Today I’m sharing the BEST Chocolate Cupcake recipe with you from scratch!
We’re talking ultra moist, fluffy, and perfectly chocolatey cupcakes! Mmmmm. Make these once, and your going to want to come back to this recipe again and again.
Don’t let the title of this post fool you, this decadent chocolate cupcake recipe can be used for chocolate layer cakes too!
If you’ve explored our Recipes Section, you may be familiar with our favorite Classic Chocolate Cake recipe. This homemade chocolate cake has been one of our most popular cake recipes over the years, and is our go-to when we need a rich, decadent chocolate cake.
Today’s featured classic chocolate cupcake recipe is based on our popular chocolate cake recipe, but the mixing method is different.
Instead of using the reverse creaming method of mixing as we do when making layers of classic chocolate cake, we use the conventional method of mixing for our cupcakes. This small change makes for fluffier cupcakes!
Frequently Asked Questions
- Can these cupcakes be frozen? Yes they can! Our method of choice is to line them up onto a sheet cake board, lay a piece of plastic wrap on top, and then wrap in aluminum foil for up to three months. To thaw, leave the foil on the cupcakes but loosen each end so that it isn’t so tightly sealed. Condensation will form on the foil rather than the cupcakes. You can remove the wrapping once they are nearly thawed.
- Why is there coffee in this chocolate cake recipe? Can I leave it out? Coffee enhances the flavor of the chocolate in the recipe- but there is no coffee flavor. Yes, the coffee can be left out, and replaced with water instead.
- How can I prevent my cupcake liners from separating from the cupcakes? This is a question that we hear often about cupcakes in general. There are several possible culprits to this frustrating issue.
First, do not store cupcakes in an airtight container. The trapped moisture can cause the liners to separate.
Next, remove the cupcakes from their cupcake pans soon after removing from the oven. If you wait too long, the trapped moisture within the wells of the cupcake pan can cause the liners to loosen.
Finally, some cake recipes seem more prone to this issue (likely due to excessive oil, etc.)…but this recipe is not one of those! We haven’t experienced separating liners with this cupcake recipe.
Our homemade chocolate cupcakes above were frosted with our Classic Vanilla Buttercream recipe. Our Fluffy Vanilla Buttercream would work well too! (Fluffy Vanilla Buttercream contains shortening and butter while Classic Vanilla only contains butter)
We used our trusty 2D (large star) piping tip to create a rose swirls of frosting. (To make a rose swirl, simply start in the center of the cupcake, holding the bag vertically, and spiral out.)
**If you are looking for a great Doctored Cake Mix recipe for Chocolate Cupcakes, we love this one!: Chocolate Cake (Doctored Cake Mix) Recipe .
What Frostings and Fillings taste great with chocolate cupcakes?
Chocolate cakes and cupcakes are great with so many flavors! Check out some of these favorite fillings and frostings!:
Classic Chocolate Buttercream,
Mint Chocolate Chip Buttercream Frosting
Thanks for stopping by, and enjoy the cupcakes! Wish I had some right now! ;0) xo
Classic Chocolate Cupcake Recipe from Scratch
These decadent scratch chocolate cupcakes are so moist and taste fantastic with all sorts of frostings from vanilla buttercream to mint chocolate chip, coconut, or chocolate!
Ingredients
- 1 cup (2 sticks) (226g) unsalted butter, softened
- 2 cups (400g) sugar
- 4 large eggs
- ¼ cup (54g) vegetable oil
- 2 ¾ cups (322g) all purpose flour
- 1 cup (82g) unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted (don't skip the sifting)
- 2 teaspoons (10g) baking soda
- ½ teaspoon (2g) baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (2g) salt
- 1 cup (220g) milk
- 1 teaspoon (4g) vanilla extract
- 1 cup (220g) hot coffee, it can be instant or brewed (coffee does need to be hot)
- cupcake liners
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. (If making a cake rather than cupcakes, grease and flour three 8 inch cake pans). In a separate bowl, add the flour, sifted cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Whisk to blend and set aside.
- In the bowl of your mixer, beat the softened butter on medium speed until light and creamy. Add the oil and vanilla. Gradually add the sugar and mix until light and fluffy, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Add the eggs 1 at a time, mixing after each egg just until the yellow disappears. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
- Mixing on medium speed, alternately add the flour mixture and milk to the sugar mixture, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. (3 additions of dry ingredients and 2 additions of milk)
- Add the cup of hot coffee at this time. The batter will be very thin. Don't worry this is how it should be.
- Pour into 3 prepared 8 inch pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes. Check for doneness at 30 min. by putting a toothpick in the center of the cake. If it comes out clean or with only a few drums attached, it is done.
- Makes 9 cups of batter
- FOR CUPCAKES: Bake at 350 degrees for 18 to 20 minutes. The recipe will make 2 dozen plus cupcakes
Receipe please
Hi Anne, The recipe is under the picture of the cupcakes.
