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.
Wendy
This recipe is great and a keeper! It is simple and following the ‘do not overfill direction’ is very important. The cupcakes taste great and I haven’t even put on the icing yet.
Tatiana
Absolutely easiest and tastiest recipe EVER. Coffee is KEY. Cupcakes are light and fluffy but rich in flavor. You get a lot of cupcakes for minimal work. I have made these with the frosting listed and others and it never disappoints! Highly recommend these.
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Tatiana! 🙂
Katie
Fluffy perfect cupcakes! Mine were done at 14 mins, which I started my first check at 13. I used hot water, instead of coffee, since all the chocolate (especially the frosting) hypes me up, and the coffee would make it too intense.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy you liked the cupcakes Katie! Thanks so much for your review ❤️
Tiffany
This recipe is light, fluffy, flavorful, easy, and is now my go-to chocolate cake recipe
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy you love them, Tiffany! Thanks so much for your five star review ❤️
Human
Omg! It’s soooo moist and soooo tasty. I thought I was going die of chocolate
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
If we could pick a way to go, that’d be it! 😂 So glad you enjoyed them!
Clelia
This has become my favorite choc cake and cupcake recipe of all time, so moist and chocolaty… Love it.!!
Sam
So happy to hear this, Clelia! Thank you so much for trying my recipe!
Arielle Mossberg
Hi there – would you approve making these ahead of time, by a day or so? If so, ok to leave out at room temp? Thanks!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Arielle! Absolutely–just store in an airtight container until ready to serve. Enjoy! ❤️
Cris
Hi Sam, I made these cupcakes and halved the recipe based on weight. These cupcakes are Amazing! and this is tasting it without the icing ( i couldn’t wait).
Super light and moist and flavorful. Thanks for the precise measurements by weight, it really helps alot. I can’t wait to continue to try more recipes.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy you love them, Cris! We love the weight measurements too–so precise AND less dishes 😊 Happy baking!
Tiffany
This recipe is light, fluffy, flavorful, easy, and is now my go-to chocolate cake recipe
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy to hear that, Tiffany! Thanks so much for your review.
Lientjie
Love this recipe.
Would love to use the same recipe for a vanilla cupcake. Replace the cocoa powder with flour and instead of hot coffee, just hot water? What do you suggest?
Sam
Hi Lientjie! Unfortunately it’s typically not that simple, while you can certainly experiment, and I’d love to know how it turns out if you do, I would rather direct you to my vanilla cupcake recipe instead.
Jessica
I made these chocolate cupcakes for my son’s 1st birthday party and they were a hit! I broke the first rule and over filled the liners a bit but I was very happy with the overall result. The coffee is definitely key to bring out the richness of the chocolate. I will be using this recipe again 😊
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so glad they turned out for you, Jessica! The coffee truly is a gamechanger. 🙂
OO
Hi, can you use any milk or does it have to be buttermilk?
Sam
Hi! This recipe uses whole milk.
Sara
This has become my go-to chocolate cake and cupcake recipe. I am wondering if you have ever tried it in a half sheet pan? If you did, I’m curious how you adjusted the baking time.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Sara! We’re so glad you love these cupcakes. Unfortunately, we haven’t tried this ourselves so we can’t advise on a bake time. It will probably be less time, so keep an eye on it. We’d love if you let us know how long it takes. Also, keep in mind we do have several sheet cake recipes for you to try. 🙂
Bruce
I don’t think such a thin batter will work for anything but cupcakes. If you think about any cakes you’ve made, the batter isn’t thin like this.
Gabi
Great recipe with perfect amount of sugar..I use chocolate ganache frosting (instead of buttercream) and the kids love it..This is my go-to cupcake recipe..
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much, Gabi! I love the idea of a ganache topping! 🙂
Betty
Hello! I was wondering if you have a recipe for half this amount? or if it is safe to halve the recipe? Please and thank you.
Sam
Hi Betty! You can cut this recipe in half. It may be a bit easier to do if you are using weights. 🙂
Jillian
I made these for my husband’s work and everyone (my kids included) LOVED them! This is my new go-to chocolate cake/cupcake recipe. We are dairy free so I use almond milk and earth balance “butter” and they are just perfect. Thank you!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoy them so much, Jillian! 🙂
Elizabeth Matthews
They taste great but they overflow SOOO much. I filled each liner exactly like the recipe said. I about started a fire because within 5 minutes of being on the oven, they practically exploded all over and started to smoke. I threw it all away and started over, filling each liner less than half way full and yet it still ran everywhere and all over my oven. It even almost started a fire the second time around. I wasted lots of ingredients on it 🙁 It’s 2 star because they taste good but please beware, put WAY less batter per liner than the recipe tells you and please watch them as they cook to avoid almost starting a house fire like mine almost did. (Recipe says it makes 12-14 cupcakes, I’d say at least 22 because of how little you can put in each liner.) NO HATE, it’s not personal ☹️
Sam
Hi Elizabeth, this recipe makes 30 cupcakes as stated in the recipe card, if you only made 12-14 or even just 22 with the batter that would most likely be why it overflowed.
Jen
I also had an overflow disaster even though I made 24 cupcakes. They’re very tasty and I’m going to use them to make a trifle instead of their intended use for a birthday party.
Sam
Hi Jen! This recipe makes 30 cupcakes 🙂
Ines
Love your recipes! Wondering if almond milk can be used to produce a good chocolate cupcake like yours instead of milk.
Sam
Hi Ines! I believe others have made these with almond milk with success. 🙂