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Mix up these one-bowl, no-mixer, super-easy Chocolate Cupcakes in Minutes. They're moist, delicious and come out of the oven with beautiful domed tops!
Do you ever feel like a "doubting Thomas"? I sure did when I read the recipe for these chocolate cupcakes!
Do delicious cake/cupcake recipes have to include butter??
Everyone knows that, to make a really good cake (or cupcake), you need butter, right? "No substitutions", they say. And then there's the directions. Classic cake instructions call for whipping butter till it's light and fluffy, followed by the addition of sugar and then more mixing. After that, the dry and wet ingredients are added, often alternating back and forth till everything is well incorporated. If you bake, you know that's just how it's done.
That's why I was a bit doubtful when I googled "chocolate cupcakes" and saw a recipe titled Best Chocolate Cupcakes (from Add a Pinch) with no butter in the ingredient list. And the method was also quite "non-traditional". "Hmm, I'm not so sure about this one", I thought to myself.
But I'd been looking for a really wonderful chocolate cupcake recipe for a while, and none that I'd tried had so far none had hit the mark. I wanted a moist, but light cupcake with a tender crumb and nice high dome. Oh yes, and it had to come together quickly.
Too many rave reviews to ignore
I was about to click back to my search results when something caught my eye... 1,219 comments. I scrolled down and started reading - almost all of them were rave reviews. Hmm...
After reading a bunch of the comments, I was super intrigued. "Best recipe ever.", "Great flavor and so moist", "Made them for a birthday party and got millions of compliments.", "Delicious and couldn't be simple.", "This recipe is amazing!", "I love this cake, so moist, light and easy to make", "My mum is the cake maker in our family, and after I made these for my son’s birthday, she said they were better than hers. Cheers!" And on and on the wonderful reviews went!
How could I resist? I gave them a try. Actually, I've made them at least a dozen times, and every time they've turned out perfect. I adapted the recipe just a bit, using a half cup of coffee instead of the espresso powder (I don't keep that on hand) and boiling water. I've also made them with water instead of coffee and they were great that way too.
I learned a few things along the way too. For example, after the first attempt, I realized that the batter rises up higher than other cupcake recipes, and, for best results, to fill the cupcakes liners just half full. If filled too much, the batter creeps up over the top of the paper liners.
One critique I noticed repeated frequently in the comments was that the baking time was not accurate. I tested the recipe and found that 20-25 minutes in my oven was perfect.
Delicious cupcake recipes do NOT have to include butter!
Okay, so I bet you're wondering if a cake can really be delicious without butter? Hmm, can you wait a minute? I'm going to run downstairs and grab one more cupcake, just so I can really explain how good they are...
I'm back! Oh my gosh! I wish I could share a bite with you! They're fantastic! Super moist, not too heavy, loaded with great chocolate flavor. My quest for the best, easy chocolate cupcake recipe has ended! Here's a video to show you just how easy it is!
Put these crazy-delicious, super-easy chocolate cupcakes on your "must-make" list. You'll become a believer too!
Café Tips for making these Best Ever Chocolate Cupcakes
- Hershey’s cocoa works fine in this recipe, but if you want to try a really fine cocoa powder, this Callebaut cocoa powder is quite amazing!
- Don’t worry, if you don’t like coffee, you don’t taste it in these cupcakes. Coffee enhances the flavor of the chocolate. You could use decaf coffee but, if you divide it up, there’s so little caffeine from the coffee (about 4mg) in each cupcake, it’s pretty negligible.
- If you're absolutely against using coffee in this recipe, just add a ½ cup of water instead of the coffee.
- This batter rises significantly and produces lovely domed cupcakes. Don’t fill the cups too high or the batter will overflow the cups.
- This recipe will make 15 nice size cupcakes so you'll need two 12-cup cupcake pans (one will only have three cups filled). You could also put the extra batter in a small loaf pan instead of using the second cupcake pan.
- I absolutely LOVE this OXO Good Grips Cupcake/Muffin Pan. The cups are slightly taller than the average cupcake pan which helps yield beautiful high-domed muffins and cupcakes.
