The Best EASY Chocolate Cupcakes are moist, have a tender crumb, are deeply chocolatey and made without an electric beater. No waiting for butter to soften, no creaming, the batter is simple and quick to make. Excellent emergency cupcakes!
After Vanilla Cupcakes? Here they are!
Chocolate Cupakes
Using the term “BEST” is not something I do lightly.
I do feel a bit uncomfortable saying that these are the BEST Easy Chocolate Cupcakes. But in the cupcake world, I truly do believe these to be the best that can be for a simple no-standmixer, no creaming butter recipe.
I was back and forth about which cupcake recipe to share. I was tempted to go for a “100% perfect” version which requires a stand mixer / electric beater to cream butter. And I wanted to be able to talk to you about how perfect they are.
But you know what? The Perfect version is not the one I make the most. This Easy version is. It’s my “go to”, the one I can make right now, without waiting for butter to soften, without pulling out my hand beater. And the difference between this Easy version and the Perfect version is so insignificant, I don’t care.
And so it was settled. I went for the Easy version. 🙂
These Chocolate Cupcakes are…
Soft and tender, not crumbly. Like Red Velvet Cake – it should be “velvety”;
Moist;
Actually taste of chocolate (unfortunate many lack this!);
Delicate, but still be sturdy enough to support a generous pile of frosting; and
Have a sweet dome, shaped such that it looks nice enough if you just dust with icing sugar / powdered sugar, but flat enough to pipe on tall swirls of frosting.
Being the quick and easy version these are, you’ll notice that the surface of the dome does have some small cracks on it. But for the easy of this recipe, it is a very small price to pay.
Besides, no cupcake ever leaves my kitchen without frosting!!!
Best frosting for Chocolate Cupcakes
Hard to go past chocolate-on-chocolate, but I will put forward some non chocolate options too!
Chocolate Buttercream – I realise how ironic it is that I’d feature these cupcakes with tall swirls of buttercream frosting which calls for both softened butter and and stand mixer! 😂 But hey, frosting is worth the effort. 😇 Pipe on swirls, or spread on with a knife;
Speedy Chocolate Fudge Frosting (pictured below, in recipe card) – made with cocoa powder mixed with melted butter, then thickened with icing sugar/frosting until it’s a spreadable consistency, this frosting is quite rich so I’d recommend just spreading onto the cupcakes rather than piping tall swirls;
Decadent Chocolate Ganache Frosting – made with melted chocolate and cream, this is a deluxe chocolate frosting that I use for my sinfully decadent Chocolate Fudge Cake. Once melted, it’s cooled until it thicken into a spreadable consistency. I don’t recommend piping this on in tall swirls, it would be overly rich I feel!
Vanilla Buttercream – White frosting on chocolate cupcakes looks striking and makes for a lovely flavour combination! Use the recipe in my Vanilla Cake recipe – it will frost 12 cupcakes generously (tall swirls) though if you just want to smear it on then you can halve the batch; and
My Secret Less-Sweet Fluffy Vanilla Frosting – this frosting is magical! It’s like a cross between whipped cream and buttercream. Far less sweet and fluffier than buttercream, and it’s also 100% silky smooth (buttercream will always have a faint grit to it, the icing sugar/powdered sugar never fully dissolves). Dense than whipped cream, and unlike whipped cream, it holds its form for days.
I’ve shared the Chocolate Buttercream Frosting in a separate post because I think it’s worthy of being a separate recipe. 🙂 Also because I’ve done a video for that too – I didn’t want to cram it into the cupcake recipe video.
The weekend is here!! Do I hear chocolate cupcakes calling your name?? I think I do….. 😉 – Nagi xx
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Best Easy Chocolate Cupcakes recipe video!
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Best Easy Chocolate Cupcakes
Ingredients
Dry:
- 3/4 cup plain/all purpose flour
- 3/4 cup caster sugar (super fine sugar, or sub with normal white sugar)
- 1/2 tsp baking soda / bi carbonate soda (Note 1)
- Pinch of salt
Wet:
- 120g / 8 tbsp unsalted butter , cut into 1" / 2cm pieces (1 US stick / 1/2 cup)
- 60g / 2 oz dark chocolate , preferably 70%+ cocoa, broken into pieces (Note 2)
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder , preferably Dutch processed (Note 3)
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil (or other neutral flavour oil)
- 2 large eggs (55 – 60g / 2 oz each)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 tsp white vinegar
Chocolate Fudge Frosting:
- 120g / 8 tbsp unsalted butter , cut into 1" / 2cm pieces (1 US stick / 1/2 cup)
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder , preferably Dutch processed
- 2 1/2 cups soft icing sugar / powdered sugar (NOT pure icing sugar)
- 3 – 4 tbsp milk (any)
- Sprinkles and other decorations, if desired
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F (160°C fan). Put oven rack in the middle of the oven.
- Place 12 cupcake liners in a cupcake tin.
- Sift Dry ingredients into a bowl. Whisk briefly.
- Place butter and chocolate in a separate, large heatproof bowl. Microwave for 45 seconds, mix, then microwave for another 30 seconds. Mix until chocolate is melted and smooth (keep microwaving in 20 sec bursts if chocolate not melted).
- Add cocoa powder and mix.
- Add milk and oil, then eggs, vanilla and vinegar. Whisk until smooth.