What brand of cocoa powder do you typically use for these?
Hi Jo, We most often use Ghirardelli.
Directions are for 3 prepared 8 inch pans. How long for cupcakes at 350? Thanks!
Hi Jean, The very last line refers to baking cupcakes, and the temperature to use if you want more of a dome on the cupcakes. Hope you like the recipe.
for the coffee, what is the measurement and ratio of the instant coffee to hot water? ?
Hi Divine, 1 rounded teaspoon of instant coffee to a cup of hot water
when i made this it looks too good and taste was also nice but the base was not that much dark
Cakes To Indore
HI Hiddensid, The recipe makes a dark cake, did you put in all of the 1 cup (82g) of cocoa powder?
Can I substitute hot water for the coffee?
Hi Julie, yes, that would be fine.
Hi there,
How far in advance can I make these? And how many cupcakes does this recipe make? Thank you!
I’m not seeing the last line with cupcake temperatures and baking times that you referred to in the comment above. It ends by saying “Pour into 3 prepared 8 inch pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes. Check for doneness at 30 min. by putting a toothpick in the center of the cake. If it comes out clean or with only a few drums attached, it is done.
Makes 9 cups of cake batter”
Am I totally missing it? Let me know. I’m trying to find a recipe that actually works in Colorado. (I can get chocolate cake to work, but not cupcakes! Vanilla I’ve got down on both cake and cupcakes, thanks to some altitude tweaking.)
Hi Stephanie, Yes, I see how that is missing, thank you for pointing that out. Cupcakes are also baked at 350 degrees. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes. Hope you can tweak this recipe for high altitude baking.
How full do you fill the cupcake liners? I see the temp and time but don’t want to over or under fill the cupcakes. Thank you!!
I live in a very humid country, the Caribbean to be exact and my buttercreams never look like that. Any advise about what I’m doing wrong? I’ve tried adding part shortening but it still looks flat and runny.
I tried these for the first time today, they are beautiful, the oil will keep them moist for a couple of days I am sure! Would the recipe work as a vanilla option if you left out the cocoa?
Hi Geraldine, I am happy that you like the recipe. I have not tried the recipe leaving out the cocoa. You would also need to leave out the 1 cup of hot coffee. I don’t like to recommend a recipe unless I have tired it.
I made this recipe today, as I’ve been looking for a “go to” chocolate cupcake. This may be it!! A few others that I have tried have been very, very dense (which is fine with me, but some perceive as dry). This cupcake has a great chocolate flavor. A soft, but sturdy texture. Not shiny and sticky on top (some did do this). Not dry. Rises very nicely. I would recommend not to go beyond 1/2-2/3 full. This recipe makes a lot of cupcakes! I cut all ingredients in 1/2, and still made 18 cupcakes. And, the only recipe change I made was that I used buttermilk instead of milk. Very good recipe!!
Thank you Paula M., I love your detailed review of the recipe. I’m so happy you like it!!
This turned out so good! So good information for making a cake. I’ll need to use your tips ;) this one looks amazing…
Thank you to sharing the prescription with us
Where do you get your cupcake pan and liners? What’s the amount per cupcake 1c?
Hello, can I substitute the all purpose flour with cake flour? Thank you.
Audrey
Hi Audrey, Yes, you can substitute all purpose flour with cake flour. For each cup of all purpose flour in the recipe, use 1 cup cake flour plus 2 Tablespoons cake flour. This recipe has 2 3/4 cups all purpose flour so you will use 2 3/4 cup cake flour plus 5 Tablespoons and 1 1/2 teaspoons additional cake flour.
Hi! I tried this recipe for the first time last night, I’d been wanting to try it for a while but just got to it last night. I got exactly 9 cups of batter which I separated in 3-8″ pans and the cake baked beautifully. They rose wonderfully and seemed very light however as I took them out and let them cool, they started to loose height. They were about 1.75″ high and I ended up with about 1.25″ total height on my completely cooled cakes. Do you know why this might have happened? What could I change to make sure this doesn’t happen again?
Great, thank you Melissa for your response.
Audrey
My batch came out with 30 cupcakes. Just wondering if anyone else had this happen. Cupcakes are good but recipe said 24 cupcakes.
What tip did you use for the chocolate cupcakes please?
Greatly appreciated
Charmaine
I want to make these with the beautiful pink flower looking frosting. What is the recipe for that and what piping tip did you use?
Hello we used our Classic Vanilla Buttercream & a 2D tip, but a 1M tip would give a very similar result (as would our Fluffy Vanilla Buttercream Recipe)
To Shannon C from December 2017 post. I just made this recipe today and I got 35!!! Great cupcakes!
Hello there,
Ive read the recepie..you have mentioned that the oven needs to be pre heated to 350 degrees, however the OTG (called as oven toaster n grill) the temprerature which shows only till 250
So hiw wud i go abt baking the cupcake in this situation. Any help is appreciated.
Thank You.
