Heavenly Homemade Chocolate Cupcakes, made with cocoa and strong hot coffee, are the most decadent and moist chocolate cupcake recipe you’ll ever enjoy!
This this the best chocolate cupcake recipe you will ever find! They are so moist they taste amazing on their own, but what is a cupcake without frosting? I love to serve these chocolate cupcakes with my Mascarpone Frosting, Cream Cheese Frosting, or my Brown Butter Vanilla Bean Frosting.
THE BEST CHOCOLATE CUPCAKE RECIPE
Chocolate cupcakes, the kind you dream about, are hard to find. Your quest can finally be over. You have found it. The be all, end all, of chocolate cupcakes. Never again will you need to search for a chocolate cupcake recipe, only to be sorely disappointed by the results.
The days of resorting to a boxed mix are in the past forevermore. If you’ve ever asked how to make chocolate cupcakes from scratch, you’ve found your recipe. As much as I’d like to showcase this chocolate cupcake recipe, I’ll tease you for a mere moment with my perfect buttercream frosting. I could stare at those luscious swirls for hours!
Frosting for chocolate cupcakes:
I would be doing you a disservice if I didn’t share some other frosting ideas to go along with this chocolate cupcake recipe.
- One of my absolute favorites is my Brown Butter Vanilla Bean Frosting. If you’re looking for something rich and decadent to top you’re chocolate cupcakes, that one is a winning choice.
- Blueberry Cream Cheese Frosting would be an excellent choice to top these, or any, homemade cupcakes. That recipe uses freeze dried blueberries, so it doesn’t just have to be a summer recipe.
- Finally, can you imagine how tasty homemade Eggnog Frosting would taste on these chocolate cupcakes? Is there a better word than heavenly?
When I say these are the best damn chocolate cupcakes you will ever enjoy, I’m not kidding. My husband, who doesn’t like sweets all that much, can’t get enough. My kids, who ask for anything but cake on their birthdays (so strange, I know), think these homemade cupcakes are the best things that have ever come out of my oven.
What makes these homemade chocolate cupcakes so heavenly?
Think about all the wonderful things you’d want in a chocolate cupcake. Moist? Most certainly. Amazing taste? There’s cocoa, coffee, and sugar in these bad boys.
In fact, they taste sort of similar to my Baked Chocolate Glazed Donuts, but are obviously soft and fluffy like a cupcake.
What else could you ask for? Rise and volume? Yes, and I believe this has to do not only with the mixing directions but also the baking process. I explain this more below when I talk about how to make cupcakes. There is no other way to describe them than heavenly.
How to make chocolate cupcakes:
- I follow the same mixing procedure with homemade cupcakes and homemade cakes that I learned from my master cake maker friend
- The trick is to mix all of the dry ingredients and all of the wet ingredients in the cupcake recipe separately. Then, add just enough of the wet ingredients to the dry ones to have it form a thick batter and really mix it well
- Finally, add the remaining liquid to the batter and mix to combine. This is the secret to not only this chocolate cupcake recipe, but for all homemade cupcakes.
- Remember when baking to get them in the oven as soon as possible. This will maximize the amount your chocolate cupcakes rise.
- One of my tricks for amazing homemade cupcakes to give them good rise is to start cooking them in a very hot oven and then to reduce the oven temperature.
Can this chocolate cupcake recipe be used to make a cake?
I get asked this question all the time, and the answer is yes. My family loves these chocolate cupcakes so much that I often get asked to use this cupcake recipe but turn it into a cake. There are just a few things to consider when doing this:
- Scale your cupcake recipe appropriately. This chocolate cupcake recipe yields 12 cupcakes which equates to one 9-inch round cake layer. If you were wanting to make a two layer 9-inch cake, you would have to double this cupcake recipe.
- No need to change the chocolate cupcake recipe. Just don’t. You wouldn’t want to change the heavenly taste, would you?
- No need to change the oven temperature. You would follow the same procedure to make a cake as you would these homemade cupcakes which involves starting it in a very hot oven to give it lift, and then reducing the temperature.
- The baking time will change. Homemade cupcakes, on average, take about 20 minutes to bake. Cakes, however, take much longer. You can plan on two 9-inch baking pans taking about 30-35 minutes to fully cook. Be sure to test the center with a toothpick and do not remove from the oven if the batter still appears to be wet.
