My easy chocolate cupcake recipe yields two-dozen light, fluffy, and chocolatey cupcakes that are better than a box-mix (and just as easy!). Made quickly and easily in one bowl, they can be baked and frosted in less than an hour. Recipe includes a how-to video!
The Perfect Chocolate Cupcakes
You’re going to be so happy you found this recipe. After all, who doesn’t love a perfectly balanced chocolate cupcake (preferably topped with a generous swirl of chocolate buttercream). My recipe is incredibly moist, so soft, and so perfectly fluffy. Taste wise, they’re sweet without being too sweet and have a pronounced chocolate flavor (I’ll share a few tricks to pull this off). Plus, they’re incredibly quick and easy to make in just one bowl!
I first published this recipe six years ago and it’s been a huge hit with my readers and my own faithful go-to chocolate cupcake recipe (I prefer my slightly heavier chocolate cake recipe for cakes). However, the original recipe made a large, awkward number of cupcakes, so I’ve scaled down the recipe to now make a neat 24 cupcakes with subtly domed tops.
What You Need
Making chocolate cupcakes from scratch is just as easy as using a box mix, but they taste so much better. Here are a few of the ingredients you’ll be using today:
- Cocoa powder. I recommend using natural, regular cocoa powder in your chocolate cupcakes. Dutch process will change the flavor and could impact the texture (if the baking soda isn’t fully neutralized), so I’d recommend sticking with the recipe as written.
- Hot water/coffee. It is very important that you use a hot liquid (the hotter the better, but be careful not to splash yourself with it while mixing) as this reacts with the cocoa powder, causing it to “bloom” and fully develop the rich flavor of the cocoa.
- Oil. Don’t be tempted to replace the oil with melted butter, please! Using oil makes these chocolate cupcakes super moist without weighing them down. The cocoa powder (when bloomed by the hot liquid) provides plenty of flavor, so butter is unnecessary (never would have thought I would type those words!) and actually yields a less-desirable cupcake.
- Cornstarch. I’ve updated this recipe to include a tablespoon of cornstarch. One of my favorite secret ingredients (you may recognize it from my best chocolate chip cookies), this simple addition keeps them tender, soft, and fluffy and it also gives these formerly completely flat cupcakes a slight rounded dome.
SAM’S TIP: If you choose to use coffee, your chocolate cupcakes will not taste mocha-esque; rather the coffee helps to enhance the rich chocolate flavors of the cocoa powder. I recommend you use it!
Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make My Favorite Chocolate Cupcake Recipe
Make the Batter
- Whisk all of the dry ingredients and sugar together.
- Add the oil, egg, and vanilla and mix to combine. It’ll seem a bit stiff, dry and crumbly, but just keep mixing and go until all of the dry ingredients are moistened. Feel free to use your electric mixer for this step, but I usually just use a spatula.
- Slowly drizzle in the milk and continue stirring until the batter looks uniform.
- Gradually and carefully add the hot liquid and mix until everything is completely combined.
SAM’S TIP: While you might be able to get away with using buttermilk straight from the fridge, room temp eggs are key here! If your eggs are cold, straight from the fridge, they will not incorporate well into your dry ingredients, leaving you with a batter that’s clumpy, clunky, and not uniform. This can lead to sunken or otherwise wonky cupcakes.
Divide the Batter & Bake
It’s very important to not fill your cupcake liners higher than ⅔ full. If you do, the batter will spread out over the tops and the resulting cupcakes will have flat tops that are likely to sink in on themselves. Opt for under-filling rather than over-filling, and if you do happen to have leftover batter, make extra cupcakes or discard it.
- Evenly divide the batter among a lined cupcake pan and bake for 17-19 minutes.
- Let cupcakes cool completely before frosting.
SAM’S TIP: I recommend baking one pan of chocolate cupcakes at a time, just in case your oven bakes unevenly or does something funky while baking, or even just in case you accidentally leave the first batch in too long. The batter will be fine to wait on the counter while the first batch bakes!
