These easy chocolate cupcakes are packed with A TON of chocolatey flavor, gooey chocolate chips, and eye-closing goodness in every cupcake liner. These cupcakes are made with simple ingredients that you probably already have in your pantry and fridge! These chocolate cupcakes go great with chocolate buttercream on top!
These chocolate cupcakes are a classic in homes all over! They are foundational to baking and most commonly asked for!
With vanilla cupcakes and vanilla cake shortly behind this recipe. But this recipe, I am by far very proud of.
One of the challenges I had this week was to create the perfect chocolate cupcake recipe for a friend’s son’s birthday party. This chocolate cupcake recipe was perfect! In fact this is the review they gave me on the cupcakes!
And yes, that is homemade fondant pokéballs on top (fondant recipe coming soon). I do have to say. I am not sure when I will be making fondant decorations again. It was one of the most challenging creative tasks I have ever taken on! Anyway…
This cupcake recipe has so much chocolate flavor it’s unreal!
This recipe makes 14 cupcakes, so I had to make a second batch for this birthday party, but it was oh so worth it!
I paired these amazing chocolate cupcakes with my easy homemade chocolate buttercream. This buttercream is so light and fluffy. You can find the recipe here.
Although this cupcake recipe has a few different parts to it, I love that there are common ingredients you might already have in your pantry. So whether you are making this easy cupcake recipe for birthday parties, work events, or any special occasion you can have them whipped up in just a short amount of time.
Why do I need to use Room Temperature Ingredients for Chocolate Cupcakes
For best results in this chocolate cupcake recipe, use room temperature eggs and buttermilk. Cold ingredients can disrupt the way the ingredients interact with one another. Additionally, when using room temperature ingredients in cakes and cupcakes the air is trapped inside, which when baked, causes that air to expand creating a light and fluffy baked good.
With that let’s take a look at some of the key ingredients in this chocolate cupcakes recipe.
Ingredients:
All purpose Flour: You will need just 1.5 cups of all purpose flour. Be sure to measure and level out the flour. Too much flour in the cupcake batter will cause the cupcakes to come out too dry when baking.
Unsweetened cocoa powder: Cocoa powder is going to give these delicious cupcakes a rich chocolate flavor. If you want to add some extra gooeyness to the batter, you can stir in chocolate chips or melted chocolate as well.
Eggs: Three large eggs at room temperature is ideal for this recipe.
Vegetable Oil: This recipe calls for vegetable oil instead of butter. You can also use olive oil or canola oil in this recipe.
Buttermilk: This cupcake recipe calls for buttermilk instead of milk. The buttermilk creates a light and tender texture to baked goods. If you do not have buttermilk, you can substitute with whole milk.
How to make these easy chocolate cupcakes
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line two cupcake tins with cupcake liners. This recipe makes about 14 cupcakes.
You can use a hand mixer or a stand mixer with the whisk attachment for these homemade chocolate cupcakes.
In a large bowl whisk, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda , and salt. Whisk until fully combined. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, granulated sugar, oil, and vanilla extract together until smooth and combined.
In a glass liquid measuring cup, add the buttermilk and whisk it around.
This next step is important. You will alternate adding the ingredients together and mixing them. Let me explain.
First, pour half of the buttermilk mixture into the cocoa mixture.
Next, add half of the liquid ingredients into the cocoa mixture.
Whisk these until you see the cake batter coming together. Then add the rest of the buttermilk and the rest of the egg mixture into the large bowl. Whisk until the wet ingredients and the dry ingredients come together. Scrape the bottom of the bowl as needed.
If you want to add 1/2 cup chocolate chips or 1/4-1/2 cup of melted chocolate to add a more deep chocolatey flavor add them in at this point. Whisk until the cupcake batter is smooth and there are no more flour lumps. This is a thin batter. Too thick of a batter will yield dense cupcakes. And we don’t want dense! That’s more like a brownie.
Use a spoon, ice cream scoop, piping bag to add the chocolate cupcake batter in the cupcake liners. only fill 1/2 way!
I suggest filling only half way because if you fill too much, the cupcakes will overflow in the pan and sink in the middle.
Cupcakes are done when a toothpick inserted into the center of one comes out clean. Baking times will vary depending on where you live and the type of oven you have. Keep a close eye on these cupcakes and be sure to check them right when the timer goes off.
Let cupcakes cool for 5-10 minutes in the pan, then remove them from the pan to cool completely on a cooling rack before frosting.
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. You can also freeze these cupcakes in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.
Make sure to tag me @raesbakeryblog on Instagram and comment below if you make these chocolate cupcakes. To pin this recipe and save it for later, you can use the button on the recipe card, the button above or below this post, or any photos above.
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Easy Chocolate Cupcake Recipe
These easy chocolate cupcakes are packed with A TON of chocolatey flavor, gooey chocolate chips, and eye-closing goodness in every cupcake liner.
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature*
- 1.5 cups granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil (or melted coconut oil)
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature*
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two 12-cup muffin pan with cupcake liners. Set aside.
- Whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl until thoroughly combined. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, granulated sugar, oil, and vanilla together until combined.
- Pour buttermilk in a glass measuring cup. Whisk it around.
- Pour half of the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Then half of the buttermilk. Gently whisk for a few seconds.
- Repeat with the remaining wet ingredients and buttermilk. Stir until just combined; do not overmix. The batter will be thin.
- Pour or spoon the batter into the liners. Fill only halfway
- Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Allow to cool completely before frosting.
What to put on top of the chocolate cupcakes
Need some frosting ideas? Here are a few!
Chocolate Buttercream
Chocolate frosting
Vanilla Buttercream
Vanilla Frosting
Cream Cheese Frosting
Also try this easy and basic vanilla cupcakes recipe (cake).
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