Just look at all of those lovely little air bubble pockets. Those are what give this cupcake that soft, pillowy, fluffy texture, while at the same time the top leads to the slightest bit of sweet crunch on top. You’re totally starting to salivate, aren’t you? I just know it!
How full when filling cupcake batter?
Is this a question you ask yourself every time you try a new cupcake recipe? I do. The typical rule of thumb is 2/3 full.
If you fill your homemade cupcakes only half full, the final cupcake will be to small and if you go over the 2/3 amount, they will likely spill over.
If you find a really good chocolate cupcake recipe, however, you can start with your 2/3 full rule of them and then just keep distributing the remaining batter so that each one is the same size and they will cook up perfectly.
Kitchen tools used to make these Heavenly Homemade Chocolate Cupcakes:
- Stand mixer: This is a kitchen must-have. I use mine almost any time I bake. It’s one of the few appliances I will allow to always remain on the counter rather than be put away.
- Silicone spatula: Any time you’re working with a batter, you’ll need a good quality scraper. These are the ones I use because they do the job right and don’t leave a nasty silicone taste when I like the batter off at the end!
- Flexible Measuring Cups – My sister and I first found these at a cooking class and we thought they were just the best invention. Any time you are measuring and/or pouring liquid, these are simply the best to have on hand. They make a great gift for your favorite cook, too!
- Muffin Pan – This is the regular size, 12 muffin, standard pan. If you don’t already have one (or two or three) of these in your kitchen, I’d be shocked.
- Frosting Decorator Set: In a pinch you can always use a ziplock bag with the corner snipped off, but when I like to get fancy, I use a real metal tip!
Watch how I make my Heavenly Homemade Chocolate Cupcakes in the recipe video below!
Heavenly Homemade Chocolate Cupcakes
RECIPE VIDEO WILL AUTOPLAY
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup strong hot coffee (or 1/2 cup boiling water + 1 pack starbucks via instant coffee)
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425º F.
- Place cupcake liners in muffin tin. Spray lightly with cooking spray.
- Combine hot coffee and cocoa powder. Mix well to dissolve and set aside. By the time you mix this with the liquid ingredients, you'll have wanted it to cool to a lukewarm temperature so that it doesn't cook the eggs.
- In bowl of stand mixer, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt with paddle attachment.
- In a separate bowl, combine milk, oil, egg, and vanilla. Mix well to combine.
- Add about half of the milk mixture to the flour and mix on medium high speed for 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy.
- Combine the chocolate mixture with the remaining milk mixture and add to the batter. Mix with batter on medium speed for about 30 seconds, scraping sides of bowl before turning mixer on.
- Distribute batter evenly to the 12 muffin cups. Batter will be very wet.
- Bake in preheated 425 degree F oven for 5 minutes, then reduce heat to 325 F without opening the oven door. Continue cooking at lower temperature for an additional 13-15 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and transfer cupcakes to a cooking rack as soon as they're cool enough to be touched.
- Prepare buttercream frosting according to instructions or your other favorite frosting... or just devour it plain!
Notes
- These cupcakes rise. A lot. If you're looking for flat cupcakes, this isn't the recipe for you.
- This recipe can be made into a 9-inch round cake, however it will rise making the center taller than the edges which isn't always ideal for a cake recipe that you want to stack and frost.
- The cocoa powder I use is Volupta Organic & Fair Trade Unsweetened Super Food Cacao Powder (I buy it at costco). If you use dutch processed cocoa powder, you're supposed to add 1/8 teaspoon of baking soda for every three Tablespoons of cocoa powder used because Dutch-processed cocoa powder is cocoa powder that has been washed in a potassium solution that neutralizes its acidity.
NUTRITION INFORMATION
This recipe was originally created in 2015 and updated in May 2019.
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My Homemade Chocolate Cupcakes, made with cocoa and strong hot coffee, are the most decadent and moist chocolate cupcake recipe you’ll ever enjoy! This this the best chocolate cupcake recipe you will ever find! Be sure to make homemade frosting too!
Hey Kriss…i baked them twice and they are fantastic!!! this recipe is great!
I want to try and make the batter in a baking pan (about 20x30cm), like a brownie; do you have any advice about the baking time and quantities?
Thanks,
Diana
I turned it into a cake instead of cupcakes once and I know it took a lot longer. You’ll just have to trust your nose and the ol’ toothpick in the center trick.
Are you using dutch processed or regular Hershey’s cocoa? I’ve been reading and just learned the difference. Apparently they’re not interchangeable. Who knew!!!
