Description
Made completely from scratch, these moist chocolate cupcakes are delicious and a crowd favorite! They are super moist, pack tons of chocolate flavor and are so easy to make! Topped with a rich chocolate buttercream, these are amazing!
Ingredients
Chocolate cupcakes
- 1 cup (130g) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (207g) sugar
- 6 tbsp (43g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup (120ml) milk or buttermilk*
- 1/2 cup (120ml) vegetable oil
- 3/4 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (120ml) hot water*
Chocolate buttercream
- 1 1/4 cups (280g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 12 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted
- 3 tbsp (22g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 5 cups (575g) powdered sugar
- Pinch of salt
- 2–4 tbsp heavy cream
Instructions
For the cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 300°F (148°C) and prepare a cupcake pan with liners.
- Add the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt to a large mixing bowl and combine. Set aside.
- Add the egg, milk, vegetable oil and vanilla extract to another medium sized bowl and whisk together to combine.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until well combined.
- Add the water to the batter and mix until well combined. The batter will be very thin.
- Fill the cupcake liners about half way and bake for 18-23 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs.
- Remove the cupcakes from oven and allow to cool for 2 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
For the buttercream
- To make the frosting, beat the butter in a large mixer bowl until smooth.
- Add the melted chocolate and mix until well combined and smooth.
- Add the cocoa powder and mix until well combined and smooth.
- Add about half of powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons of heavy cream and mix until well combined and smooth.
- Add remaining powdered sugar and salt and mix until well combined and smooth.
- Add remaining heavy cream as needed to get the right consistency of frosting.
- Pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes. I used Ateco tip 847.
- Store cupcakes at room temperature for up to 24 hours, then refrigerate. Cupcakes are best served at room temperature. Best eaten within 4-5 days.
Notes
- I have previously used Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa powder for these cupcakes, but Hershey’s has changed it and it doesn’t work quite the same in these. They don’t rise as well. I recommend regular unsweetened cocoa powder, but you can technically use either.
- This recipe calls for hot water. You don’t have to use hot water – the cake will still bake fine – but the hot water allows the cocoa to “bloom”, which brings out a richer chocolate flavor in the cake.
- Milk and buttermilk both work great in these cupcakes. I don’t notice much difference between the two, other than that the buttermilk makes them even more tender (and they are already super tender).
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Cupcake
- Calories: 520
- Sugar: 55.8 g
- Sodium: 168.3 mg
- Fat: 29.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 65.6 g
- Protein: 3.8 g
- Cholesterol: 54.8 mg
Keywords: moist chocolate cupcakes, chocolate cupcakes from scratch, homemade chocolate cupcakes