Simple to make and even easier to eat, these chocolate cupcakes with vanilla frosting will be your new favorite. For best results, use natural cocoa powder and buttermilk in the cupcake batter. Love chocolate buttercream? You can definitely make the switch! Or you can even swirl chocolate and vanilla frostings together, which you’ll also see below.
Have you tried my triple chocolate cake before? This chocolate cupcake recipe was adapted from that super-popular recipe. Like my classic vanilla cupcakes recipe, these chocolate cupcakes hold a sacred spot in my baking repertoire. There’s no reason to find a better version—this is THE chocolate cupcake recipe I use time and time again. I use the same batter to make these cream-filled chocolate cupcakes, too. (Try those next!)
Chocolate cupcakes with vanilla frosting are a birthday party classic, so I want to make sure you have a recipe for just that. They’re the perfect party-tray complement to these yellow birthday cupcakes with chocolate frosting!
These Chocolate Cupcakes With Vanilla Frosting Are:
- Super moist and richly flavorful
- Soft with a spongey, cakey texture
- Based on the recipe for this reader-favorite chocolate cake
- Easy to prepare
- A delicious combination of vanilla + chocolate
- Perfect for celebrations and birthday parties
Overview: How to Make Them
- Combine the dry ingredients: Whisk together all-purpose flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Cocoa powder takes the place of some flour, so that’s why there is so little flour in this recipe. Make sure you’re using natural unsweetened cocoa powder, not dutched cocoa. Why? Here’s the difference between dutch-process vs. natural cocoa powder. And if you are interested, here’s some info on the difference between baking soda vs. baking powder and why I use both in these chocolate cupcakes.
- Combine (most of) the wet ingredients: Whisk oil, sugar, egg, vanilla extract, and buttermilk together.
- Combine everything together: Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry, add hot coffee/water, then whisk until smooth. Hot liquid enhances the cocoa powder’s flavor. It also encourages it to bloom and dissolve appropriately. If you don’t drink coffee, you can use hot water. For deeper and darker flavor, though, use coffee. (Decaf coffee works!)
- Fill muffin pan: Fill your cupcake liners only 2/3 full. Trust me, you don’t want to fill them any more than that, or they will overflow when baking. This recipe makes enough batter for 15 cupcakes, so line a second muffin pan with 3 liners, or bake in batches.
- Bake: The cupcakes take about 20 minutes in the oven.
- Frost: After they cool, frost the cupcakes with vanilla buttercream or swirl vanilla and chocolate buttercream together like we do for these marble cupcakes!
Expect a thin batter. We don’t want a super thick batter because that would yield dense cupcakes. That’s great for brownies, but we want spongey, cakey, and rich chocolate cupcakes.
Remember: don’t overfill the cupcake liners. This recipe makes enough batter for 15 cupcakes, so line a second muffin pan with 3 liners, or bake in batches. Don’t try to fit all the batter into 12 muffin cups—you will have a disaster on your hands!
Vanilla Frosting OR Swirled Frosting
I love sweet, creamy vanilla buttercream frosting on these chocolate cupcakes. And don’t forget the sprinkles!
If you want to take it a step further, try swirled frosting instead! You can find instructions for the swirled frosting in my marble cupcakes recipe. Basically, you’ll make two bowls of frosting, spoon them side-by-side in your piping bag, then pipe. It’s very easy!
I used Wilton 1M piping tip in these pictured cupcakes.
Baker’s Tip: Place your piping bag in a tall cup. This makes transferring frosting to the piping bag MUCH easier, neater, and quicker.
Chocolate Cupcakes With Vanilla Frosting
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours, 25 minutes
- Yield: 12-14 cupcakes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Made from simple everyday ingredients, these chocolate cupcakes with vanilla frosting will be your new favorite. For best results, use natural cocoa powder and buttermilk in the cupcake batter.
Ingredients
Chocolate Cupcakes
- 1 cup (125g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1/2 cup (42g) unsweetened natural cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup (80ml) vegetable oil
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (120ml) buttermilk*, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup (120ml) hot coffee or hot water
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
- 1 cup (226g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 4–5 cups (480–600g) confectioners’ sugar
- 1/4 cup (60ml) heavy cream, half-and-half, or whole milk, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- salt, to taste
Instructions
- Make the cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Line a 12-cup muffin pan with cupcake liners. This recipe yields about 15 cupcakes, so line a second muffin pan with 3 cupcake liners or bake in batches.
- Whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside. Whisk the oil, sugar, egg, vanilla, and buttermilk together until combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, add the hot coffee/water, and whisk until the batter is completely combined. Batter is thin.
- Pour/spoon the batter into the liners, filling only 2/3 full to avoid spilling over the sides. You should have enough batter for 15 cupcakes.
- Bake for 20–22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Allow cupcakes to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Cupcakes must be completely cooled before decorating.
- Make the frosting: With a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add 4 and 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar, heavy cream/milk, and vanilla extract. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then increase to medium-high speed and beat for 2 full minutes. Taste. Add a pinch of salt if frosting is too sweet. I always add 1/8 teaspoon. Add up to 1/2 cup more confectioners’ sugar if frosting is too thin, or more cream/milk—a Tablespoon at a time—if frosting is too thick.
- Frost cooled cupcakes. You can swipe the frosting on with an icing knife or use a piping tip such as Wilton 1M. Leftover cupcakes keep well covered tightly in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: You can bake the cupcakes 1 day in advance. Keep cupcakes covered tightly at room temperature and frost the day of serving. Unfrosted cupcakes can be frozen for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before frosting and serving.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 12-cup Muffin Pan | Cupcake Liners | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Piping Bag (Reusable or Disposable) | Wilton 1M Piping Tip
- Buttermilk: Buttermilk is required for this recipe. You can make your own DIY version of buttermilk if needed. Add 1 teaspoon of white vinegar or lemon juice to a liquid measuring cup. Then add enough whole milk to the same measuring cup until it reaches 1/2 cup. (In a pinch, lower-fat or nondairy milks can work for this soured milk, but the cupcakes won’t taste as moist or rich.) Stir it around and let sit for 5 minutes. The homemade “buttermilk” will be somewhat curdled and ready to use in the recipe. You could also substitute sour cream.
- Hot Coffee: Hot liquid enhances the cocoa powder’s flavor. It also encourages it to bloom and dissolve appropriately. I promise these cupcakes don’t taste like coffee at all! If you don’t drink coffee, you can use hot water. For deeper and richer flavor, though, use coffee (regular or decaf, but make sure it’s black with no sugar or cream). You can either brew it in a coffee maker or make instant coffee.
- Mini Cupcakes: Fill mini liners only halfway and bake for 10–12 minutes at 350°F (177°C). Yields about 3 dozen.
- Cake: Here’s a chocolate cake that is just as moist and chocolate-y. To make enough vanilla frosting for that 2-layer cake, use the frosting ratios from this white cake recipe.
- Why Room Temperature? All refrigerated items should be at room temperature so the batter mixes together easily and evenly.
- More Success Tips: Be sure to check out my How to Use Piping Tips post for instructions on how to fill a piping bag, and you can also read my 10 Tips for Baking the BEST Cupcakes.
Keywords: chocolate cupcakes, vanilla frosting
can i add chocolate chips to this batter?
Hi Rachel, absolutely — we’d start with 1/2 cup to 1 cup depending on how much you’d like. Enjoy!
These are AMAZING!!! My new go to chocolate cupcake recipe. They are so moist and chocolatey. I used a different buttercream recipe though (:
★★★★★
Hi there!
I was just wondering if anyone had tried using cake flour for this recipe? I have both cake and all purpose flour and I was honestly just curious if that would make a difference in the texture!!
Hello! I’ve made these, the texture is perfect but the chocolate flavour is very minimal and hardly tastes chocolatey. Would adding liquid coffee make a difference/ruin the recipe? If not, how much should i add?
I tried this recipe and it came out Perfect this is my Go to cupcake recipe …i even made the buttermilk with the vinegar and milk ..excellent !! Thank you for this Recipe ..
★★★★★
Hi,
this recipe looks really good. I was wondering for the cocoa powder, if I would be able to use the ‘Guittard Cocoa Rouge Cocoa Powder’? It was the only type I could find at the store. The powder is unsweetened, 100% cocoa, but says it’s ‘red dutch-process cocoa powder’?
Any replies are greatly appreciated, as I would like to make these for June 5th.
thanks
Hi Sim, the switch to the dutch-process cocoa would require additional testing. If you test anything out, please let us know. Natural cocoa really is best here. You could also try these chocolate cupcakes with mint chocolate frosting instead (swap frostings if you’d like). They aren’t quite as moist as these.
