I’m excited to be sharing what I consider the BEST moist chocolate cupcake recipe around and its super easy to make (move over boxed cake mix!). Don’t get me wrong. I still love my german chocolate, chocolate cherry, chocolate raspberry, and rocky road cupcakes. But nailing a classic like chocolate cupcakes? It’s foundational.
When it comes to celebrations like classroom birthdays or baby showers, few treats are as beloved as cupcakes. They’re perfectly portable, pre-portioned, and adorable to boot. What’s not to love?
Plus, they come in so many fun flavors! From tropical coconut to juicy strawberry, salty peanut butter cupcakes to cookies and cream cupcakes, there’s a cupcake for every occasion. Valentine’s? Check. Easter? Yes, yes, so much yes. Halloween. Thanksgiving. Christmas. Winter Solstice. New Year’s Eve. Toddler parties. You name it, there’s a delicious cupcake that’ll fit the vibe.
What You Need To Make This Recipe
All-Purpose Flour — Plain white flour is all you need to make this simple chocolate cupcakes recipe. You should also be able to swap in a cup-for-cup gluten-free all-purpose flour blend if needed; just make sure to rest the batter for 30 minutes before baking to allow the flour time to rehydrate.
Granulated Sugar — White sugar has a neutral flavor that allows all the chocolatey goodness of these homemade chocolate cupcakes to shine through.
Unsweetened Cocoa Powder — If possible, reach for Dutch-processed cocoa, which is less bitter-tasting than regular. That said, conventional cocoa powder, black cocoa powder, or even raw cacao powder can also be used to make this easy chocolate cupcakes recipe.
Baking Soda — For leavening. To make sure your baking soda is still fresh, mix a small amount with the acid of your choice (e.g. lemon juice or vinegar). If it foams and bubbles, it’s still active! If it doesn’t, it’s time to replace your batch.
Salt — A touch of sea salt helps to enhance the flavor of chocolate.
Buttermilk — For adding fat, moisture, and a touch of acid, which contributes to an extra tender crumb. Unless you have a plan to make buttermilk biscuits and/or a buttermilk pie in the near future, you probably don’t need a whole jug just for this chocolate cupcakes recipe. Instead, make your own buttermilk by mixing regular milk with vinegar or lemon juice! You can also thin out sour cream or plain yogurt with some milk instead.
Vegetable Oil — For a neutral-flavored fat that imparts tons of moisture. Feel free to swap in fruity or peppery olive oil for a fun, grown-up twist on this moist chocolate cupcake recipe. Other options include avocado or peanut oil.
Egg — For binding the chocolate cupcake batter together. You can easily use liquid eggs that come in a carton, but don’t swap in egg whites; they don’t have enough fat and can dry out the cupcakes.
Vanilla Extract — For warmth and depth. You can also use an equal amount of vanilla paste or vanilla powder.
How To Make Chocolate Cupcakes
1. Add the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt to a large mixing bowl.
2. Whisk the dry ingredients to combine.
3. Add the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla to a medium mixing bowl.
4. Whisk the wet ingredients to combine.
5. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk until well combined and no dry streaks of flour remain.
6. Divide the cupcake batter among the cupcake liners, filling each about ⅔ full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for a few minutes, then remove and finish cooling on a wire rack. Frost the cupcakes as desired.
Pro Tips For Making This Recipe
- Try my favorite new YouTube trick and use high-quality olive oil in place of vegetable oil. It’ll turn classic chocolate cupcakes into fancy chocolate cupcakes in a flash, imparting the flavorful qualities of your favorite cold-pressed bottle. Try an Italian varietal for grassy undertones, Greek for spicy, or Spanish for more fruity and nutty flavors.
- For best results in baking, start with room temperature ingredients. Letting your eggs and buttermilk come to room temp means they’re easier to incorporate into the batter. This is great news, because we want to mix the batter as little as possible while still incorporating all the flour. Why? Over-mixing causes the build-up of excess gluten, which can cause the otherwise moist crumbs to be tough.
Invest in a good airtight container that will fit your cupcakes. These convenient carrying cases make it so easy to share your fresh baked goodies with co-workers, friends, and classmates! - Sometimes, I like to swap out half of the buttermilk for hot coffee, which amplifies the cocoa powder’s flavor.
Frequently Asked Questions
In my mind, chocolate muffins and chocolate cupcakes are definitely related. The biggest difference is that cupcakes are typically frosted, whereas muffins are not. Additionally, chocolate muffins are totally acceptable to eat for breakfast whereas you might witness a raised eyebrow or two if you eat homemade cupcakes for breakfast. That said, I promise not to judge you either way!
Since chocolate plays well with so many flavors, chocolate cupcakes are amazing chameleons depending on what frosting you add.
Top them with classic chocolate frosting or vanilla frosting for approachable crowd-pleasers. Lace your chocolate buttercream with some espresso powder to make a lovely mocha frosting, or top them with whipped chocolate ganache for death by chocolate cupcakes.