- Add flour mixture and whisk until lump free.
- Divide mixture between cupcake liners. I use a ice cream scoop for this. They should be just over 3/4 full.
- Bake for 18 – 20 minutes, or until skewer inserted into the cupcake in the middle of the tray comes out clean.
- Remove from oven and immediately transfer to cooling rack (spoon or knife helps).
- Once cool, spread with frosting and decorate with sprinkles if desired. Alternatively, use Chocolate Buttercream Frosting!
Speedy Chocolate Fudge Frosting:
- Melt butter then mix in cocoa powder until smooth.
- Add icing sugar and milk. Mix until smooth. Use milk to adjust consistency if required – it should be a soft spreadable consistency (like peanut butter).
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
LIFE OF DOZER
No chocolate cupcake for Dozer. Bad for you! How about a giant bone instead? (Mind you, it’s a dry aged one from a fancy butcher. Got it for free! 💪🏻)
Tried this recipe out today, it came out great, very moist and not too sweet!
If i needed a batch of 24 cupcakes what would i have to chnage in the recipe?
Hi Kimone, this recipe makes 12. Just scale the recipe up to 24 and all the ingredients will scale up for you (it will be double) N x
I made mini cupcakes with this batter, made 40, baked for 11 minutes. Delicious recipe and just the right size for a kiddies birthday party.
Absolutely delicious!!!!
Followed this recipe to the T, and the cupcakes were delicious and moist. I’m going to make a second batch as I have left over chocolate buttercream icing. So So Good!!
I’ve made these twice in the last two days. Only thing is that I can make 11 perfect cupcakes, not 12, but I suspect that it’s the cupcake tin and not the recipe. Delicious. As is the fudge frosting! As someone who hates buttercream, this frosting is such a good option instead of traditional buttercream.
Hi the cupcakes turned out superb it is the most moist chocolate cake ever eaten. I have tried many of your recipes and as usual it is always a winner
The best cupcakes is a very accurate description. They really are the best I’ve made/had. You brought my love for baking back. Thank you!
Absolutely amazing! We did a test run for my daughters birthday. Perfect! So easy and delicious. I love she could help too. Thank you, Nagi! X
Hi Nagi, I have already done 2 comments and left out some things. Best thing ever everyone in my family thought they were the best bake ever! Umm for me they made 12 but the last one one was tiny so scarcely made 12. Still so crunchy on top but so moist and perfect in side!
Thanks! Grace
5 STARS! I absolutely loved this recipe my whole family thought it was the best bake I’ve ever done thank you recipetineats! I also learnt a few stuff on the way ; the vinegar and bicarbonate of soda react together because ginger is a acid and bicarb is a base. Also sorry Nagi but we didn’t use white vinegar even though we have it we used apple cider vinegar we recommend apple cider.
Thanks again best thing I have ever made!
Grace
Sorry don’t thank recipetineats thank Nagi!
Thank you Nagi, these are perfect, as I have become accustomed to with your recipes! My husband had many questions as I was making these. Auch as “Is 3/4 cup of flour going to be enough?” “Only half a teaspoon of baking soda? Is that enough to make them rise?” “What’s with the vinegar? Are you sure that’s right?”.
I have learned never to question. If Nagi says so, it will work. Just do it! Sure enough, best chocolate cupcakes as promised.
I forgot the eggs, but they still turned out gorgeous! Moist, soft and so chocolatey because of the cocoa. Definitely agree with Nagi that using good quality cocoa tastes yummy! I wonder what the vinegar does to the formula.
Oh no! I’m glad you still loved them. The vinegar reacts with the raising agent and produced a better lift = lighter cupcakes 🙂 N x
Hi Nagi, I made these cupcakes today and they were dry. I stayed true to the recipe. Any ideas? Usually your recipes work very well for me. Thanks
Hi, I just wanted to know if i should make cupcakes or a chocolate cake, i can’t do both…..so its a pretty hard choice…
I just made these today and I’ve realised I left out the vanilla extract. Will that make a difference?
Hi Kym, they will be fine! Enjoy! N x
I made these today and have mixed review. I find the cupcake to be dry and too much chocolate…maybe I used 100% cacao baking bars. I wonder if I overbeat the flour? My husband loves it but me and my daughter found it to be dry and taste more like a brownie flavor. I did use your less sweet fluffy vanilla frosting and that came out great. I gave it a 5 star because I know it must be my process of folding in the flour or some ingredient that threw the chocolate cupcake flavor off. I always have success using your recipes.
Thanks from Boston, MA. USA
Hi, can I use buttermilk to replace milk? Would it be better? Thanks!
Hi Brin, it would change the texture and be more dense. N x
I made these for morning tea on Father’s Day. They were absolutely delicious. The texture of the cake is beautiful and so chocolatey. I can’t believe how quick and easy they are to make. Thankyou Nagi. I will definitely be making these again.
Hi Nagi, these chocolate cup cakes are delicious. I made them once before and they were lovely. My second batch were even nicer with the buttercream topping. I’ve never had a cup cake so light. You never fail Nagi…..you’re brilliant. The only negative! They don’t last long. 😄 Love to Dozer x x
Hi can I add banana to the recipe?
Hi Sara, it will change the texture – would love to know if it works though! N x