Chocolate Cupcakes
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my full disclosure policy.
Rich, moist, and deeply chocolatey, these classic chocolate cupcakes are easy to make and perfect for birthdays, bake sales, and everyday treats.
Many years ago, before Once Upon a Chef existed, I started a small baking business specializing in cakes and cupcakes. That experience sparked my love of recipe development and ultimately inspired me to create this website. This chocolate cupcake recipe is a delicious holdover from those early days—the cupcake version of my favorite chocolate cake—and I’ve been making them ever since.
The recipe is wonderfully simple: it’s made in one bowl, and the cupcakes bake up ultra-moist with a rich chocolate flavor and tender crumb. I love to frost them with rich chocolate buttercream, but vanilla buttercream frosting or cream cheese frosting are delicious too.
“Delicious!!! So perfect for the chocolate lover in me!”
What You’ll Need For this Chocolate Cupcake Recipe
For the cupcakes, you’ll need all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, unsweetened cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, eggs, vegetable oil, sour cream, and vanilla extract.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Mix the dry ingredients. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Mix on low for 30 seconds.
Pro Tip: Make sure to stick with natural cocoa powder—natural cocoa powder isn’t interchangeable with Dutch-process cocoa powder due to differences in acidity.
Step 2: Add the wet ingredients. Add the eggs, oil, and sour cream, and mix on low speed until combined.
Step 2: Beat the batter. Increase the speed to medium and beat the batter for 2 minutes.
Step 3: Add the hot water. Reduce the speed to low and gradually pour in the hot water—go slowly so it doesn’t splash. Stop the mixer, scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl, and mix until evenly combined.
Pro tip: The hot water blooms the cocoa powder, which deepens the chocolate flavor significantly. The soupy batter is completely normal, so don’t worry if it looks thinner than you’d expect.
Step 4: Bake and cool. Divide the batter evenly into the cupcake liners and bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until set and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.
Step 5: Frost the cupcakes. Once the cupcakes have cooled, use a small offset spatula or butter knife to swirl the frosting on top. The cupcakes can be made a day ahead and stored in an airtight container at room temperature. Freeze (without the frosting) for longer storage.
More Cake and Cupcake Recipes You May Like
Chocolate Cupcakes
Ingredients
For the Cupcakes
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off
- 1½ cups granulated sugar
- ¾ cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder, such as Hershey’s
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- ¾ cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup boiling water
- Chocolate frosting
Instructions
For the Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and set two oven racks in the middle positions. Line 18 muffin cups with paper liners, using two standard 12-cup muffin pans.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Mix on low speed for 30 seconds to combine. Add the eggs, oil, sour cream, and vanilla and mix on low speed until combined.
- Increase the speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes. Then, reduce the speed to low and gradually pour in the hot water (be careful to pour very slowly so it doesn’t splash). The batter will be soupy. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl; mix again until evenly combined.
- Pour the batter evenly into the prepared muffin tin (they should be about halfway full). Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until the cupcakes are set and a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
- Cool the cupcakes in the tin for about 10 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. Frost the cooled cupcakes as desired.
Notes
- I like frosting these cupcakes with chocolate buttercream, but vanilla buttercream frosting, or cream cheese frosting are delicious too.
- Nutritional information is for the cupcakes only.
- Make-Ahead/Freezing Instructions: The cupcakes can be made up to one day ahead of time and stored in an airtight container at room temperature. They can also be frozen without the frosting for up to 3 months. Let them cool completely, wrap them individually in plastic wrap, and then in foil. Thaw overnight on the countertop before serving. (Wait until the cupcakes are defrosted to ice them.)
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
See more recipes:
Add a Comment
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Would this convert well to a layer cake??
Hi Edi, Yes, I think it would convert very well.
I like each and every one of your recipes.
I have not tried them all yet though, but I am working on it. I like cooking and baking with my 11-year-old daughter, she teaches me so much! She made the cup cakes, they are fabulous, very good recipe. The only change she made: she piped the icing into the cup cake with a tip and covered it with a dot on the top. Great surprise for dad! Thank you for your recipes.
-Maria in Princeton
OMG this recipe is devine! I have made it 3 times now and my gorgeous & skinny sister ate two cupcakes and asked for the recipe. Very happy to have this recipe up my sleeve… thank you Jenn!
Hi Jenn, I don’t have corn syrup, what can I use instead?
Hi Masuda, Unfortunately, there’s no substitute for the corn syrup in this recipe. Sorry! You could make a different frosting entirely though. This one is good: http://www.food.com/recipe/chocolate-buttercream-134704
Can I freeze these cupcakes? I want to make these and the vanilla for my daughter’s pasta party for 26 girls. This way all I need to do is frost them the day of.
Thanks,
Kathy Vinci
Hi Kathy, Yes, it’s fine to freeze the cupcakes.
For the frosting, can you use an electric mixer instead of a food processor?
Hi Mary, You really need a food processor for this recipe; it prevents the frosting from separating and turning greasy. This type of chocolate frosting is very finicky. If you don’t have a mixer, you could try a basic chocolate buttercream. It won’t be as deeply chocolate but it will still be delicious. Here’s a recipe: http://www.food.com/recipe/chocolate-buttercream-134704
Just a note – I have used my standmixer to make this frosting and it worked perfectly for me! So fluffy and delicious!
These are amazing!!!! My new favorite chocolate fix that I crave waaaay too often! I love that they’re not too sweet, but perfect. Completely rich and decadent! I don’t think I’ve had a more delicious chocolate cupcake.
These look divine. And after reading Jeff’s comments above, I will DEFINITELY be giving these a try!!
I know that a cupcake is a fun, sweet confection that is rooted in the joys of childhood. But if a cupcake could be considered “serious”, this would be the one. Last night I finally got to try one (well actually 1 1/2) The texture, moistness, and flavor were all I needed to confirm that I am no longer on a hunt for the ultimate chocolate on chocolate cupcake experience. This is it. Now, just crossing fingers here, that they will freeze like a dream, as I have 3 remaining. Now, on to your millionaire’s shortbread….isn’t life great?
Wow, what an honor to post the first review for this evidently awesome recipe. I use the word “evidently”, as hubs and I won’t be trying them until tonight while watching Seinfeld re-runs in bed. So how do I know these are incredible? I prepared this recipe to the letter this morning as a gift to someone who is recovering from a painful knee surgery. Jon is a foodie and baker, par excellence. He was sleeping when I dropped the cupcakes off, and if there were any way that I could include the voice message that was waiting for us, when we got home, I would be doing so. I have never heard him rave about anything, such as he did for these cupcakes. It was bordering on embarrassing, but I loved every second of this 🙂 Anyway, very psyched for dessert tonight. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Jeff, That is so nice to read! I hope you enjoyed them as much as your friend Jon did 🙂