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.
Like this? Leave a comment below!
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.
Simply AMAZING
super easy and delicious
Made some for my son’s birthday and they were a huge hit
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Rana! 🙂
Tried your recipe but used coco sugar instead, the oil I used was sunflower oil, then added chopped walnuts, turned out really well! So happy with your recipe. 🤩
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Paulyn! 🙂
What milk did you use?
Hi Ashleine! I use whole milk in my recipes. 🙂
I have made this recipe several times, and it is always really good. I was wondering if I could replace the whole milk with buttermilk though, and if it would change the taste or anything? Thank you.
Hi Hope! I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much. Without having tried the buttermilk, I can’t say for sure how it would work. Let me know how it goes if you do try it. 🙂
Hi Sam,
Can you please provide gram measurements for this recipe. It’s always better to weigh ingredients. Thank you so much!
Hi Kenny! I am so sorry I have been meaning to update the recipe. I agree baking with weights is sooooo much better. This is an older recipe so I hadn’t added the weights in. Here are the measurements:
Granulated sugar 400g
Flour 235g
Cocoa Powder 75 g
Vegetable oil 157ml
Water 236 ml
Frosting:
Butter 226g
Powdered sugar 640g
Cocoa powder 50g
Thank you!
Hi Sam, was thinking about using this cupcake recipe and paring it with peanut butter frosting, for a friends birthday. Do you have any advice about what “type” of peanut butter frosting i should use for this cupcake. (Creamy, Fluffy, rich, etc. )
I highly recommend my peanut butter frosting recipe, I’ve used this exact one with these cupcakes before and it gets great reviews! It’s creamy, silky, and sooo good!
IT WAS AMAZING
First time making cupcakes and i got them perfect
So good
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Cheri! 🙂
Hi, I have made these cupcakes and also the cake. They were delicious! I was just wondering if you have ever frozen either? Have a big event coming up and would like to get these done early. I do know that they cant be decorated before freezing.
Thanks
Hi Sarah! I have not frozen them myself, but I don’t see any issue why these would freeze well as long as they are in an air tight container. 🙂
I freeze these all the time because it makes so many! They freeze and thaw so nicely it’s like they’re fresh baked again after they freeze and thaw. It’s good to have them on hand for last minute dessert needs!
The most delicious and easy cupcakes! This is my go to recipe when I’m in the mood for cake
I am so glad that you enjoyed it, Avril! I am happy that you now have a new go-to recipe. Thank you for commenting. 🙂
I made them and they were so delicious
I’m so glad you enjoyed!
This recepie is amazing
Loved it
I’m so glad you enjoyed, Anna!
Hello Sam! If I could I would give you a million stars for this recipe! I never ate a cupcake that it is so soft, flavorful and not sickly sweet! My husband wanted to bake cupcakes for my birthday and he was very pleased with with the results. We got 24 cupcakes and they are amazing with and without frosting. This recipe is going for the approved recipes of our family cookbook!
Thank you so much for sharing this jewel with us!
Thank you so much, Eliana! I am so glad everyone enjoyed them so much! 🙂
Hi! Super thank you for this yummy recipe 🥰 I made this with your chocolate cream cheese frosting and it was superb 😋.
Everybody loves it moist cake and delicious frosting. I cut 1/2c of sugar to the cupcake and frosting though, but it’s still a box office on the dessert counter.
I am so glad everyone loved them, Chris! 🙂
These are super easy and delicious! Very moist and light. They were a tad sticky/almost oily though…is that normal? I dont bake cupcakes very often, this could be completely normal. Delicious with the chocolate buttercream!
I have a question for you regarding flour. Back in high school home economics class I remember learning to sift the flour BEFORE you measure it. I do this when I bake, but I dont think I’ve ever seen a recipe say to! What is your method, do you sift before, after, or not at all? This recipe is very precise in the amount of flour and so I was just wondering because sifting before does yield a bit less.
Thanks for the great recipe! I will be coming back to your site to try other:)
Hi Angela! They shouldn’t be sticky/oily, they may have needed another minute or so in the oven. In regards to measuring flour I ALWAYS use weights. It is so much more accurate. If for some reason my scale is broken or isn’t working I will use my methods for how to properly measure flour. 🙂
Thank you next time I will try another minute or so. I guess I should get a scale then ! But I’m confused because the recipe calls for 1 3/4 cups + 2 tablespoons flour…. not a weight! Sorry I have serious mama brain right now lol!!
Hi Angela! Sorry this is an older recipe that I should really update with gram measurements. The weight for the flour there is 233 grams, so I don’t think you are having mama brain, but I definitely know how that goes! 🙂
Ok I followed your link to your the flour measuring info. Thank you that is EXACTLY what I was looking for 🙂
You’re very welcome 🙂
Hi Sam! I am so excited to try these out this weekend. How long would you suggest baking these when using a jumbo muffin tin? Would I need to adjust the oven temperature as well?
Hi Sadie! I honestly haven’t tried it. The temperature will be the same and they will definitely need more time. Let me know how it goes. 🙂
Sorry for the late response- these were absolutely amazing! I baked them for 20 minutes and they came out perfect. I will definitely be making these again! Thanks for the recipe!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them! 🙂
The cupcakes were good and fluffy, the only flaw is that they were to sweet for my taste, next time I will try to put less sugar.
I’m glad you enjoyed, Flavia! 🙂
I am a kid and I just started my own business and these are Cupcakes I am
using everyone loves these are so good they’re my favorite
That is so awesome, Lory! Good luck in your adventure. 🙂
Thanks and Sierra is my name not lory that is my mom
I tried my cupcakes with Coffee, OMG. It was so good, the coffee was in the background and aliciuos ( cross between amazing and delicious . I don’t think that’s a word but it describes these cupcakes.
Thank you so much, Sophie! I am so glad you enjoyed them so much. 🙂