Regards,
Pallavi
Hi Pallavi, I think that your oven is temperature is in celsius and my temperature is measured in fahrenheit. So you would set your oven to 177. Here is a link to a chart you will find helpful,
http://www.goodcooking.com/conversions/temp.htm
This recipe make a lot of batter for cupcakes so if you need to hold extra batter until the oven if free, keep it refrigerated. This is not ideal but it should work for you. Hope all goes well.
Thank you so much for your help. Will surely try to bake the cupcake now. Also, thank you for the conversion chart it is so useful.
Have a gr8 day.
Regards
Hi. What would the baking time be if I were to make mini cupcakes? And would I need to adjust the temperature?
Thanks,
Dimple
Hi Dimple, I keep the temperature the same for mini cupcakes, 350 degrees and bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Once the cupcakes are out of the oven, remove from the pan an place on a cooling rack.
Awesome! Thank you so much!
Hi, what color did you use to make that georgeous pink frosting?
Hi Audrey, We used AmeriColor Deep Pink, just a small amount added with a toothpick to the buttercream
Hi. Are you using a standard size cup cake liner?
Thanks
Dawn
Hi Dawn, Yes, we used standard size cupcake liners
Just made these and they are a hit! Texture is more like airy castella cake than traditional American dense cupcakes. I totally forgot to add the cocoa powder until after adding in the coffee, but luckily the results still came out good. I had 38 standard cupcakes, I could make it to 40 even but I ran out of silicone cupcakes molds.
Do let them air completely before cover it, I packed them up after 3 hours of cooling time, and still find the top sticky/damp next day. Dusted some confectioner sugar to cover up as my guest doesn’t like frosting on cupcakes.
Hi Marisa, Thanks for using the recipe, and I’m glad the cupcakes were a hit!! Great tip about the confectioners sugar. Thanks for posting!
Hello there,
Can Inuse this recepie using one 12” pan?
Thank you in advance.
Hi Nora, You could bake in one 12″ pan. Bake at 350 degrees and begin checking for doneness at 40 minutes. It would be a good idea to use Wilton Baking Strips and a couple of rose nails in the center to help with even baking. This recipe makes 9 cups of batter so you will have enough with 1 recipe. Below are links to 2 baking charts giving batter amounts that you will find helpful.
http://www.fromkarenskitchen.com/tips/party_cake_batter_amounts_baking_times_2inch_pan.php
http://www.wilton.com/cake-serving-guide/cms-baking-serving-guide.html
Hi! Just curious what is the functionality of the coffee in the recipe?
Hi Chelsea, The coffee is to enhance the chocolate flavor of the recipe. You will not taste the coffee in the cake.
Is it okay to frost them and serve them the following day??
Hi Michelle, Yes, that will be fine. We like to store ours in a bakery box. We don’t store in an airtight container, as this can sometimes cause the cupcake liners pull away. If you are storing in a plastic container just leave a small opening. The frosting seals the cupcake helping to keep them from drying out. They are very small so they are best eaten by the second day.
Hi Melissa and Bebe I would like to give this recipe a try. How much batter goes into the cupcake liner? And also is there a reason why there is more baking soda than baking powder? Would it be possible to just use baking powder only and if so how much? Thank you!?
Hi Melissa I would like to try this recipe. How high do you fill cupcake liners? Why is there more baking soda than baking powder? Can baking powder alone be used? And if so, how much? Thank you!
What if my batter isn’t thin after the coffee
Hi Kayla- I’m not sure why that would be but assuming you haven’t left out an ingredient, I would just go with it ;0)
Hi, would like to try this out but only have Dutch cocoa powder available. Can I use recipe as stated or do I have to adjust baking soda/baking powder if I use buttermilk instead of milk? Thank you
Hi Andrea, I found the following info on substituting Dutch processed cocoa for regular cocoa powder — According to “The King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion”: “If a recipe calls for natural cocoa and baking soda and you want to use Dutch-process cocoa, substitute an equal amount of Dutch-process cocoa but replace the soda with twice the amount of baking powder.Feb 18, 2015. You will be making 2 changes to the recipe if you also substitute buttermilk for the milk, I don’t know how that will affect the recipe since I have not tried this.
Hi,thank you for your answer. I was thinking of using buttermilk to add missing acid from natural cocoa powder and use recipe as it is. Was just wondering if the acidity from buttermilk would be enough to activate the baking soda?
Hi,thank you for your answer. I was thinking of using buttermilk to add missing acid from natural cocoa powder and use recipe as it is. Was just wondering if the acidity from buttermilk would be enough to activate the baking soda?
Hi Andrea, Oh, I thought you were going to use Dutch cocoa powder. You might find the comment made n June 9, 2017 helpful. She used buttermilk instead of milk as her only change in the recipe and thought it worked well.
Question in regards to the cocoa is it natural or dutch-process?
Hi Corinne, We used Ghirardelli natural cocoa. I hope you will enjoy the recipe.