Dark Chocolate Mini Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Frosting
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These Dark Chocolate Mini Cupcakes are frosted with a rich salted caramel frosting for an indulgent, bite-sized treat. This recipe takes less than an hour to make and makes plenty to share. Perfect for parties! Recipe includes a how-to video!
Chocolatey, Bite-Sized Bliss
It’s not often that I share a mini dessert (you know I like my sweets as big as they can be), but these mini cupcakes are the exception. With their fluffy, moist, and rich dark chocolate bases and their equally indulgent caramel frosting, a bite is really all you need. Sure, maybe I still eat three (or five) in one sitting, but that’s neither here nor there! 🤪
These cupcakes truly melt in your mouth and are my favorite match for my caramel frosting–though of course you could use a different type (like peanut butter frosting!). Since the frosting is so sweet and rich, it really goes well with the subtly bitter dark chocolate in the cake. Add a bit of sea salt on top (don’t forget it!) and you have an incredible flavor pairing!
Why you’ll love this recipe:
- Takes less than 40 minutes to make.
- Makes a lot of cupcakes–great for parties!
- The cupcake batter can easily be made by hand (no mixer!).
- Pairs beautifully with my pipeable (!!) caramel frosting.
What You Need
You can make these adorable mini cupcakes with just a few ingredients:
- Dark cocoa powder. You could substitute Dutch process cocoa powder, but the cupcakes won’t be true “dark” chocolate or as dark in color. They’ll still taste amazing, though!
- Corn starch. I love using cornstarch to make my cakes and cupcakes tender, but still sturdy enough to withstand a heavy application of frosting.
- Egg + Egg yolk. The extra yolk adds tenderness as well so these cupcakes truly melt in your mouth.
- Hot coffee. Hot coffee is a key ingredient in many of my chocolate cake recipes. It won’t make your cupcakes taste like coffee, but it will bring out the chocolate flavor. If you don’t have coffee, hot water will work too–just make sure whatever you use is hot!
SAM’S TIP: This recipe makes a lot of mini cupcakes (over 70!), but since they’re so small and poppable everyone is going to want at least one. You could try halving the recipe, but it could get tricky with some of the measurements.
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 Mini Cupcakes
- Combine the dry ingredients and sugar in a large bowl.
- Stir in the oil, eggs, and vanilla.
- Gradually add the milk, then carefully stir in the coffee.
- Divide the batter into a lined muffin tin and bake for 14-15 minutes.
- Let the cupcakes cool in their pan for 15 minutes before moving to a cooling rack.
- Frost with caramel frosting and top with sea salt.
SAM’S TIP: Your batter will be pretty dry and crumbly before adding your liquids, and after adding all the liquids, it will be very thin. Both are normal!
Frequently Asked Questions
You use my recipe for dark chocolate cupcakes, but I will warn you, the combination of the fudgy cupcake and salted caramel frosting really is rich! A bite size is really the my favorite way to go.
Even though they’re mini, you’ll still want to fill your liners 2/3 full. This should be about a tablespoon (or maybe a little more) for mini cupcakes. I like to use my 1.5 tablespoon cookie scoop (not filled all the way, of course) for easy portioning and filling.
I’m fine leaving them out for about 2 days at room temperature (in an airtight container), but beyond that I’d refrigerate.
Don’t forget that sea salt topping!
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
Dark Chocolate Mini Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Frosting
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ⅔ cups (333 g) granulated sugar
- 1 ½ cups (188 g) all-purpose flour
- ⅔ cup (65 g) dark cocoa powder
- 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (118 ml) avocado, canola or vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg + 1 egg yolk
- ⅔ cup (157 ml) whole milk
- 1 cup (236 ml) hot coffee, (see note)
- 1 batch caramel frosting
- Flaky sea salt, for sprinkling
Instructions
- Note: If you are making the accompanying caramel frosting that I’ve linked to in the “Ingredients” section, I recommend making the caramel before beginning the cupcakes to give it ample time to cool.
