Chocolate Cupcakes Recipe From Scratch

Make this chocolate cupcakes recipe from scratch for a super easy cupcake, providing a solid base for any type of frosting. These cupcakes are moist, flavorful and chocolatey, making them the best easy dessert for any occasion!

Original post: March 2018 | Updated: April 2021

Why This Recipe Works

It took me a lot of cupcake-baking and cupcake-eating to land on this most perfect recipe. It took me multiple batches to land on perfection.

My trial and error eliminates hassle for you, friends, because you have just found the most flavorful, moist, chocolatey, perfect cupcake recipe on the planet. It acts as a solid base for any type of frosting, making it a great dessert choice for any type of gathering. Birthday parties, graduation parties, summer gatherings and so much more.

These perfect chocolate cupcakes are easy to prepare, making them an ideal party or any-occasion dessert. You will knock people’s socks off with these, I promise!

Recipe Ingredients

Butter – Many bakers use unsalted butter in their baked goods in order to avoid over-salting. I, however, almost always use salted butter in my baked goods because it gives everything I make an extra touch of salty deliciousness. If you go the unsalted route, make sure you’re adding salt to the recipe.

Also, let your butter sit at room temperature before adding it to the recipe. This will prevent clumps from forming in the batter when mixed.

Eggs – Allowing your eggs to come to room temperature is important for a couple of reasons. One, they will mix better with your batter and allow the baked good to raise better during baking.

Additionally, if batter has a high fat content, adding cold eggs could affect re-hardening the fat.

Buttermilk – In case you don’t have this ingredient on hand, it is super easy to make your own batch of buttermilk quickly and easily using only 2 ingredients. Make sure the buttermilk is at room temperature before adding it to the batter and give it a vigorous shake just before adding it to the batter.

Cocoa powder – Use 1/2 cup of either natural unsweetened cocoa or Dutch processed cocoa. Both options will work great in this recipe.

Coffee – Adding coffee to the recipe adds a richness to the chocolate flavor that you wouldn’t be able to achieve by using water. The cupcakes will not taste at all like coffee, I promise. But if you’re looking to save time or if you’re not a coffee drinker, hot water can be used instead.

Watch Our Web Story About Chocolate Cupcakes

Chocolate cupcakes with a hint of coffee are moist and topped with a rich, decadent ganache frosting.

How to Make Chocolate Cupcakes

STEP 1

Preheat oven to 350°F and line two cupcake tins with cupcake liners (or use one pan and make two separate batches). Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or a large bowl with a hand mixer), combine the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.

Add the eggs and vanilla extract and beat on medium-low speed for 30 seconds.

STEP 2

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix well. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and beat on medium-low speed until just combined. Add the coffee and buttermilk and mix until just combined.

STEP 3

Fill each cupcake liner half full of batter and bake in the preheated oven for 18-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centers come out clean. Let cool.

Prepare the frosting while the cupcakes are baking and cooling. Spread the frosting onto the cupcakes, add sprinkles (if desired) and serve!

Can I Substitute Buttermilk With Milk

Use milk as a replacement in a pinch, but the end result will be a less fluffy end result. The buttermilk helps baked goods and pancakes to fluff beautifully and perfectly, so I highly recommend using it when possible. And it IS possible thanks to a little bit of milk and white vinegar/lemon juice!

Making Buttermilk at Home

If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, make your own by combining 1 cup of milk with EITHER 1 tablespoon of lemon juice OR 1 tablespoon of white vinegar. Mix well and let sit for 5-10 minutes, or until small curdles stick to a spoon.

How To Make Buttermilk at Home

Keep this cooking tip handy when you prepare to bake your cupcakes (or pancakes!).

Step 1

Combine 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice OR 1 tablespoon of vinegar and 1 cup of milk (room temperature, preferably) in a small bowl. Mix well and let sit 5-10 minutes, or until mixture begins to curdle. Once the curdling starts happening, it is officially considered buttermilk and can be added to your recipe!

The Difference Between Ganache and Ganache Frosting

Ganache and Ganache Frosting are made with the same ingredients, but using different ratios of cream to chocolate. Ganache usually refers to a glaze that is drizzled over baked goods that resembles perfectly melted chocolate.

Ganache frosting refers to a spreadable frosting or filling for baking goods. Allowing ganache to cool in the fridge will make it thicker (much like the frosting), but it also causes it to lose its “drippy” quality that ganache is so well known for.

Recipe Notes

• Using buttermilk for this recipe is key! If you replace it with another wet ingredient such as milk or cream, your cupcakes may need to be transformed into Cupcake Truffles. Make sure the buttermilk is at room temperature before adding it to the batter and give it a vigorous shake just before adding it to the batter.
• Filling the cupcake liners much more than halfway full will result in cupcake disaster. A lot of cupcake recipes work well with 3/4 full liners, but not this one. GO HALF FULL!
• Baking these cupcakes for 20 minutes resulted in perfection in my oven, but test using the toothpick method starting at the 18-minute mark.

FAQ About Chocolate Cupcakes

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