- I have made this recipe for a layer cake. I tripled it for a three-layer cake with 8-inch pans. If you use 8-inch pans, make sure your pans are at least 2 inches tall, otherwise, use three 9-inch pans.
Thought for the day:
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby,
keeping watch over their flocks at night.
An angel of the Lord appeared to them,
and the glory of the Lord shone around them,
and they were terrified.
But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid.
I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.
Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you;
he is the Messiah, the Lord.
Luke 2:8-11
What we're listening to for inspiration:
If you enjoyed this recipe, please come back and leave a star rating and review! It’s so helpful to other readers to hear your results, adaptations and ideas for variations.
The name says it all! Throw these delicious, super moist, beautifully domed Easy Chocolate Cupcakes together in minutes!
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup milk
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ½ cup coffee cooled
-
Preheat oven to 350˚F. Line a 12-cup cupcake pan with cupcake liners. Line another cupcake pan with three cupcake liners for a total of 15. Set aside.
-
Combine dry ingredients (flour, cocoa, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt) in a medium-size bowl and whisk to combine.
-
Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add milk, oil, egg, vanilla and coffee. Stir with a whisk until all ingredients are combined then continue to whisk until batter is smooth. Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix for another 10-15 seconds. The batter will be thinner than most cake batters, don’t worry, it’s just the way it should be!
-
Fill cupcake liners just half full. (I'm always tempted to fill them higher and when I do, they overflow.)
-
Place in the oven and reduce the temperature to 325˚F. Bake 18-24 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow the cupcakes to cool completely. Decorate as desired.
See Café Tips above for more detailed instructions and tips
Recipe Adapted from Add a Pinch
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Vanessa says
Just have to say these are so tender and fluffy. So so good! Will definitely be my go to recipe. I did use buttermilk and subbed some of the sugar with brown sugar. Perfection. You aren’t kidding about filling half way, I used my regular scoop and they overflowed, luckily I did a single test run. Now I know that in a standard 2” diameter liner use 1/8 cup to fill. Thank You!
Lindsay @ The Café Sucre Farine says
Thanks for sharing your results, Vanessa!
Deni says
Wow! I had my doubts about this recipe, but I'm so glad I tried it! My family are unrepentant chocoholics and they raved over these. So easy and
baked up beautifly. Many thanks.+
Chris Scheuer says
Awesome! Thank you, Deni!
Mairi says
Hi.. Just a mention with regards recipe..
there must be a glitch somewhere…as when I pressed the Print button or go to recipe button .. there was no response at all so I was unable to Print
though you should know..
I will definitely try out your cupcakes..
thanks
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Mairi, hope you enjoy the cupcakes.
I appreciate you letting me know about the Print issue. I wonder if it was a network problem or something as I just tried it and it seems to be working now.
Debbie says
Apologies!!! I left a comment re types of cocoa powder affecting dome of cakes! Lowering my oven temperature to 160 degrees C has improved the dome on my cup cakes! This really is a lovely recipe!
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks, Debbie!
Debbie says
Im not sure if its just me but i thought it might be worth noting that after many attempts at this recipe, i only had success using natural cocoa powder. Dutch process doesn't seem to get the domes on the cup cakes. Thankfully, this recipe is a winner, but use Natural Cocoa Powder!!!!!
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks for sharing your review, Debbie!
Dlevy says
These were so delicious and moist, not to mention easy. Will be using this recipe for all of my chocolate cakes and cupcakes going forward. Thank you Chris.
Chris Scheuer says
Yay! Thanks so much for taking the time to let us know, Dlevy!
Noelle says
Made these today! Halved the recipe for 7 cupcakes approximately. Sooo wonderful!!!! I couldn't help eating two in the same day!!!
Chris Scheuer says
Yay! Thanks for letting us know, Noelle!
Mary says
Hi Chris - love your recipes!!!!! They are easy to follow and yummy!! Quick question on this recipe - can I use black cocoa instead of "regular" cocoa? Thanks.
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Mary, black cocoa will also work for these cupcakes. The flavor will be more intensely chocolate but delicious!
