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…
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Soft and tender, not crumbly. Like Red Velvet Cake – it should be “velvety”;
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Moist;
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Actually taste of chocolate (unfortunate many lack this!);
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Delicate, but still be sturdy enough to support a generous pile of frosting; and
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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!
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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;
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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;
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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!
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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
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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! 💪🏻)
Hi Nagi,
May I ask, if I can substitute the caster sugar with brown sugar? Will there be any impact or I need to reduce the amount as brown sugar tend to be moist than caster sugar?
Hear from you. Thanks!
Can you use milk chocolate in the recipe?
so light and yummy, the best cupcakes ever!
Seriously amazing, I had extra mix and made minis and they were the perfect bite size ( I cooked these for 10mins).
I love these so much if I was to make a cake instead of cupcakes would you cook this for around 40 mins at 160 fan.
Absolutely the best cup cakes I have ever made! Moist, chocolaty goodness!! Thanks Nagi for all your gorgeous recipes and doing the hard work in your test kitchen 🥰❤️
I made these gluten free by using Aldi GF flour. They were AMAZING! So soft. The effort to make the buttercream icing was worth it.
Amazing! I am yet to find a recipe of yours that isn’t a 10/10. ❤
Hi Nagi! Is there a way to make these come out flat? Really LOVE this recipe but they always come out domed top. I’m wondering if adding more milk or coffee would do the trick?
I bake them at 160 for 18-20 mins
Love your recipes. I think I did something wrong with this one as both the cupcake mix and and icing went lumpy as soon as I added the milk. I added it straight from the fridge and it seems to have caused the butter/chocolate to re-solidify almost immediately… The icing I was able to re-melt but the cupcake mix I just cooked with the lumps in it. Still tasted good!
I make these with kids at school, they love it!
Hi Nagi, because it’s the best ever chocolate cupcake, I hope to make them perfectly. The cupcakes come out with quite severe domes. It’s not as obvious once I piped with buttercream on top, but I just wonder do you think it’s because the oven temperature is too high? xx
Yes I would love to know the answer as I’ve just baked for the first time and this had happened
hi! i cant wait to make this recipe but is the vinegar nessisary? if so how does it improve the cupcakes?
I think it is because once the bi-carb soda and vinegar mix it actives the bi-carb soda making the cupcakes fluffy.
Nagi, I cook for a school canteen and I’m not allowed to use butter. (I hate this idea) Can the cupcakes be made with margarine instead please?
I love your recipes and use them constantly! Thank you for your inspirations.
Yes Kerry you could make this one with margarine although the flavour won’t be as nice as with butter! N x
These are the best! Very chocolatey and addictive with buttercream frosting. Will definitely make them again.
Woo hoo that’s great Melissa!! N x
So easy. Very chocolatey. Really glad I found this no fuss recipe. I followed the recipe to the letter except I put in a tsp of instant coffee sifted with the cocoa in my second batch. Really brought out the chocolate flavour even more. Thanks!
Chocolate and coffee is the best combo!! Thanks for that tip! N x
Very moist and delicious I didn’t have dark chocolate on hand so omitted still tastes great.
I’m glad you enjoyed them Jessica! N x
These are an absolute WINNER, Nagi!
I’ve gone through three different mediocre cupcake recipes, when I stumbled onto your recipe, and I’m blown away!
I baked these as mini cupcakes, so I only baked them for 10-12 minutes, and they came out gorgeous! Beautiful, gentle domes on top, perfect sugar crusting around the top of the wrapper, light, moist, fluffy… absolutely delicious! THE best chocolate taste I’ve ever had in a chocolate cupcake.
I noticed once my gas oven was heated up fully (almost 375) I had even more perfect results, so next time I’ll wait a bit longer. I’m still learning!
I’m going to make your Secret, Less-Sweet Fluffy Vanilla frosting to go with these, and I can’t wait to see the end results!
I’m just so grateful! I’m making these for an upcoming birthday party, and they’re sure to be a hit! Thank you so much for sharing, you’ve made my week! 🙂
Oh Rachel thank you and good luck with. the birthday party!! N x
Hi Rachel, just wondering how many mini cupcakes you were able to get out of the recipe? Thank you 🙂
Hi Sarah!
I was able to get about 34 mini cupcakes from this recipe, which was exactly what I needed. Happy baking!
Hi Nagi, 70% or greater cacao – up to what %? Reason I’m asking is I have completely 100% unsweetened baking bars that I can melt down, but is that too much? Should it have SOME level of sweetness to it since we’re already adding unsweetened powder? Thanks! I’m excited to try your recipe!
Hi Don – I can’t answer exactly as chocolate varies from brand to brand but if you are in North America then unsweetened chocolate will work for this. There is sugar in the recipe and the frosting is sweet so you just have to make it and see if that brand is chocolatey enough for you! Good luck! N x
These are great and very easy. They kept well for a few days and we all loved them. I appreciate all the testing you do to make the recipe perfect and know I can trust you to have the best version out there.
Another simple, easy winner Nagi – everyone was a fan of the cupcakes and the speedy fudge frosting~!
I am happy that you enjoyed it Jade! N x