Easy Chocolate Cupcake Recipe
These cupcakes are moist, tasty and easy to make. They are so good you can even eat them with just a dusting of powdered sugar!
What makes this recipe different
- Makes a thick batter, making it easier to scoop into baking cups
- Uses butter, adding great flavor
Baking Tips and Helpful Hints
- Don’t overmix. To help avoid overmixing the batter, mix last addition of flour just until you see a few streaks of flour, then finish mixing by hand.
- Use an ice cream scoop to fill the cupcake liners. Using an ice cream scoop can make it easier to measure out batter equally and make all your cupcakes the same size.
- Fill baking cups two-thirds full. Aim for filling cupcake liners two-thirds full, no more than three-quarters. If you overfill, the cupcake may spill over while baking.
Ingredients
- Butter: Unsalted butter
- Sugar: White sugar, granulated sugar
- Eggs: Large eggs
- Flour: All-purpose flour, unbleached or bleached
- Cocoa: Unsweetened cocoa powder
- Baking soda: Sodium bicarbonate, you know the box
- Baking powder: Aluminum-free baking powder if available, can use regular
- Salt: Fine kosher salt, or your preference
- Milk: Whole milk preferably, can use 2%
- Vanilla: Vanilla extract, can substitute vanilla bean paste
- Instant coffee: Instant coffee crystals, can use instant espresso
How to make Easy Chocolate Cupcakes
1. Preheat oven to 350°F and line muffin pan with cupcake liners.
2. In a bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
3. In a liquid measuring cup or small bowl stir together milk, vanilla and instant coffee. Set aside.
4. In a large bowl, cream butter, about 30 seconds. Add sugar, mix until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes.
5. Add eggs one at a time, blending well between each addition.
6. With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture alternating with the milk mixture, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Mix just until combined. Don’t overmix! 😊
7. Fill each cupcake liner two-thirds full.
8. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
9. Cool pan of cupcakes on a wire rack approximately 10 min. Remove cupcakes from pan and continue to cool on a wire rack.
10. Top with your favorite buttercream or powdered sugar. Yum.
Easy Chocolate Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened
- 1¾ cups sugar
- 2 eggs, at room temperature
- 2 cups flour
- ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa
- ¾ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 1¼ cup milk
- 2 tsp vanilla
- ½ tsp instant coffee, dissolved in 1 Tbs water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line a muffin pan with baking cups.
- In a bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- In a liquid measuring cup or small bowl stir together milk, vanilla and instant coffee. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, cream butter, about 30 seconds. Add sugar, mix until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes.
- Add eggs one at a time, blending well between each addition.
- With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture alternating with the milk mixture, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Mix just until combined. Don’t overmix! 😊
- Fill each baking cup two-thirds full.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
- Cool pan of cupcakes on a wire rack approximately 10 min. Remove cupcakes from pan and continue to cool on a wire rack.
Video
Notes
- After last addition of flour, mix just until you still see a few streaks of flour then finish mixing by hand with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon.
- Use an ice cream scoop to fill the baking cups with batter. This is an easy way to make cupcakes all the same size.
