.
Baked goods can turn out dry for a few reasons:
- Baking too long.
- Adding too many dry ingredients.
- Adding too few wet ingredients.
- Butter-based cake is refrigerated (it feels dry when chilled, but softens when it comes back to room temperature).
It's important to follow the recipe exactly, including the measurements and exact ingredients listed. I recommend using an instant-read thermometer to make sure your cake doesn't get overbaked in the oven.
Recommended
📖 Recipe
Homemade Chocolate Cupcakes
Ingredients
Chocolate Cupcakes
- 1 cup (120 g) all-purpose flour
- ½ cup (42 g) natural cocoa powder, (NOT dutch process)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (198 g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup (113 g) buttermilk
- ½ cup (113 g) warm water
- ¼ cup (50 g) vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
- 1.5 cups (339 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 4 cups (454 g) confectioner's sugar
- 6 tablespoons (32 g) cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup (57 g) heavy cream, or milk
Instructions
Chocolate Cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 325℉. Line a cupcake pan with liners and set aside.
- To a large bowl add your dry ingredients : flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Whisk to remove clumps and set aside.
- In a separate bowl, add your wet ingredients: granulated sugar, eggs, buttermilk, warm water, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract. Stir until combined.
- Add half of the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined. Add remaining dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
- Divide cupcake batter between 18 cupcake liners, filling about halfway full. Bake in preheated oven for about 18-20 minutes, or until cupcakes pop back when gently pressed in the center. If an indent is left, your cupcakes need more time.
- Remove pan from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before transferring cupcakes to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Chocolate buttercream frosting
- To a large bowl add your butter. Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat until creamy and smooth, about a minute. Add confectioner's sugar 1 cup at a time until incorporated. Add cocoa powder and mix until incorporated. Add vanilla extract and heavy cream and whip at high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Pipe or spread frosting with a knife onto cupcakes and serve.
Equipment Recommendations
Notes
- Serve fresh: Cupcakes are best served the same day of baking, but will remain moist for 3-4 days when covered in a sealed container at room temperature.
- Frosting yield: Amount of frosting is enough to frost generously with a knife or to pipe tall frosting (as shown in the photos). For a thin layer of frosting, I recommend cutting the frosting recipe in half.
- More tips: Be sure to check out my 10 tips for baking cake, based on reader comments and questions!
can i use coconut oil rather than vegetable oil?
Thanks
Yes, vegetable oil can be substituted with melted coconut oil.
Can I substitute coffee for the warm water?
Yes, the water can be substituted with coffee for a more intense flavor.
Can you freeze these cupcakes and your white ones?
Yes, these cupcakes and the white cupcakes can all be frozen!
I made these and they were so moist and chocolatey.
I adjusted the frosting amounts and found there was still enough for 3 rounds of icing. My heavy cream was out of date so used skimmed milk as this was all I had, it was still creamy and light. Also only had canola oil as was told you can interchange these with sunflower, and vegetable oil... Results very tasty chocolate cakes.
Can I use this recipe for a layer cake??
Hi Caroline, I am working on turning all of my cupcake recipes into cake recipes, but haven't tested this one yet. As written, I think this recipe would make a thin 8 or 9 inch 2-layer cake. If you want to give it a try, I'd guess that about 1.5x this recipe would make a standard size 8 or 9 inch 2-layer cake.
Can I use cake flour for this recipe?
Yes, you can! I've used cake flour and all-purpose successfully with this recipe.
why I can't use dutch processed cocoa?
Hi Ann, dutch cocoa has much less acidity than natural cocoa powder. I developed this recipe with natural cocoa powder, which will work perfectly with the amounts of baking powder, baking soda, and buttermilk listed. When substituting natural cocoa powder for dutch cocoa, you'd also need to change the amounts of leavening agents in the recipe, which can get tricky. I haven't tested this recipe with dutch cocoa, so it technically could work with some adjustments, but I don't want you to waste your ingredients if it doesn't work out. I'd suggest searching for a cupcake recipe that specifically asks for dutch cocoa if that is what you have on hand. Hope this helps!
Literally just made these today. Unfortunately I overbaked them just a tad. His was my first time making homemade cupcakes. I didn't make the buttercream icing since I did not have heavy cream. But next time I make these I may put mini chocolate chips in the batter to give it that extra chocolatey tast ☺️😋
Sounds like a great idea to add chocolate chips! Let us know how the next batch goes.
You can use milk in the frosting instead of heavy cream, it just won't be quite as creamy 😊
I have just printed the recipe and added what I need to a grocery list! My kids are going to love them!
I hope your family enjoys them! Come back and let us know how they turn out 😊