- Preheat oven to 350F (175C) and line a 24-count mini muffin tin with paper liners. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.1 ⅔ cups (333 g) granulated sugar, 1 ½ cups (188 g) all-purpose flour, ⅔ cup (65 g) dark cocoa powder, 1 Tablespoon cornstarch, 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder, 1 ¼ teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon salt
- Add canola oil, egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract and stir until well-combined.½ cup (118 ml) avocado, canola or vegetable oil, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 large egg + 1 egg yolk
- Stir in milk until thoroughly-combined, then stir in hot coffee. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and then stir again to ensure you have a uniform, well-combined batter.⅔ cup (157 ml) whole milk, 1 cup (236 ml) hot coffee
- Divide better into mini muffin tin, filling liners ½-⅔ of the way full.
- Bake on 350F (175C) for 14-15 minutes or cupcake tops spring back lightly when touched and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
- Allow to cool for 15 minutes then carefully remove to a cooling rack (I gently pry them up with a butter knife) to cool completely before covering with caramel frosting.
- Decorate with caramel frosting then sprinkle with flaky sea salt. I used the Wilton 2D tip for icing the cupcakes in the photos.1 batch caramel frosting, Flaky sea salt
Notes
Muffin tin
This recipe makes 72+ mini cupcakes. If you only have one mini muffin tin, you can leave the batter on the counter while the first batch bakes, then upon removing from the oven allow the cupcakes to cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes before carefully removing them to a cooling rack to cool completely. Let the tin cool completely (this should happen pretty quickly once the tin is empty) before refilling with liners and batter.Hot Coffee
Coffee contributes a bolder, darker, chocolatier taste to the cupcakes, but you may substitute hot water instead. The important thing is that the liquid you use is very hot so that the cocoa powder can “bloom”, giving you a rich dark chocolate taste.Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this? Leave a comment below!
This frosting is a complete disaster. Ruined the cupcakes even after adding a ton more powdered sugar to try to get it so that it didn’t turn into mush atop the cupcakes. Yes, the caramel base was cooled first and the cupcakes were completely cool. Use a different icing recipe!
So sorry to hear it didn’t turn out for you! I personally love this frosting and it works great for me every time, if it didn’t for you and the caramel was completely 100% cooled then I’m wondering if it didn’t boil long enough to help it set up properly?
Yum! This is the perfect cupcake. They turned out just As she said they would. Super moist very chocolatey cake with perfect caramel frosting. Even the quantities were correct. Made the right amount of batter and the right amount of frosting. My new favorite!
I am so glad you enjoyed them 😃
I made this frosting twice now, and both times it is delicious but the consistency is more fudgey than creamy. Is this normal? I haven’t worked with caramel a lot but it seems like it is crystallizing or doing something it shouldn’t be. And when you say cool completely does it mean room temp or like fridge?
It is a bit fudgy so I don’t think that’s unusual but you can add more heavy cream (in step 9) to thin it out to your taste. Caramel (/most candy) can be finicky and even the humidity can affect it, which may be causing the crystallizing. Let it cool completely at room temperature.
Do you think that this frosting would work well with your Funfetti Cake recipe? I was going to use the buttercream frosting like you previously advised me to but then I stumbled upon this recipe and my boyfriend loves salted caramel. (I’m trying to make him the ultimate birthday cake!) Thank youuuu.
Hmm I haven’t used this frosting for spreading (just piping) yet, it is a trickier frosting to make but I believe it could be done with some patience (though I believe you would have to at least double the recipe to cover the funfetti cake)! Sorry I can’t advise further on it, I actually have plans to experiment with this frosting more but at this point I’m not positive how it would turn out.
Hi Sam! These cupcakes look delicious! I was wondering what brand pan you used for these? I was trying to find a mini cupcake pan but it seems they’re all very short. Thank you!
Hi Hima! I used a Wilton pan, the muffin cavities are quite small and mine only holds 24 cupcakes at a time (so I actually have two pans). I hope that helps, but let me know if there are other questions I might be able to help with! 🙂
These look great! Could I subsitute melted butter for the canola oil? Thanks!
Yes, they won’t be as moist as they would be with the oil, but it will work!
