This best chocolate cupcake recipe packs as much chocolate flavor as you can get into one small treat. Decadent chocolate cake is topped with a delicious chocolate frosting — it’s sure to curb any chocolate craving!
The best part of this easy cupcake recipe is that it’s so simple. There aren’t any fancy tricks or ingredients — it’s just a straightforward recipe that results in a heavenly handheld dessert.
If you’ve been on a search for the most amazing chocolate cupcake recipe, you’ve found it. This is bound to be your new favorite go-to cupcake!
Common Questions about the Best Chocolate Cupcake Recipe
How do I make sure my cupcakes are moist?
Not overmixing is the key to the best moist cupcakes. This allows air bubbles to form in the batter which then contributes to creating a moist cupcake while baking.
How can I keep cupcakes moist?
Once you’ve done the work of creating a perfectly moist cupcake you don’t want it to dry out. Be sure to store the cupcakes in a sealed container or wrap them tightly with plastic wrap so that they do not lose moisture.
When should I frost the cupcakes?
You’ll want to wait for them to cool but after that, it’s ideal to frost them as soon as possible. Frosting helps the cupcakes to retain their moist texture.
Other Homemade Cake Recipes to Try
Here are some more of our favorite homemade cake recipes.
- Best Yellow Cake Recipe
- World’s Best Chocolate Cake
- Vanilla Bundt Cake
- Strawberry Cake
- Homemade Funfetti Cake
- Best White Cake Recipe
- Chocolate Raspberry Cake
Making the Best Chocolate Cupcakes Ahead of Time
You can prepare the frosting, the cupcakes, or both ahead of time and frost just before serving if you choose.
Try these other great frosting recipes too
- Oreo Frosting
- Strawberry Buttercream
- Cream Cheese Frosting
- Coffee Buttercream
- Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
- Eggnog Frosting
- Cake Batter Frosting
- Swiss Meringue Buttercream
- Maple Frosting
- Cookie Dough Frosting
- Lemon Buttercream
- Peanut Butter Frosting
- Caramel Frosting
- Stabilized Whipped Cream
- Best Bakery Buttercream Frosting
Storage
Since the frosting is buttercream, these cupcakes do need to be kept chilled when they’re not being served.
Refrigerator: Keep these cupcakes in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 4-6 days.
Freezing: Freeze cupcakes for up to 3 months in a freezer-safe container either frosted or unfrosted.
Tips For The Best Chocolate Cupcakes
Just a few tricks will make sure that you get the best results when you’re making this easy recipe.
- Pay close attention to the amount of heavy cream that you add to the frosting. If it’s too thin, it will drip down the sides.
- Be sure to wait until the cupcake completely cools before frosting them to avoid the frosting becoming liquefied.
- Be sure to use unsweetened Greek yogurt so that the cupcake isn’t too sweet.
Ingredients
Make sure that all ingredients are at room temperature before beginning to bake.
Cupcakes
- Brown sugar
- All-purpose flour (sifted)
- Baking powder
- Cocoa powder (sifted)
- Buttermilk
- Vegetable oil
- Greek yogurt (no sugar added)
- Eggs (small)
- Hot coffee
Chocolate Buttercream
- Butter (softened)
- Natural cocoa powder
- Confectioner’s sugar (sifted)
- Salt
- Heavy cream
Kitchen Supplies You’ll Need
There are just a few kitchen essentials that you’ll need to bake up the best cupcakes.
- Cupcake pan
- Whisk
- Stand mixer (or electric mixer) with a whisk attachment
- Large mixing bowl
- Medium bowl
- Piping bag (or ziploc bag with the corner snipped off)
- Cupcake liners
- Rubber Spatula
How to Make The Best Chocolate Cupcake Ever
You’ll never want any other chocolate cupcake after trying this one!
Cupcakes
- Sift all of the dry ingredients for the cupcakes (except the sugar) into a medium sized bowl.
- Pour in the sugar and mix well.
- Add the eggs, buttermilk, vanilla, oil, and Greek yogurt to the large bowl of a stand mixer (or use a hand mixer).
- Whisk the ingredients until they are completely combined.
- Stir the coffee into the other wet ingredients.
- Pour the dry ingredients in the egg mixture.
- Mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened while continuously scraping the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Avoid overmixing.
- Pour the batter into the piping bag.
- Pipe the cupcake batter into papers lining the muffin tin.
- Bake the cupcakes for the recommended time period.
- When the center of the cupcake springs back after being lightly pressed with your finger they can be removed from the oven.
- Allow the cupcakes to cool to temperature on a cooling rack.
- Place the buttercream in a piping bag.
