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.
Kpop lover.98
This is amazing!
Vrinda Krishnan
Hi,
Can we use plant based milk instead of whole milk?
Thanks
Sam
Hi Vrinda! I haven’t personally tried it, but I suspect a nut milk would work just fine. 🙂
Geneveive
In the past I have had such a hard time getting cakes and cupcakes to turn out well, but these were awesome! Very chocolatey fluffy. I couldn’t believe it! Highly recommend
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy you loved the cupcakes, Geneveive! Thanks for trusting our recipe ❤️
Stacy H
Hey Sam! Always love your recipes and videos to guide me! Made these tonight and they are so light and decadent at the same time! I had only one issue…3 Tbsp of batter in my standard cupcake tin was too much and they overflowed/ stuck to my pan. Delicious anyway!😉 Will try the next batch in my taller (non standard) liners and reduce the batter to 2 Tbsp and see what happens!🤗 Thx for all you do!
Ashley
Would the baking time be different if I only have silicone muffin pan?
Sam
Hi Ashley! I personally have never used them, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they took a few minutes longer to bake. 🙂
Hope
I have made this recipe, and it is really good. I do have a question though. Can you replace the whole milk with buttermilk?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Sure thing! Enjoy, Hope 😊
Michael McFerren
D lish!
Maggie
Hey Sam! I’ve made a ton of your recipes already, and they’re all fantastic. This recipe, however, I’ve made 4 times, and always have problems with the cupcakes sinking after I take them out of the oven. Today I filled the liners about 60% of the way full, and they overflowed and sank. Then I make a new batch and only filled them 45-50% of the way and in the oven, they looked perfect. But once I took them out, they immediately started sinking. Luckily they didn’t sink too much and I’m covering them with frosting, so it’s not a big deal. Any idea why this keeps happening even with such little batter in the liner? Thanks! 🙂
Sam
Hi Maggie! I’m so sorry to hear this is happening. Sounds like they may just need a little bit more time in the oven.
CJ
I was wondering if butter or coconut oil could replace the canola& vegetable oil?
Sam
Hi CJ! I haven’t tried coconut oil so I can’t say for sure how that would work. Melted butter could work, but you will lose a little bit of moisture. Avocado or olive oil are other possibilities but will impart a slightly different taste to the cupcakes. 🙂
Bruce
I just made another batch of these wonderful and easy cupcakes. This time they get whipped ganache as their frosting. It’s an amazing combination, of course.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Love that combination, Bruce! Enjoy 🥰
Amy
I consider myself to be a good home baker, and am a super fan of your previous chocolate cupcake recipe (I’ve made them 30+ times and they’ve always been successful), but sadly these didn’t turn out for me. Not really sure what went wrong here, as I used my usual techniques, room temperature ingredients, hot coffee, and the same scoop as always to fill the wrappers to 2/3 full. If I have time, I’ll turn my sunken overspread cupcakes into cake pops… and start from scratch with your old recipe!
Tanya
These cupcakes were really delicious….very light and yet flavorful. They will be eaten at least two at a time!
Livy
Hey, wondering if using the hot water instead of coffee will still give you a rich flavor of chocolate? Thanks!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Livy! Hot coffee gives the strongest flavor, but hot water will definitely still give a great chocolate flavor. The most important thing here is that whatever liquid you use is HOT (even boiling!), as this is what brings the flavor out of the cocoa powder. Hope that helps 😊
Kellie
Can I make these in advance, and if so, how long in advance? I will need to make about 100 of them.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Kellie! We typically don’t keep them longer than a week at room temperature in an airtight container. 🙂
Tam
I just made this and the vanilla cupcake recipe for my daughters birthday and they turned out looking and smelling amazing! I just have a few questions about frosting these:
Can I frost them a day ahead of time or should I wait til the day of?
How should I store unfrosted cupcakes?
How should I store frosted cupcakes?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Tam! You can frost them either the day before or the day of the party. Unfrosted cupcakes can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature, and frosted cupcakes can be stored at room temperature for up to two days, or in the fridge (again in an airtight container) for up to a week. We hope you enjoy these just as much as the vanilla version!
Heidi
How long would you bake if you’re doing this recipe in a Bundt cake pan?
Sam
Hi Heidi! Unfortunately, I have never tried it in a Bundt pan, so I wouldn’t be able to say for sure how long to do it. 🙁
Aysha
the cupcakes turned out very gluten and not fluffy 🙁
Sam
Hmmm I’m sorry to hear this, Aysha! I’m not sure I understand what you mean by gluten? Is it possible they were under-baked?
Jane
Hi Sam. I love your recipes. Just 1 question, can I substitute baking soda with baking powder for this recipe?
Sam
Hi Jane! I don’t recommend it. 🙁