Not Hersheys, but it was right next to the Hersheys at the store. I hadn’t heard they weren’t interchangeable either!
Cupcake day at work, this is the recipe used. The top chocolate cupcake was this recipe!
OMG. I just made these and they were ridiculously awesome!!! I was scared of the watery batter, but they came out perfect! When I took them out of the oven, 3 of them had been filled too high and were touching another cupcake, so I had to trim them immediately and eat the warm little scraps. OH THE AGONY of having to eat warm chocolate cake scraps! LOL! 🙂 I am definitely keeping this recipe to make them again.
Hi, Will they stick to the cupcake liners if I do not spray them with cooking spray?
you’d be able to peel them away
Have you used this recipe to make a chocolate cake?
I have. It was very soft and I had to increase the cooking time by quite a bit.
I am wanting to make this, however I will need to substitute the whole milk for either Almond or Soy. Since these options are a little bit thinner than whole milk, would you suggest I make a buttermilk out of my sub? Or just keep the regular almond/soy milk as is?
Honestly, I have no idea since I’m a dairy lover. If you made, will you let me know how it turned out?
Not the original commenter, but I’ve made the cake part of the cupcakes gluten-free and dairy-free (with Bob’s Red Mill One to One Baking Flour and So Delicious coconut milk, the one that’s pourable like regular milk) and the only difference between dairy and non-dairy was that without milk they rose even HIGHER. There’s no gluten to overmix! No dairy fat to weigh the cakes down! Trying them gluten free and replacing egg with aquafaba next…wish me luck!
This is now the THIRD TIME I am making these as they are now my favorite cupcake recipe!!!! (They are for MY birthday tomorrow!) The only thing I can’t figure out is why they are sooooo pointy on top! I follow the directions exactly and all 3 times they look like a chocolate smurfs hat!!! Doesn’t affect the flavor so I don’t really care, but it messes with the extra frosting I love to pile on top. Thanks for the recipe. No other chocolate cupcake recipe will ever do!!!!!
I’ve made these with self-raising flour (couldn’t find APF at the shops) so I excluded the baking soda and baking powder but followed the rest of the method. But the cupcakes have come out very dense, almost brownie like, and they rose unevenly. I’ve substituted SRF for APF before in other recipes and the product came out well. Might you know what went wrong this time? I was really looking forward to them!
No ideas other than what you mentioned. I’ve made these several times and they turned out perfect each time, but I added the baking soda and powder.
I made these with self rising flour and omitted the salt and baking soda, but still added the 1 tsp. Of baking powder and they turned out perfectly!
Hi!! Wanna try this recipe.just wanna know f it is ok to use butter instead of veg oi?
I almost always prefer butter and I think it would work. They just won’t be as soft.
Hi. These look delicious! I want to make them but what can I use instead of coffee? I love coffee but I have a little one and don’t want her having coffee, plus I’m not drinking it for health reasons. Thanks.
you can omit
I love that this has a brownie-like texture without being too dense.
I made these cupcakes last day and my husband love it. Very simple and delicious recipe.
Hi, could I bake this with lesser sugar about 1/2 cup based on this recipe? Thank you.
I’m not sure how it will impact the final texture but I’m sure they’ll taste good.
I made these just now…blooming gorgeous and delicious. I substituted milk with buttermilk, they were extra moist and fluffy. Will never look for choc cup cake again.
Hi!
I am a baker but dont normally do cupcakes (not as common in Arg as they are in USA, although gaining momentum), so I did not have a recipe.
I searched hundreds and this caught me due to the coffee. Just tried it and my immediate thought was that they do not rise much and I doubled the recipe but only got 18 instead of 24, so perhaps my linners are bigger. Baking soda needs an acidic element to work, which I dont see here, so I will try with baking powder next time. No big deal…
However, the taste! I should say THE TASTE!!! My god! They are sooooooo fluffy and yet they fill your mouth with the intensity of the flavour!
This is now in my collection of keeper recipes!! Thanks!!
Hey, I’ve got a question! What can I do if I can’t put coffee in the batter? Do I have to pour just the water into the cocoa powder or add something else or skip the water? Please I’d love to bake this cupcakes again. I baked them two days ago, instead of adding coffee I just added 1/2 cup cocoa powder to the other 1/2 cup of Cocoa powder and the result was pretty dry and bitter, so I added more sugar to the batter and they turned out amazing! Still a little too bitter so I really want to know what to do. Thank you!
you can totally skip the coffee
Hi, I have one question. I am planning to make this for my sons birthday to give to kids has a return gifts. I planned to put the muffins with frosting in a plastic cup with lid. Currently the weather is hot, due to think the frosting will melt??