While you can always stick with chocolate buttercream (shown here), my chocolate cupcake recipe tastes lovely with just about any topping. Some of my top recommendations are brown butter frosting (my husband’s favorite pairing), marshmallow frosting, cream cheese frosting, peanut butter frosting (perfect for peanut butter & chocolate lovers!), Swiss meringue buttercream, or vanilla frosting.
Frequently Asked Questions
This chocolate cupcake batter will be very, very thin–much different from the thick batter of my vanilla cake. It’ll seem almost watery/soupy. This is normal and means you’ve done everything right!
While I do have a great chocolate cake recipe, you can use this recipe to make a two layer 8″ or 9″ cake. I provide instructions on how to do this in the recipe notes.
I don’t recommend it. This batter was carefully developed and the inclusion of the cocoa is critical for the proper texture. Even if you swapped an equal amount of flour, it’s not likely to turn out nearly as well as a recipe that was actually designed to be a vanilla cupcake. I suggest you make my easy vanilla cupcake recipe instead!
With only 15 minutes to prep and only one bowl to dirty, what are you waiting for!?
Enjoy!
Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook
Truly the Best Chocolate Cupcake Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ⅔ cups (333 g) granulated sugar
- 1 ½ cups (188 g) all-purpose flour
- ⅔ cup (65 g) natural cocoa powder see note 1
- 1 Tablespoon cornstarch see note 2
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon table salt
- ½ cup (118 ml) avocado, canola or vegetable oil
- 1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk room temperature preferred
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ⅔ cup (157 ml) whole milk room temperature preferred
- 1 cup (236 ml) hot coffee see note 3, may substitute hot water
- 1 batch chocolate buttercream or preferred frosting
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- Arrange rack to center of oven and preheat oven to 350F (175C). Line two 12-count muffin tins with paper liners.
- In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt (I make this recipe with an electric mixer but it can be done by hand using a whisk and spatula instead).1 ⅔ cups (333 g) granulated sugar, 1 ½ cups (188 g) all-purpose flour, ⅔ cup (65 g) natural cocoa powder, 1 Tablespoon cornstarch, 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder, 1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda, 1 teaspoon table salt
- Add canola oil, egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract and stir until batter is combined (it will be a bit dry and crumbly but all of the flour mixture should be moistened before proceeding).½ cup (118 ml) avocado, canola or vegetable oil, 1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Drizzle in milk while stirring and stir until batter is uniform and completely combined.⅔ cup (157 ml) whole milk
- Gradually add hot coffee or hot water (take care not to burn yourself!) and stir until liquid is completely incorporated into the batter and you have a smooth chocolate batter. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure everything is well-combined. The batter will be very thin, this is normal!1 cup (236 ml) hot coffee
- Evenly divide batter into prepared muffin tin, but take care to fill liners between ½ and not more than ⅔ of the way full, this is typically about 3 Tablespoons of batter or less per cupcake liner. Over-filled liners will result in cupcakes with flat tops and they may cave in on themselves. If you have excess batter, discard it (or make extra cupcakes!).