- Pipe the buttercream onto the cupcakes by swirling from the center.
Buttercream
- Place the butter, vanilla, salt, and cocoa powder in the bowl of a stand mixer.
- On high speed, mix the ingredients together until they are creamed.
- Turn the mixer to low speed and add half the confectioner’s sugar.
- Once the powdered sugar is incorporated, add the other half. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl while mixing.
- Incrementally add the whipping cream to the mixture until reaching the consistency that you prefer.
What to Serve With The Best Chocolate Cupcakes
You may not want anything to steal the spotlight from all of the chocolatey goodness. But if you do, there are a few things to serve these with.
- Fruit – Serve these with brightly flavored fresh berries.
- Frozen treats – A scoop of your favorite flavored ice cream or gelato is a perfect accompaniment.
- Coffee drinks – Whether it’s regular, decaf, or an espresso martini, the flavor of coffee complements the chocolate.
Why You Should Make This Recipe
If these cupcakes being the “best” isn’t enough of a reason to bake these, here are a few others to motivate you!
- Delicious – The double dose of chocolate from the buttercream and the cake is perfect for chocolate lovers.
- Easy – With simple ingredients and only a few steps, these cupcakes are incredibly easy for any baker to whip up.
- Versatile – These cupcakes are just as good for a special occasion as they are for keeping around to nosh on when you have a sweet tooth.
- Convenient – Most of the ingredients are likely already in your pantry or fridge.
Variations and Add-ins
Since these are the best chocolate cupcakes you may not want to change anything at all, but if you do, there are a few fun ways to do it.
- Topping – Instead of chocolate buttercream you can try a vanilla buttercream, a cream cheese frosting, or your favorite flavor.
- Garnish – Try sprinkling some decorator’s sugar on top or place a few sugar pearls on top of the frosting for an elegant finish.
- Nuts – Crush your favorite nuts and sprinkle them on top.
- Chocolate – For even more chocolate, try topping with shaved chocolate curls. Or, fold dark chocolate or milk chocolate chips into the batter.
- Fruit – Add one or two slices of strawberry to the top.
- Sour cream – Instead of Greek yogurt you can use sour cream.
- Extract – You can add vanilla extract to bring out the sweet flavors of the cake or coffee extract to impart coffee flavor.
If you love this Best Chocolate Cupcake Recipe, you’re going to love these other cake recipes too. Please click each link below to find the easy, printable recipe!
Other Chocolatey Desserts
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Best Chocolate Cupcake Recipe
Ingredients
Cupcake:
- 1 ½ cups brown sugar
- 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour sifted
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ⅓ cup cocoa powder sifted
- ⅔ cup buttermilk
- 6 tablespoons vegetable oil
- ¼ cup greek yogurt no sugar added
- 3 small eggs
- ¼ cup hot coffee
Chocolate Buttercream:
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- ⅓ cup cocoa powder
- 5 cups confectioner's sugar sifted
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream You can use a bit more depending on the texture you desire. Try adding one tablespoon at a time to reach the consistency you would like.
Instructions
Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Add papers to a cupcake tin.
- In a medium bowl mix all of the dry ingredients. Make sure they are sifted except for the sugar. Whisk until combined.
- In a stand mixer, add the eggs, buttermilk, vanilla, oil, and Greek yogurt. Whisk until combined. Add the coffee at the end.
- Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix until combined. Try not to over mix. Make sure you constantly scraping the sides of the bowl with a spatula.
- Pour the batter into a piping bag, and pipe some of it into each of the papers in the cupcake tins. Fill up to ⅔ full.
- Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until the center springs back when pressed with your finger.
- Once they are ready, make sure they are completely cool before you add the buttercream.
- Add the buttercream to a piping bag with the tip of your choice.
- Swirl the buttercream onto each cupcake. Start at the center and rotate them a bit and continue squeezing, lift for a nice tip. You can also start at the center, and move towards the edge creating a nice flower design.
Buttercream:
- Cream the butter with the vanilla, salt, and cocoa powder in a stand mixing bowl.
- Add the confectioner’s sugar in two parts. Mix until combined. Make sure you scrape off the sides and bottom to make sure you’ve got all of the butter and sugar perfectly mixed.
- Little by little begin to add the whipping cream. One tablespoon at a time until you have reached the consistency you would like. It shouldn’t be too soft because you do not want it to fall down the sides. You want it a bit thick and spongy, so you can pipe a nice flower or design on top of your cupcakes.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information for the recipe is provided as a courtesy and is approximate. Please double-check with your own dietary calculator for the best accuracy. We at Yummi Haus cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site.
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