The Best Chocolate Cupcakes
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Soft, fluffy, and light, this Chocolate Cupcake Recipe is truly the best. It’s loaded with chocolate flavor and has a soft crumb that practically melts in your mouth.
I’ve made these cupcakes before. They’re featured in my chocolate raspberry cupcakes post. But I then I thought, as much as I love raspberry… if we’re going to go for it, let’s really go for it. Chocolate cupcakes with a decadent, moist crumb topped with chocolate swiss meringue frosting. It is a choc-a-holics dream come true!
This homemade chocolate cupcake recipe is one of my favorites – no wonder, since it’s adapted from my favorite chocolate cake recipe. I halved the cake recipe and added a touch of oil along with the butter and the results are amazing.
These cupcakes taste decadent and are so soft in the centers. To get enough of that rich chocolate flavor I added both melted chocolate and cocoa powder. This is something I do often when making chocolate cakes.
You’ll also see buttermilk and coffee in the ingredient list. Have I lost my mind? No. Buttermilk adds moisture and tang to the cupcake. The coffee is just a touch – not enough to give you the jitters, but just enough to really bring out the deep chocolate flavor of these cupcakes.
When I was little, if I could scrounge up enough change around the house during the week – I’d splurge on a Hostess Chocolate Cupcake on Fridays at the school cafeteria. I haven’t had one in years, but the nostalgia I have for them is immense. I remember a moist delicious chocolate cupcake surrounding a cream-filled center and topped with a chocolate ganache frosting.
I don’t want to ruin the memory, so I am not going to have one anytime soon. They can continue to live on in my mind as cupcake perfection. But I know in my heart that these homemade chocolate cupcakes are better. The rich and moist cake, the creamy chocolatey frosting… it’s a chocolate lovers dream come true.
For all my chocolate fanatics out there – try this chocolate creme brulee, or get ambitious and make this triple chocolate mousse cake. It’s perfection.
Recipe Snapshot
TASTE: Chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate
TEXTURE: Moist, soft crumb with a smooth frosting.
EASE: Intermediate – a little melting, chopping and folding is involved. But it is well worth it.
TIME: A little over an hour for baking, cooling and frosting.
What You’ll Need
Ingredients
These cupcakes might require a trip to the market, but everything you need should be easily and quickly found. You’re basically going to run through the store and grab as much chocolate as you can.
How to Make Chocolate Cupcakes
This chocolate cupcake with chocolate swiss meringue frosting recipe requires you to melt a little chocolate, make a meringue, and multi-task a little bit, but it is all worth it. These cupcakes are so good they deserve to be on a podium with a medal around their necks.
Be sure to check out the full recipe and ingredient list below
- Combine the dry ingredients. Add the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt to a medium bowl and stir with a whisk to combine.
- Mix the wet ingredients. Beat the butter, oil, and sugar until well combined. Beat in the eggs and vanilla until fully incorporated.
- Add melted chocolate. Whisk in melted chocolate that has been cooled.
- Combine the wet and dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the chocolate mixture, alternating with the buttermilk and coffee. Stir until everything is well combined. The batter will be thick.
- Bake. Fill paper-lined muffin cups ⅔ of the way full with batter. Bake in a 350°F oven for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool until room temperature and frost.
Make the Frosting
- Prepare the egg whites. Combine the sugar, egg whites, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Set the bowl over a saucepan filled with 1 inch of barely simmering water. Whisk gently and continuously while dissolving the sugar and heating the frosting to 150 degrees.
- Beat the meringue. Beat the egg white mixture on medium speed until it is the consistency of shaving cream and the outside of the bowl is no longer warm to the touch, 1-2 minutes. (if the meringue is warm it will melt the butter.)
- Add the butter. Gradually add the butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, fully mixing in before adding the next, until smooth and creamy and all the butter has been added. Then beat on medium-high until light and fluffy.
- Add the cooled, melted chocolate and vanilla. Mix on medium speed until combined. Turn the speed up to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy, about 30 seconds. Frost as desired.
Handy tip:
Buttermilk: If you can’t find buttermilk, make your own by adding a tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice to a one-cup measuring cup. Then add 2% or whole milk to the one-cup line. Give it a stir and let it sit for 5 minutes before using
Tips For Success
- There’s no need for a mixer with this recipe! All you need are a couple of mixing bowls and a whisk. A rubber spatula will be handy too!
- Use a cookie scoop to portion the batter among the prepared cups. I have a 1.5 tablespoon scoop and fill each cup of the muffin tins with 2 scoops. This is the perfect amount of batter.
- If you are sensitive to caffeine, you can use decaf coffee or simply replace it with ¼ cup more buttermilk.
- Pair with your favorite frosting recipe. Don’t have one? Try my chocolate buttercream frosting or cookie butter frosting instead of this chocolate Swiss meringue.