- Transfer one pan of cupcakes to 350F (175C) preheated oven and bake for 17-19 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs (or clean). Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes in baking pan before carefully removing to cooling rack to cool completely before frosting (I like to use a knife to gently pry up the cupcake from the bottom and then carefully lift it out to a cooling rack). Repeat with second pan of cupcakes
- Once cupcakes have cooled, frost with my chocolate frosting or your favorite frosting recipe.1 batch chocolate buttercream
Notes
Cocoa powder
I recommend using natural unsweetened cocoa powder for best results. However, in a pinch Dutch process cocoa powder can be used instead, but note that the flavor will be slightly different and the cupcakes will be darker.Cornstarch
Cornstarch is my secret ingredient, it makes the cupcakes tender and fluffy and gives them the perfect, slight domed tops. However, if you do not have it on hand you may omit it, note that your cupcakes will likely be flatter though.Hot coffee/hot water
A hot liquid is essential to properly blooming the cocoa powder (which gives the cake a pronounced, rich chocolate flavor). I like to use hot coffee because the coffee flavor enhances the chocolate, making the flavor even richer and deeper. However, you can just use hot water instead. The hotter the liquid the better; boiling is fine, just be careful! Please note I don’t recommend using other hot liquids such as hot chocolate which often have other additives and sugar added and could adversely affect the final outcome.Frosting
I used my Ateco 848 tip to pipe the frosting on the cupcakes in the photos above and in the video. If you wish to frost all of your cupcakes this generously you will want to double the frosting called for in the recipe that I linked to, but honestly you don’t need to and a more modest amount (half the amount shown) works great and allows the cupcake flavor to really shine, it just didn’t look quite as nice in the pictures!Baking chocolate cupcake batter in different sized pans
You may bake these cupcakes in two 8” pans for 35-37 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean with a few moist crumbs. In two 9” pans the cakes will take a bit less time, start checking at 30-32 minutes. This recipe should also work just fine in a 13×9” pan, but I would keep an eye on it as I haven’t tested it in this size pan yet.Original recipe
I’ve received a lot of requests for the original recipe. As I mentioned in my post, this current recipe is the one I recommend, it’s simply scaled down from that one to make an even 24 cupcakes, to prevent the overflowing issue many people were having, and a bit of cornstarch has been added to improve structure. It’s a slightly better cupcake recipe for the changes and I recommend using the recipe as seen here. However, since so many of you have asked, here is the original recipe. Please note that I am not accepting comments or questions on the original and recommend you use the recipe I have published here currently.Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Related Recipes
My chocolate cupcake recipe was originally published in March of 2016. A few small modifications were made to scale the recipe down to 24 even cupcakes without changing the texture, and the post has been updated to be more informative and a how-to video has been added.
ATM
Fantastic recipe! Came out gorgeous. Thanks for that. Used half of all the quantity and made 12 cupcakes.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed the cupcakes so much! 🙂
Jane
I’m not usually the reviewing type, however, these cupcakes are amazing. So light and fluffy. Exactly as promised. Can’t wait to try the vanilla cupcakes!
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you enjoyed them, Jane! Thank you so much for trying my recipe and for commenting. I hope that you love the vanilla cupcakes just a much! 🙂
Maria
Can you use melted butter instead of oil? I just ran out of oil 😭
Sam
Yes that will work but the cupcakes will not be as moist.
KidsBaker
These were just…okay. Even using the oil (instead of butter) and following the recipe exactly, the cupcakes still turned out a little dry. I also lost a full 1/4 of the first batch of cupcakes because the buttering/flouring of the pan was ineffective in keeping the cupcakes from sticking to the pan. The second batch, with a good spray of canola oil to grease the pan first, came out perfectly and I would highly recommend using a non-stick spray over the butter/flour method. WRT the recipe, I used hot coffee instead of hot water and then made the mistake of eating two cupcakes for dessert after dinner. The children and I were bouncing off the walls and couldn’t fall asleep! 😂. The cupcakes tasted better the next day but they also developed a very glossy/shine overnight (is this normal?). Anyway, this was a decent recipe but I’m still on the hunt for a chocolate cupcake recipe that’s a keeper. This one wasn’t for our family.
Sam
I’m so sorry you didn’t enjoy the cupcakes. They shouldn’t be dry. They may have been slightly over-baked if they dry.
Charity Morgan
My favorite chocolate cake recipe…perfectly moist and light and airy. My oven cooks hot, so for the cupcakes, it only takes eleven minutes. For any complaint of dryness, I guarantee it’s due to overtaking. Cake and cupcakes take serious babysitting! I am obsessed with this recipe. Even the icing is addicting. Definitely a keeper, thank you!
