Mix up these Easiest, Best Ever Chocolate Cupcakes in minutes. They’re super delicious and come out of the oven with beautiful domed tops!
Do you ever feel like a “doubting Thomas”? I certainly do every now and then. Having loved to cook for as long as I can remember, I find myself somewhat skeptical when a recipe, like these Easiest, Best Ever Chocolate Cupcakes, doesn’t follow traditional techniques and/or use traditional ingredients.
Everyone knows, that to make a really good cake (or cupcake), you need butter, right? They say “no substitutions”. 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. Everyone knows that, right?
That’s why I was a bit doubtful when I saw a recipe title Best Chocolate Cupcakes. No butter? Just throw all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and give it a good whirl? Wet and dry ingredients go in together? Hmm, not so sure of this one, I thought to myself.
I’ve been looking for a really wonderful chocolate cupcake recipe for a while now, and have tried quite a few without stupendous results. I wanted a moist, but light cupcake with a nice high dome that could be thrown together quickly. I was about to click back to my search results when something caught my eye… 444 comments. I scrolled down and started reading – mostly rave reviews.
After reading a bunch of the comments, I have to admit I was 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 simpler.”, “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!” The wonderful reviews went on and on…
How could I resist? I gave them a try, actually I’ve made them 4 times now, 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.
After the first attempt, I realized that the batter rises up quite a bit. I learned, for best results, to fill the cupcakes liners just a bit over half full. If filled too much, the batter creeps up over the top of the paper liners. One critique (from the commenters in the original recipe post) that was repeated frequently was that the baking time was not accurate. I tested the recipe and found that 23-27 minutes in my oven was perfect.
One last thing you might be wondering; can a cake 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…
Oh my gosh! I wish I could share a bite with you, these Easiest, Best Ever Chocolate Cupcakes fantastic! Super moist, not too heavy, loaded with great chocolate flavor. My quest for the best chocolate cupcake recipe has been reached!
I used this Easiest, Best Ever Chocolate Cupcake recipe for my 10,000 Cupcakes, One Great Cause entry. I explained it in detail in my last post, but for those of you who missed it, KitchenAid has once again joined forces with The Susan Komen Foundation to help raise funds for breast cancer prevention and research. They will donate up to $10,000 this October – and you can be part of it! For every cupcake you make and share on Instagram and/or Twitter, KitchenAid will donate $1. You can enter as often as you want! So you get to have fun in the kitchen while helping this wonderful cause.
What’s really cool is KitchenAid has also offered to give away one of their gorgeous Raspberry Ice Artisan Mixers here at The Café to help motivate you to get involved in this wonderful cause. It comes with a really classy glass bowl, but the giveaway winner will also receive the adorable Pink Polka Dot Bowl.
What are the requirements to enter the giveaway? It’s simple, just participate in the 10,000 Cupcakes campaign by making a batch of cupcakes. Snap a picture with your phone or camera and post it to Instagram and/or Twitter, using the hashtags #10000cupcakes and #cafesucrefarine. Follow The Café on Instagram and/or Twitter, then come back here and let us know in a comment that you’ve shared your cupcakes and followed us.
Are you a believer in this cupcake recipe? Try it! You’ll see that I’m not spoofing; these truly are The Easiest, Best Ever Chocolate Cupcakes! Scott and I created a little video to show how truly easy this recipe is. Check it out below.
Happy Baking!
P.S. See the pretty decorating technique on my Easiest, Best Ever Chocolate Cupcakes? It’s so… easy, fun and perfect for the upcoming holidays. Stayed tuned, I’ll be sharing a tutorial on my next post!
This giveaway is open to residents of the United States. The deadline to enter is October 18, 2016. (This giveaway is completed) How to enter? Just participate in the KitchenAid 10,000 Cupcakes campaign by making a batch of cupcakes. Snap a picture of them with your phone or camera and post it to Instagram and/or Twitter, using the hashtags #10000cupcakes and #cafesucrefarine. Follow The Café on Instagram and/or Twitter, then come back here and let us know in a comment that you’ve shared your cupcakes and followed us. Enter as many times as you want over the next few weeks. (Limit 1 image or video share per person/handle, per day).
Disclosure: I have not been compensated monetarily for this post. I was given the Raspberry Ice Artisan Mixer and Polka Dot Bowl several years ago.
LOTS OF PEOPLE ASK WHAT KIND OF COOKWARE, SMALL APPLIANCES, CUTLERY, ETC. I USE IN THE KITCHEN. HERE’S WHAT I USED TO MAKE THIS RECIPE.
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup cocoa powder*
- 1 teaspoons 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 325˚F. Line a cupcake pan with cupcake liners. Set aside.
- Combine dry ingredients (flour, cocoa, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt) and whisk to combine.
- Combine dry and wet ingredients in the bowl of an electric mixer. Mix on low speed to combine, then increase speed to high and mix for 1 minute. Scape sides of bowl and mix for another 10-15 seconds. Batter will be thinner than most cake batters, don’t worry, it’s just the way it should be!
- Fill cupcake liners just a little over half full***.
- Place in the oven and bake 23-27 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.
* Hershey’s cocoa works great in this recipe but if you want to try a really fine cocoa powder, this Callebaut powder is quite amazing!
** Don’t worry, if you don’t like coffee, you don’t taste it in these cupcakes. Coffee just 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 quite negligible.
*** This batter rises significantly and produces lovely domed cupcakes. Just don’t fill the cups too high. You will have a small amount of extra batter. If you try to use it all, the cupcakes will rise over the top edges of the cupcake liners. Either discard the leftover batter (it’s not much) or bake it in a small ramekin or baking cup.
Recipe Adapted from Add a Pinch
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Susan says
These are perfect! I added a peanut butter cup to each one. Topped with chocolate peanut butter frosting. Thank you for sharing!
Chris Scheuer says
What a wonderful idea! I’m going to try that!
Andrea says
I made these last week and they were great. We plan to use this to make a cake for an Eagle ceremony. Do you know how it would adjust heat? Time? Ingredient amounts? To make a 14″ round cake at 3″ deep?
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Andrea, I have only made these as cupcakes so I would hate to advise you on this.
Chanel says
Did you wind up making the cake? I want to make it into a cake as well. I loved this recipe as cupcakes. I tipped them with a peanut butter frosting… so I’d love to know how this came out as a cake.
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Chanel, not yet! It’s been a pretty crazy spring and summer for us as we’ve moved across the state so I haven’t had time for a lot of things 🙂
Azure Givans’s says
There an old fashion chocolate cake I’d like to recommend! Black Magic Chocolate Cake! Should be floating around Pinterest!!! I have made it for weddings , birthday, graduation and every time I hear someone say “ I’m not a chocolate cake person but this was goood!!!!!” It’s almost like this recipe but double the ingredients !
Chris Scheuer says
I will look up the Black Magic Cake, it sounds wonderful! Do you make yours in a round or rectangular pan?