The easiest, quickest and most delicious chocolate cupcake recipe. No cake-mixers, electric beaters or elbow grease needed for these easy decadent chocolate cupcakes!
Be prepared to be amazed with these easy decadent chocolate cupcakes. They are velvety in texture, rich in taste, and by far the easiest cupcakes you’ll ever make!
These are my go-to chocolate cupcakes and this batch was made for my friend who had to bring something delicious to share with his colleagues as it was his birthday… these were the perfect treat.
4 reasons why you'll love these cupcakes
- Quick to make (only 10 minutes to prepare)
- The texture of these cupcakes is velvety and dreamy like no other
- They stay moist and tender for several days!
- The flavour is deeply chocolatey, rich and indulgent
No butter, no creaming, no mixers needed
Most cupcake recipes require cake mixers and several bowls, however this recipe doesn’t use any butter which means no creaming method is needed here. Instead, we’re using the muffin method as we’re using a liquid fat (oil).
Why oil?
Oil helps create a velvety chocolate texture and incredibly moist cupcake by coating the flour proteins with fat, which limits gluten development and keeps the crumb soft and tender.
Ingredients
Simple every day ingredients are needed to make these cupcakes, so nothing fancy needed! If you don't have buttermilk, use this easy homemade version (only 1 minute to make and only 2 ingredients).
How to make chocolate cupcakes:
This recipe uses the muffin method. This means that the dry mixture is combined in one bowl and that the wet ingredients is combined in another. It's much less time consuming than the creaming method or rubbing-in-method because no stand mixer or food processor is needed!
Step 1: Using the muffin method, whisk all dry ingredients in a bowl and the wet in another bowl (except the hot water). Add the wet to the dry mixture.
Step 2: Use a whisk to mix until just combined. Mixture will be thick at this stage.
Step 3: Add boiling hot water. Mix with whisk again. Mixture will be very runny - this is good.
Step 4: Pour batter into a jug for easy pouring.
Step 5: Fill the cupcakes liners with cupcake batter.
Step 6: Bake for 12–15 minutes. Cool completely.
Hint: For perfectly risen cupcakes, fill the cupcake liners ¾'s full - they will rise during baking.
Pro tip
Avoid using hand beaters, stand mixers and processors
To avoid chewy, tough cupcakes, mix the cupcake batter by hand with a whisk, gently. Over mixing cupcake batter develops more gluten, which is not what we want much of here.
Decorating these cupcakes
Top them with any frosting/buttercream you like (I have some ideas for you here). I’ve used a classic chocolate buttercream (recipe below) which does require a hand mixer. I think all cupcakes deserve a little something special so feel free to go a little crazy on the sprinkles.
Storage
These cupcakes will serve you well when needing to make in advance because they last so long without drying out!
- Store in an air tight container at room temperature for up to 3-4 days
- Refrigerate for up to 1 week in an airtight container.
- Freeze for up to 3 months in a freezer safe bag or container (freeze the buttercream separately
Popular Chocolate Cake
Bake these cupcakes as a cake!
These cupcakes are delicious as a cake too
FAQ
Not at all. You can spread the frosting on with a knife just as easily to get a Magnolia Cupcake look or you can fill a plastic zip-lock bag with frosting, snip one corner off and pipe away.
Yes! In fact, I have the recipe right here.
Not at all. The coffee is optional and I often leave it out when making these for kids. But leaving it in helps to enhance the rich chocolate flavour and to create an ever more tender, soft crumb.
Yes, just replace the flour with a gluten free flour using a 1:1 ratio
Absolutely, replace the milk with oat milk and add 1 tablespoon of vinegar to it and let it sit for a few minutes before using. Use a dairy-free butter for the frosting.
Related
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Easy Decadent Chocolate Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 125 g (1 cup) all-purpose flour
- 200 g (1 cup) sugar
- 40 g (⅓) cup cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon espresso powder instant coffee
- 125 mls (½ cup) milk mixed with 1 tablespoon vinegar or ½ cup buttermilk
- 60 mls (¼ cup) vegetable oil
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 125 mls (½ cup) boiling water
CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM
- 200 g butter softened
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 40 g (⅓ cup) cocoa powder
- 350 g (2-3 cups) icing sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 160C/325F. Line a muffin tin with 12 cupcake liners. Set aside.
- Combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt and espresso powder in a large bowl and whisk to combine.
- In a smaller bowl, combine milk with vinegar, vegetable oil, egg and vanilla and mix to combine.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and gently mix with a whisk (avoid using a stand mixer, or an electric beater to mix here- doing so will overwork the batter and will create tough cupcakes). .When nearly all combined, add the hot water and mix until combined (again, be careful not to over mix). The mixture will be very runny, this is good 🙂.
- Pour mixture into a pouring jug and distribute the batter between the cupcake liners (each should be about ¼ full).
- Place in the oven and bake 12-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and allow the cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.
To make chocolate buttercream:
- Beat butter and salt together for one minute. Sift in cocoa and continue beating until well combined. Gradually add icing sugar and vanilla and beat until light and fluffy.