Storage & Freezing
- The cupcakes can be made 1 day in advance before frosting. Cover and refrigerate each overnight. Frost the cupcakes the next day.
- Or the cupcakes can be frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and frost as desired.
The Best Chocolate Cupcakes
Ingredients
For the cupcakes
- 1 cup (130 g) all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup (28 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 ounces (85 g) unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
- ⅓ cup (75 g) unsalted butter, melted
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup (120 ml) buttermilk, at room temperature
- ¼ cup (60 ml) strong brewed coffee, cooled to room temperature
For the frosting
- ⅓ cup (67 g) granulated sugar
- 2 (70 g) large egg whites
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup (170 g) unsalted butter, softened and cut into pieces
- 5 ounces (142 g) semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled to room temperature
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Make the cupcakes
- Heat the oven to 350°F. Line 14 muffin cups with paper liners. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Stir with a whisk and set aside.
- Add the chocolate to a small heatproof bowl and set it over a pot of barely simmering water. Stir continuously until melted and smooth. Remove from heat. Set aside to cool.
- Using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or a handheld electric mixer beat the butter, oil, and sugar together on medium-low speed until light and fluffy.
- Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in the vanilla. Add the melted chocolate and mix until well incorporated.
- With the mixer set to low speed, gradually add half the flour mixture, followed by the buttermilk and coffee, and then the remaining flour mixture. Beat just until combined. The batter will be thick.
- Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups. Bake until the cupcakes are set and just firm to the touch, about 15-20 minutes.
- Cool the cupcakes in the pan for about 10 minutes. Transfer cupcakes to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
Make the frosting
- Combine the sugar, egg whites, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Set the bowl over a saucepan filled with 1 inch of barely simmering water. Whisk gently and continuously while heating the frosting. It should register 150°F on an instant-read thermometer. The sugar should be fully dissolved.
- Transfer the bowl to the stand mixer and fit it with the whisk attachment. Beat on medium speed until the mixture is the consistency of shaving cream and the outside of the bowl is no longer warm to the touch, 1-2 minutes. (if the meringue is warm it will melt the butter.)
- Gradually add the butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, until smooth and creamy. (Only add the next tablespoon of butter once the previous one has been fully mixed in.)
- Once all the butter is added, scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix on medium-high until light and fluffy, about 30 seconds.
- Add the cooled, melted chocolate and vanilla. Mix on medium speed until combined. Turn the speed up to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy, about 30 seconds.
Notes
- Coffee: If you are sensitive to caffeine, you can use decaf coffee or simply replace it with ¼ cup more buttermilk.
- Frosting: Instead of the chocolate swill meringue, you can pair the cupcakes with this chocolate frosting or cookie butter frosting.
- The cupcakes can be made 1 day in advance before frosting. Cover and refrigerate each overnight. Frost the cupcakes the next day.
- Or the cupcakes can be frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and frost as desired.
Nutrition
The nutrition information provided is for convenience and as a courtesy only. It is not guaranteed to be accurate because nutrition information can vary for a variety of reasons. For precise nutritional data use your preferred nutrition calculator and input the exact ingredients and brands you used in the recipe.
This recipe is epic, though I tried it several times, my cupcakes doesn’t rise perfectly in the oven. Please help
First, check to ensure your baking powder and soda are still good. Second, make sure you are not overmixing the batter.
Thanks for this recipe. Coffee is a fantastic cupcake ingredient. The results are sort of epic.
I love this site and all your recipes and blog pieces and I just made this and it’s easily one of my favorites if not my favorite, I was wondering though what you may suggest to someone using this recipe to try and make a cake?
It’s possible the recipe could be baked in a single 9-inch pan. You’d just need to watch it closely as the bake time may need to be adjusted. However, I haven’t baked this recipe that way so I can’t say for sure how it’s going to turn out. Good luck and let me know how it goes.
Hi Jen,
I am searching for low fat recipes. I am new to this low fat diet and am trying to figure things out. Your 3 grams of total fat per cupcake caught my attention. Then I looked over the list of ingredients. By my calculations (taking each measured ingredient and determining the total fat according to the serving size amount on the package label then combining all of them), each cupcake has 10 grams of fat. There is a big difference. Can you explain how you determined 3 grams of total fat for each cupcake? I must be doing this all wrong.
Thank you,
Debby
This information is provided as a courtesy by an online nutrition calculator and is not guaranteed to be accurate. For more accurate information, use an online calculator with the exact brand of ingredients you plan to use in the recipe. Or seek advice from a nutritionist or medical professional.
Hi Jen! Thank you so much for sharing such a wonder and a well balanced recipe. It wasn’t too sweet, perfectly chocolatey and very soft!
Our stores here in SA don’t sell all purpose flour. They have cake wheat flour instead. Will it work? Want to try these. They look yum
Cake flour is a softer flour than all-purpose so it’s going to give you different results. I’ve not made the recipe with cake flour so I can’t tell you if any other adjustments will need to be made.