Ann says
Hi, Chris! I love your recipes. Always delicious and dependable. Just wondering if you’ve tried the cupcakes with 1:1 Gluten free flour? Thanks so much. I look forward to opening your emails each morning.
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks, Ann! I have not tried these with gluten-free flour. If you try it, let us know how it turns out!
Lynn Zimmerman says
OH! I use a version of this recipe whenever a chocolate cake is in order.
The only difference is that my recipe calls for buttermilk instead of milk.
I usually use powdered cultured buttermilk and water.
It's great to know I could just use milk.
One thing to note is that this cake freezes really well.
I like to double this recipe and make three six-inch round cakes.
One goes with us to a friend's for dinner, one stays home, and the third gets popped into the freezer.
Because you never know when ...
Kelly says
I only made 12 cupcakes and then put the remaining batter in the microwave for 1 minute. Perfect! And I didn't have to wait for the cupcakes to bake To enjoy chocolate heaven (I'm not patient).
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks, Kelly!
Susan Smith says
The first time I made these . .. I used 1 1/4 c of pastry flour 'cause I had some that I wanted to use up and extra light olive oil, otherwise did not change the recipe and they came out perfect! The mixture made exactly 15 medium size cupcakes though mine did not rise as high as yours in the picture, so next time I will fill the papers up a speck more and go for 14. Because the batter is pourable it makes it so easy to get them into the cupcake papers. I baked them in my Breville oven on convection for 20 minutes. My daughter suggested making a coffee flavoured whipping cream topping instead of buttercream icing and it was the perfect topping for these delicious treats. Will be my go-to for a quick, easy cupcake.
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks so much for sharing your results, Susan!
Narlene Tiu says
I’ve tried this recipe and it’s very delicious, moist and very easy to make. Can I use this recipe for any other pan instead of a cupcake pan?
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Narlene, I haven't tested this recipe with other size pans although I'm sure it would work fine.
Kristie says
This is my first recipe from your blog. My critique: it was easy, the ingredients were on-hand, and it turned out perfectly delicious!! I will be making more of your recipes in the future for sure. Thank you very much for the best chocolate cupcake recipe ever!
Chris Scheuer says
I'm so glad, Kristie!
Karen says
I made these yesterday and they were so good! They were moist so they didn’t even need frosting ... just a little powdered sugar sprinkled on top to make them look pretty! Thanks Chris!
Chris Scheuer says
Yay! Thanks, Karen!
Payal Khanna says
How much coffee powder should I dissolve and it should be dissolved in water or milk?
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Payal, dissolve the coffee in water. The amount will depend on the brand your using. Just make a strong cup of coffee with your powder and use ½ cup for the recipe and enjoy the rest.
Kim B says
Do you have to use the coffee? I’m not a coffee fan….
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Kim, the coffee just helps to bring out the chocolate taste. You can't taste the coffee. That being said, you can leave it out if you would like.
Annie says
Do I have to use Canola or Vegetable oil for any chocolate cake recipe? thanks.
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Annie, you can use any type of neutral-flavored oil.
Lauren says
Had a craving for chocolate -- this recipe was so quick, easy and delicious! I baked for 20 min. Thank you for a great cupcake 🙂
Chris Scheuer says
That's awesome, Lauren! I'm so happy you enjoyed them!
Rachel says
Is it possible to substitute chocolate milk for the coffee? (For me who doesn’t have coffee on hand unfortunately)
Chris Scheuer says
Just use water, it will still be delicious!
Barbara says
I needed a dairy-free cake, so I subbed oat milk with good success. We baked it as 2 6-inch layers and it came out great.
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks for sharing your results, Barbara! I'm sure that will be very helpful to other readers who are dairy-free.
Lily says
Hey Chris, I made these and they were perfect! I topped them with a whipped chocolate ganache frosting and it was the best chocolate cupcake ever! I was wondering though, why start at 350F then bake at 325F?
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Lily, that's a great question. The higher temperature to start with gives the leavening agents a good boost. Lowering the temp helps the cupcakes bake evenly without getting too baked at the edges. Thanks for asking
💕 Chris