Easy Chocolate Cupcake Recipe
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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 cookie recipe), 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 recipe. 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
Equipment
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
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
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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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.
I have always Loved all your deserts because of the egg’s and oil. Thank you so much for all these recipes they have been a part of some very important events in my Life.
I am so glad you have enjoyed them so much, Sophie! 🙂
SO GOOD! I made these recently paired with your chocolate cream cheese frosting and I swear everyone asked for the recipe for both the frosting and the cakes themselves! Will definitely make again
I am so glad everyone enjoyed them so much, Meg! 🙂
Making my second batch in 4 days. June is a birthday month for 3 in my family. Everyone loved them.
I am so glad everyone enjoys them so much, Jean! Happy birthday to all!! 🙂
If I could give this 100 stars I would. Let me just say I am not a chocolate person or a cupcake person. I don’t even like cake, but I choked down on those cupcakes! They are so so so amazing! My family would not stop asking me to make more. My mother (who hates unhealthy things and can’t eat sweet things not even a donut!) munched on 3 of your cupcakes! I am not a person who leaves reviews, in fact this is my first time ever, but with that recipe I felt obligated too. These were super easy and that buttercream was heaven! I have been trying to find a good buttercream recipe that is just like this without having to marane. This was perfect and took maybe 5 minutes! It was so fluffy and smooth and delicious! Thank you so much for this recipe! For every reading this I would think I’m going a bit overboard for a cupcake review too. But trust me once you try this you’ll spend just as much time with this review as I did. Thank you so much these were absolutely AMAZING!
Thank you so much, Aly! I am so glad you enjoyed the cupcakes so much! I really appreciate you taking the time to leave a review. 🙂
SOOOO GOOD!! Nice and fluffy with just the right amount of chocolate.
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Tess! 🙂
Hello!
I just found your recipe, and it looks incredible! I needed a quick and easy recipe to make with my daughter on her 6th birthday, and this recipe is just what I’m looking for! The only question I have is, will this recipe be ok for jumbo cupcake tins, or is this a mini cupcake recipe? I think it should be ok for any size, but I wanted to be sure. Thank you so much for this quick and easy recipe!
Hi Trish! This should work in really any sized cupcake tin, but obviously the baking times will vary. 🙂
I made these today and OMG I cannot believe how delicious they turned out! The texture is incredible my husband said they are the best I have ever made! Thank you so much for sharing!!!
I’m so thrilled to hear this! Thank you for letting me know how the cupcakes turned out for you, Theresa, I appreciate it very much! 🙂
New to your blog and I’m a beginner baker. These cupcakes are delicious! So moist, fluffy, and soft! I can’t believe I made them and it turned out fabulous! Is it possible to omit the cocoa powder and add more vanilla extract to turn this recipe into vanilla cupcakes instead? If yes, how much vanilla extract to add to recipe? I know you have a vanilla cupcake recipe posted – it’s delicious too but I prefer this texture more. Thanks!
Hi Judy! It’s worth a shot but there’s a lot at play here so I’m not quite sure how it would turn out. 🙂
This was a excellent recipe! I used high quality Dutch cocoa and added a cup of chocolate chips to the batter. You really have to let the cupcakes cool or the chips may stick to the paper when removing. The recipe made more than 24 cupcakes but I threw out the rest of the batter. Probably could have gotten 3 more cupcakes. Now that I know how delicious these are I won’t do that again. Made with 1 cup of coffee and that enhances the chocolate. My batter looked running and I was worried but the cupcakes after they baked came out perfect and was dense. You do have to fill half to 2/3 so cupcakes don’t over flow.
I made the butter cream frosting but next time would add another 1 cup of powdered sugar because using a frosting bag and making swirls for top I ran a bit short on the last few cupcakes. I made them for a friend‘s birthday, then bought some for the work place and even after 3 days after I baked them – I got raves how they were the best cupcake ever.
I am so glad you enjoyed the cupcakes so much! 🙂
These cupcakes smell incredible and I can’t wait to try them but as a piece of advice to other bakers: make sure to fill up the cupcake liners HALF of the way full, because mine were very tall, but over all, really good recipe! I’m making 12 cupcakes and a cake with this so yay!
I hope you love them! 🙂
I made these last night as ‘welcome back’ cupcakes as we all returned to the office today and they were a massive hit.
All gobbled up!
I never realised you could add coffee to the cocoa to make it richer, but not taste like coffee.
Just delicious. Thanks for the recipe! Will use this as my new go to chocolate cupcake recipe 😁
I am so glad everyone enjoyed them so much, Jess! 🙂
I am thirteen years old, and I made these cupcakes for my parents and brothers. They are DELICIOUS and really easy to make! The frosting is also wonderful. Thank you so much for sharing this amazing recipe!!
I am so glad everyone enjoyed them so much! 🙂
Hi Sam, this is my go-to recipe for chocolate cupcakes and cake. The light texture that the oil & water provide are the reason I love it. Do you have a vanilla/white cake/cupcake recipe that results in the same light texture? I’m a big fan of butter, but it give the cake a heavier texture compared to this. Thanks!
Hi Carol! You can make my vanilla cake as cupcakes. They need to bake for about 17 minutes. 🙂
This recipe was amazing!!! It was better than any bakery! Instead of buttercream I did a chocolate ganache with chocolate, butter, and milk. It was amazing!!! 1000000/10 recommend! Super easy too
Thank you so much, Michelle! I am so glad you enjoyed them so much! 🙂
Can I use buttermilk instead of milk?
I think that will work fine here. 🙂
The cupcakes did not hold together and crumbled apart. I could barely frost them.
They tasted good, but not presentable because of integrity of the cake.
I am an experienced baker and followed the recipe. I cannot recommend.
Hi Cathy, did you make any substitutions? Did you use self-rising flour or dutch processed cocoa powder, by chance?
After rereading the recipe, I realized that I did overfill the cupcake papers. My bad
I just made these ..OMG..delicious by far the best chocolate cupcakes. I use the 1 cup of freshly brewed hot coffee..you cannot taste the coffee in the cupcake..excellent recipe🤗
I am so glad you enjoyed the cupcakes so much, Linda! 🙂