You can also use peanut butter buttercream for a salty-sweet treat, or cream cheese frosting to add a bit of tang!
What’s your favorite frosting to pair with chocolate cupcakes? Let me know in the comments!
If you’re looking for a short answer, then yes, not necessarily, and no. Chocolate naturally contains caffeine, so adding cocoa powder to the batter means that caffeine is part of the mix. That said, it’s not a ton! Each cupcake will have about the same amount of caffeine as a decaf cup of coffee.
As for dairy, I do use buttermilk in this super moist chocolate cupcakes recipe.
However, you can easily use non-dairy buttermilk if needed. If you’re aiming to make your cupcakes completely dairy-free, make sure your frosting is, as well.
In terms of nuts, unless you add some chopped ones to the batter or use nut-based milk to make your buttermilk, this basic chocolate cupcake recipe is totally nut-free.
If you love this recipe try these out!
If you’ve tried this Chocolate Cupcake recipe, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you!
Chocolate Cupcake Recipe
Video
Equipment
- Muffin pan
- Cupcake liners
- Mixing Bowls
- Whisk
- Wire cooling rack
Ingredients
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour (180g)
- 1¼ cups granulated sugar (250g)
- ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder (25g)
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup buttermilk room temperature (240ml)
- ½ cup vegetable oil (80ml)
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper cupcake liners.
- Whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla until well combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk until well combined and no dry streaks of flour remain. Divide the cupcake batter among the paper liners, filling each about ⅔ full.
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for a few minutes, then remove and finish cooling on a wire rack. Frost the cupcakes as desired.
Notes
- Try my favorite new YouTube trick and use high-quality olive oil in place of vegetable oil. It’ll turn classic chocolate cupcakes into fancy chocolate cupcakes in a flash, imparting the flavorful qualities of your favorite cold-pressed bottle. Try an Italian varietal for grassy undertones, Greek for spicy, or Spanish for more fruity and nutty flavors.
- For best results in baking, start with room temperature ingredients. Letting your eggs and buttermilk come to room temp means they’re easier to incorporate into the batter. This is great news, because we want to mix the batter as little as possible while still incorporating all the flour. Why? Over-mixing causes the build-up of excess gluten, which can cause the otherwise moist crumbs to be tough.
Invest in a good airtight container that will fit your cupcakes. These convenient carrying cases make it so easy to share your fresh baked goodies with co-workers, friends, and classmates! - Sometimes, I like to swap out half of the buttermilk for hot coffee, which amplifies the cocoa powder’s flavor.
Gladdy Brimbrom says
WOW – Just WOW!!! This has got to be the best chocolate cupcake recipe ever. I agree with a previous comment about the Swiss buttercream, bit too much of a faff. I used a chocolate cream cheese frosting and they were delicious. My Mum thought I had bought them from our local bakery (renound for cakes). Thank you so much John. Your smiley face has been keeping me sane in the UK for months!. Stay safe everyone. xxx
Millicent says
I just tried this recipe today and I was so upset that I only just came across your channel last month. It was so so good. Everyone loved it. They are asking when I’d be making another one. Although I didn’t put the sour cream or plain yoghurt, cus I forgot to get it and only recalled while already mixing, it still turned out fine and super amazing!! The chocolate was super chocolatey, and it was very moist.. I wish I could get your email to send you pictures. You just earned yourself a humble follower. Thank you and love you.
Siobhan says
Very moist and lots of flavor, loved it! I scaled down the sugar and baked in a 6-inch pan the second time around. Your vanilla cupcakes are a hit at home, the chocolate ones are now a must-have too. Thanks for sharing.
Brooke says
Hi there!
Would this recipe still work if I left the oil out?
Thank you.
John Kanell says
not as well, no.
Patricia Gibson says
Hi there. I’ve tried a few chocolate cupcake recipes and I wasn’t satisfied, but your recipe topped the charts. This will definitely be my the recipe that I use from now on. Thanks for sharing. I just made a simple buttercream frosting. The swiss buttercream looks complicated. Eventually I will try it.
Maryam Ahsan says
I tried your cupcakes and they were heavenly perfect in the first try ??
Pavla says
These cupcakes are just wonderful! Thank you!!!
Just that my first batch turned to a cake, I was too fast with butter and cream became too “running”. But adding the cupcakes to a form, plus a bit of contre and cream on top of that made is desert of the year :-).
Shirina says
Great recipe the cupcake are really moist & for the Swiss cream I use only 400gm butter then also the cream is amazing thank for such a perfect recipe, & can we store the Swiss butter cream for longer time & yes then how?
Sara says
Made these last night and they were amazinggg the cake was so moist. I’ve never made Swiss meringue buttercream before so I wasn’t sure if I did it right because it tasted VERY buttery, but anyway still tasted delicious with the cupcakes.
The only problem I had was that the recipe made way too much icing, what would be the measurements for enough icing just for 12 cupcakes?
Lily says
Made it days ago. Turned out perfect. I brout them to the office. One coworker said it was the best chocolate cuocake he had. Thanks for sharing t recipe.