These taste and look amazing! I need a bit of help, though. When I try to eat one they are pretty crumbly. Some have stayed together but most fall apart when unwrapping. I’m sure it’s user error.
I thought I was following the recipe exactly but I did bake them for 14 mins each as I only did one tray at a time. I also used the top of our double oven so it’s baking on the bottom of a smaller opening, if that makes sense. Could either of those be the issue?
It seems like the longer they sit in the cake holder with the cover on the more they stay together versus those outside the cake holder out in the open.
Hi Elaine!
If they are crumbly it’s possible that they may have been slightly overbaked, is it possible that your oven temperature may be higher than it’s actually reading? If you make them again I would start checking them a few minutes sooner, other than that I’m not sure why they would be crumbly.
Otherwise, I am so glad that you enjoyed them! 🙂
Is it possible to convert this lovely recipe to be a cake? I am envisioning a round layer cake. If so, would one batch of frosting be enough?
Hi Le Ann! I’ve actually made it into a round layer cake before, please see this recipe (and just leave out the cheesecake): https://sugarspunrun.com/cheesecake-stuffed-dark-chocolate-cake/
These look amazing and will be the perfect piece for my daughter’s first birthday. Can you tell me what type/brand cocoa you would recommend? Thanks!
Hi Tiffany! I use Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa powder. I have been able to find it in my regular grocery store next to the regular cocoa powder. I hope you (and your daughter!) love the cupcakes! 🙂
Hi, I would love to your recipe. I need to make 24 standard size cupcakes. Can I double this recipe? Thank you very much. And, I admire your dedication to make a recipe PERFECT! Thats why I really want to try this one!
Hi Rachel! Yes, you can double this recipe, I have done it before. Standard sized cupcakes will probably need to bake around 18 minutes. I hope you love them! 🙂
Hello
Can you tell me what tip # you used to frost these?
Thanks
I believe it was a Wilton 2D
Hi, i made your cupcakes last night and they were amazing!!! I made the frosting this morning, but it has started to separate and there is a lot of oil on top. Do you have any idea why? And if I can fix it? Thanks!
Hi Lauren, is it separating during the cooking process, as you’re adding the sugar, or once you’ve frosted the cupcakes?
Did the cupcakes turn out OK Lauren?
Sorry for the really delayed response! Yes, they turned out great, once it started to seperate i let it sit for about 5 minutes and then tried mixing it again and it combined like it should! And to answer your question, it was separating when i was adding in the powdered sugar.
No worries, I’m so glad that it ultimately turned out! 🙂
Hi!,
Quick Question, I made this today but they spread out onto the pan and stuck to it. The tops also kept falling off once they were one and I was taking them out of the pan. Do have any idea of what I my have done to make it react like that? Thanks.
Hi Kelly! Hmm, I have a few theories. 1) is it possible that the cupcake liners were overfilled? They shouldn’t be filled more than 2/3 of the way, otherwise this may occur. 2) (more likely) If the cupcakes were under-mixed this could cause the tops to separate. Likewise, this could also be your issue as to why they were spreading out and sticking to the pan. Make sure when you are mixing the batter you use a rubber spatula to scrape the sides and bottom of the mixing bowl.
I hope this helps!
Hi,
I was wondering if you can use chocolate chips ( semi-sweet) in place of the Ghiradelli chocolate bar? They look delicious! Thx.
Hi Adaora! Yes, that will be just fine. Thanks, I hope you enjoy them!
I made a cupcake posy of flowers using this recipe and they are just beautiful, I tweaked the recipe a bit by using butter instead of oil (personal taste) and refrigerating the cakes and icing for 15 minutes before I piped it as the room temperature was quite warm.
I’m so glad that you liked them, Annette! Thank you for commenting, and have a wonderful rest of your weekend! 🙂
Hi, I am a newcomer to this site. My sister emailed me this and requested that I make it for her birthday. I did today. Omg i snuck one and went to heaven. The frosting is to die for! I am so following you from now on. Thx. Btw, i made 12 regular sized cupcakes.
I’m so glad you liked it! Thank you for the kind comment! 🙂