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 cookies), 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. 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
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
Recommended Equipment
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
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
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.
Cindy
The cupcakes taste great but I’d recommend filling only halfway as those are the ones that turned out. Those that were 2/3 full were not presentable as the tops completely fell apart when taking them out of the pan. Debating about turning the broken ones into cake pops.
Rosanne Jimenez Rak
Best cupcake I have ever made! I need to find a vanilla or almond version that’s as good! Yum! And the frosting was perfection!
Sam
I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed them so much, Rosanne! 🙂
Mia
This is the recipe from the back of the Hershey’s cocoa container. It’s not an original and trying to pass off as one? Very disappointing
Sam
Hi Mia! I just took a look at the recipe (I do not have hershey’s cocoa on hand so I looked it up online) and it turns out my recipe is quite similar to (but not the same as) the Hershey’s recipe for chocolate cake. Interesting, but I don’t appreciate your accusation that I am trying to pass off their recipe as my own. This one took me approximately 3 weeks to develop (I still have the old chocolate cupcake-batter-stained notes in my notebook to prove it) and my salted caramel covered dark chocolate cupcake recipe was the starting point for it. Any similarities are coincidental and it’s not outrageous or surprising for two chocolate cupcake recipes to be similar. If you’re not new to the blog you know any recipes otherwise inspired are always cited. Have a good day.
Onyinye
Before you are quick to accuse someone online, you would have at least used whatever decency you have left and compared the 2 recipes.
Her recipe is not the same as Hershey’s. First off the veg oil measurement in her recipe is not even the same quantity, how then is it supposed to be the same???
Katherine Wu
Hi. I made these cupcakes and they turned out great. I want to make them again for a bake sale and was wondering if I could make the batter ahead of time and bake the cupcakes on the day of the bake sale. Thanks!
Sam
Hi Katherine! Honestly I have not tried storing this batter so I’m not sure how it will turn out. If you bake them a few days ahead of time they will still be great if kept in an air tight container at room temperature. 🙂
Kerry Harbinson
Hi Sam!
Am I able to make these cupcakes and freeze a few? With the icing?
Sam
Hi Kerry! That should work just fine. 🙂
Elmarie Smit
I made these cupcakes and they are really nice. What I want to know is why are your cup of milk 236mil if a cup is actually 250mil?
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed, Elmarie! A US cup is 236ml, I haven’t had a cup = 250ml. When in doubt it is always best to go with my metric measurements rather than cups as they are more precise universally. I hope that helps!
Bruce
250 ml is 1/4 liter. Since a liter is a little more than a quart, 250 ml is a little more than a cup, so Sam’s amount is correct.
aleelee
Its so easy. And it tastes so good. Its the best cupcake evereee
Laurie Allen
I’d like to make these as mini cupcakes. How long do you recommend baking them? Same temperature?
Thank you!
Sam
Hi Laurie! I haven’t tried it but I would guess somewhere between 10-15 minutes for a bake time. You’ll want to use the same temperature. 🙂
Jasmyne
I love this recipe! It’s my go to for choc cupcakes, I have experimented with it, using GF flour, and making it dairy free and even Vegan, all the different times its come out perfect! Absolutely love it! Thankyou for sharing it!! 😍
Sam
I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed them so much, Jasmyne! Thank you for the feedback using gluten free flour. 🙂
Miranda
I’ve made these before. So wonderful and tasty. I also have Dutched cocoa. I’m curious if I can use that or if it’s not recommended. Could I use half Dutch half natural or do you just recommend all natural? These are wonderful as written, I just happen to be short on natural cocoa. TIA
Sam
Hi Miranda! I haven’t tried it with this recipe so I can’t say for sure. It could work. I can only recommend making it the way I’ve tried it, but would love to know how it turns out if try it. 🙂
Steffanie
I did them with dutch cocoa by mistake. They were still good, but I think that better tastes with only natural cocoa.
Fatima
Hi, I have baking powder but not soda, will this recipe still work? Thanks! Fatima
Sam
Hi Fatima! I would not recommend the baking powder over the baking soda. They are not the same thing. It’s best to wait until you do have the baking soda. 🙂
Fatima
Thank you, it was worth the wait! Beautiful and easy recipe!
Marcy
Really easy to make–I thought I filled it the right amount (half to 2/3 of the way up), but some did overflow. The cupcakes were fragile and fell apart upon opening, but they were not overcooked or undercooked and still tasted really good. I’d try the recipe again, but pay more attention to how I’m filling them.
Jomil Adrielle Gutierrez
What kind of milk should I use?
Sam
Hi Jomil! Whole milk is best. 🙂
Kaera S
Can I exchange milk with buttermilk?
Sam
Hi Kaera! That should work just fine here. 🙂
Shimmy
Can you use sour cream instead of milk?
Sam
I haven’t experimented with it to know for sure how it would turn out. If you do try let me know how it goes. 🙂
Katherine Wu
Hi, thanks for the recipe. However, after I put the milk and canola oil in the mix and started mixing, it didn’t look as liquidly as your batter did… Can you tell me if I can do anything about that, or what I might have done wrong? Thank you! 😀
Sam
O no! I’m so sorry this happened, Katherine! Is it possible that the flour could have accidentally been over-measured?
Bruce
Just a suggestion, but I wouldn’t be concerned until after the water is added.
Holly Willis
Could you use butter instead of canola or vegetable oil?
Sam
Hi Holly! While you could, please note that the cupcakes will not be as soft or moist if you do. Enjoy!