Depends on the frosting. I wouldn’t trust it not to melt if it’s over 75F.
These cupcakes are freaking delicious. I used a Kona blend coffee from my French press and dark chocolate cocoa. Seriously these are the best cupcakes I have ever made. I would love to see if you have a good carrot cake cup cake recipe handy. Thank you for posting this. This recipe will go down in history.
These cupcakes truly are heavenly! So moist and chocolatey! Thanks for sharing your recipe.
I’ve used this cupcake recipe three times. The first was for my son’s birthday celebration at school, the second – because he loved them so much, was for his party at home, but in the form of a cake, and the third was another double batch for my husband’s promotion ceremony night before last. I always marvel at how the recipe never fails to disappoint! I don’t get the same top as you do, but I love how high they rise – it just means more cupcake to eat! They are wonderful every time :o) You’re right, my search for the perfect chocolate cupcake (and cake!) is over. Thank you so much! ….any chance you have an equally delectable yellow cake recipe?? :oD
What a great comment, Thea. Thank you! I don’t have a yellow cake recipe (yet). Glad you enjoyed!!! -Krissy
Hello i want to try your recipe for the chocolate cupcakes, but i want to fill them with chocolate and strawberries. Can i do that with this recipe, the one i have calls for a box mix which i dont want to use, and can i add a pudding mix to it without ruining it?? Thank you very much.
They are very moist cupcakes, so you just have to be sure whatever you fill them with isn’t too wet. Let me know how they turn out! -Krissy
My very first batch came out of the oven 20 minutes ago. I just tried one before I frost them… just to make sure ya know… BEST CHOCOLATE CUPCAKE EVER! Thank you!
Thanks for coming back to let me know!!! -Krissy
hi…just made…came out very well…
can I double or triple the recipe..:)
Absolutely!
I made this cake … I can’t say how it is moisty and fluffy and delicious … All must be try it ..all my FAM love it
My daughter (10) and I love this recipe! She decorated them as jack-o-lanterns for Halloween. This is a recipe we will use over and over again. So moist, delicious, and flavorful. And they held up well as we snacked on them over the next few days. Thank you!!!
Hi Krissy!
Hope you’re doing well!!
I’m a self-taught baker who just started trying out recipes and one of the first things I baked is your cupcake. It’s a fail proof recipe and by far the best cupcakes I’ve eaten. Ever since I’ve never bothered to even look for other recipes cause I’m just too pleased with this one and it’s been my go-to recipe and will continue to remain so. Thank you so much for sharing.
Great comment. Glad you liked them!!! I feel the same way.
I made these today and doubled tbe recipe.i only filled cups about halfway because of so many reports of domes, and I like to pile on the frosting on a flat surface. I ended up with a total of 33 delicious cupcakes. and a couple of them were still domed although most were slightly raised or flat like I prefer. Also, I used hot water instead of coffee because I didn’t want my kids to have the caffeine, yet they were still plenty chocolaty. Then again, I topped them with chocolate buttercream frosting. Thanks for the recipe!
Chocolate has caffeine
Hi what can I use to replace the egg?I’m vegetarian. Thanks
You mean you’re vegan? I suppose a vegan egg replacement, but I have no idea what that is. I’m not vegan or vegetarian, so I have no idea if a replacement would work. Sorry!
For the people whose cupcakes rise up too much, try reduce the baking powder amt to 3/4 tsp instead of one. I used a little over half.
Also start your oven temp at 375 then reduce to 335 after 5 mins.
My first batch rised almost two inches pointy like kisses. My 2nd batch after I adjusted a little came out perfect shape for me to frost and the taste is soooooo flavorful.
I think ovens are different and also depends on how “fresh” you baking powder, baking soda etc are, so adjust as needed.
Best recipe.
I want to add that the batter is very thin – almost liqid – so for lazy bakers like myself – here is a good tip – mix your dry ingredients in a bowl. Your wet ingredients in a … blender ?. Blender the wet ingredients on LOW, and a third of dry ingredients, blend on low, another third, blend on low, finally aff the rest and blend on medium just until they’re mixed well. Pour to cupcake liners – done!!! No need to scoop, scrape…
Great suggestion!
Great pointers. Thanks for the comment, Nancy!