Sugar Spun Run
Thank you so much, Charity! I am so glad that you enjoyed them! 🙂
Mara
The best I’ve ever tasted
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you enjoyed them, Mara! Thank you for trying my recipe and for commenting. 🙂
Molly Armstrong
Hello, I am wanting to make these for a party but i have to prep for it so can you freeze these? I know most of the time recipes say you can but i just want to make sure they can be and turn out just as great!
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Molly! You can freeze the baked cupcake, however, I reccomend frosting them when they are ready to be eaten. 🙂
Dua
Keep It Up! The Recipe is Interesting and I’m going to definitely try this tomorrow for my Mom’s Birthday! I have a question here, as it’s going to be my first try so, when it’s time to frost, Will there be a need to Refrigerate the frosting before decorating them, or we should refrigerate the Cupcakes afterwards? Thanks in Advance 😊
Sam
These cupcakes and frosting do not need to be refrigerated. They will be fine to leave at room temperature in an air tight container. 🙂
Shar
Can I use raw cacao powder instead of cocoa powder?
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Shar! Yes, that SHOULD be fine. Cacao powder has a stronger flavor, so you’ll probably have to use less of it than you would cocoa powder. I haven’t tried it personally so you will have to try it. Keep me posted on how it turns out. 🙂
Sheena
This is a fantastic, fuss-free recipe! The cupcakes were light and tasty and the coffee tip worked a treat too. We got 18 regular cupcakes and 20 mini’s out of this recipe, so shall be freezing some for later to ensure I don’t eat them all!
Thanks for sharing 🙂
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you enjoyed them, Sheena! Thanks for commenting and for trying my recipe. 🙂
Mary
I really wanted to love this and I’m glad so many other readers had success with this recipe, but I found this to be SO bland. The batter was runny… I know it’s supposed to be but it was nearly impossible to get the baked cupcake the the correct height and the taste was underwhelming at best.
Sugar Spun Run
I am sorry that you were disappointed with the outcome of your cupcakes, Mary. Did you use any substitutions? I appreciate the feedback and am happy to troubleshoot further. 🙁
Ashley
I made these last night for my son’s 2nd birthday today. Wow. These were amazing. I like them way better than when we ordered some last year for his 1st birthday. Definitely an easy and delicious recipe. Thank you! We also did half the recipe and it was enough for 13 cupcakes.
Sugar Spun Run
Happy 2nd Birthday to your son, Ashley! I am so glad that you enjoyed the cupcakes and found the recipe easy to follow. I hope that your son loves them too and has a wonderful birthday. Thanks for trying my recipe. 🙂
Dawn
I made these this weekend and they were also amazing ! I was so skeptical about putting the coffee in it but it came out so good! Thank you so much for this recipe, you really have a talent.
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you enjoyed them, Dawn! Thank you for trying my recipe and for commenting. 🙂
Donna
Can I substitute sour cream or fat free milk or half and half or any combination of these for whole milk.
Sam
Hi Donna! I think your best shot would be to try the half and half. 🙂
Kelli
Is hot coffee better?
Sam
Hi Kelli! The liquid does need to be hot here. 🙂
Jancris Cada
will i be able to half the recipe to make 12 cupcakes? and how much should i feel the cupcake liners?
Sam
Hi Jancris! Yes you can cut the recipe in half to make just 12 cupcakes. You will want to fill the liners 2/3 of the way full. 😊
Colette
Hi,
Do I need to use cocoa powder? If I don’t can I substitute it?
Sam
Hi Colette! For these chocolate cupcakes you will need the cocoa powder. I don’t know of a substitute. If you don’t have cocoa powder I would recommend trying my Easy Vanilla Cupcake recipe. 🙂
Donna
Have you got the ingredient amounts in grams please? Thanks!
Sam
I’m so sorry I haven’t added those yet, Donna! I will try to get that updated in the next day or two. 🙂
Annette
I forgot the vanilla are they going to taste different
Sam
They won’t have the same depth of flavor but I think they’ll still be good! 🙂