Hi,
I have a fan oven so set it to about 160 degrees C. I left them cooking for 21 minutes and when I took them out they weren’t cooked. I then put them back in the oven for another 2-3 minutes and still wasn’t cooked. I then decided to rank up the temp to 170 and left in for another few minutes and they did cook, but the tops were left real crispy while the middle was a moist texture, I only filled the cases half way too. Also had trouble getting the cupcakes out of the cases as they were stuck. Any advice for next time? The flavours were perfection just a shame about the texture. Not sure if it’s because I have a fan oven?
★★★
To make them more chocolatey, try adding a chocolate flavor enhancer to the wet ingrediants. This can include a tablespoon of cointreau or a teaspoon of ground of espresso. This worked a charm for me.
Hello Sally,
I have a question about the mixing instructions. It says to add half the wet to the dry. Is this imperative? Most recipes instruct to add the dry to the wet. Does it matter which way it is done?
Hi Anna, It honestly won’t make a huge difference either way for this recipe since it doesn’t make a huge amount of batter. When working with a lot of batter some bakers find it easier to mix wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients more smoothly so you can do it that way if you wish!
Hi there! Your cupcake recipes are always a hit in my household. I attempted to make these last night in preparation for my sons 1st birthday party on Saturday. While the flavor was to die for, the cupcake texture was a little more spongey then desired. What did I do wrong?
★★★
Hi Marissa, These cupcakes should have a very soft and light texture but still be very moist. I’m not sure that you did anything wrong!
Very yummy!!
★★★★★
Turned out dry and without much flavor. Had to throw away the entire batch. Even the kids wouldn’t eat them.
★
Came out perfect.
★★★★★
I baked cupcakes for the very first time! I and my family just loved it soooo muchhh thank youuuu Sally’s baking addiction!❤
★★★★★
best chocolate cupcake recipe ever! I baked them for 20 mins and filled them about 3/4 of the way full and they were perfect, highly recommended
★★★★★
I made these and they are SOOO good! I’m not crazy about the icing, but the cake is literally like a perfect recipe, especially since whenever I try to make homemade cake, it never rises right. But it did this time and turned out great! Highly recommend!
This is the best chocolate cupcake I’ve ever tried! It’s so soft and tasty!
I have used this recipe yesterday for a 7th bday party..too bad i cannot share the picture of the cupcake here…i made a christmas tree chocolate cupcake. thanks for sharing your recipes…youre my go to website for my baking requirements.
I really love this cupcake recipe of yours! I’m glad I found your blog, I made this last night and it’s so delicious! Thank you! ^^
Hey Sally
I am new baker and venturing into professional baking and I recently stumbled upon one of your recipes and since then I have atleast tried three and just yesterday I tried this one ans it turned out amazing…. I also wanna say that I love how you explain everything and every step that I don’t even feel like watching a video rather I look foreard to the whole thing before I try your recipe … it kinda prepares me ☺️ Thank you so much once again and I look forward to trying more recipe of yours
Aisha, happy to hear this is the one that worked best for you! Lots of luck in your new baking venture!
OMG!! These were sooo GOOD!! They were soft and chocolaty and oh so delicious! Definitely a new fave!
Beautiful cupcakes! I am certainly no professional, but was asked last minute to bake for my cousin’s bridal shower next weekend. My go-to chocolate recipe, while delicious, does not make good cupcakes (too light, and the tops are either completely flat or spread out – I know this has just as much to do with technique as the recipe, but I’ve never been able to remedy it). I did a test batch of these yesterday and I am very happy with them. For cakes and such I will stick with my go-to, but this recipe made for some very pretty, slightly-domed, light-but-sturdy-enough-for-piles-of-frosting cupcakes. I will be topping them with swirled vanilla bean and strawberry buttercreams and a little chocolate-covered strawberry. Thanks for another great recipe! : )
Hey Sally!
This is a great recipe, I tried it today. I made 12 cupcakes out of it using silicone cupcake pans, and cut them in half to sandwich them with peanut butter and also a chocolate cookie spread (I lacked confectiner’s/icing sugar t make frosting for them, plus I’m not really a big fan of buttercream) . They turned out deliciously chocolatey and moist, and they will be my go to chocolate cupcakes from now on!
Thanks for posting it! 🙂
Hi Sally, absolutely love these cupcakes, thank you for an awesome recipe.Am wondering if I could convert these into pinata cupcakes or is it too tender to hold the candies? TIA
You sure can! I’d only cut out a little portion of the cupcakes and fill with just a few candies.
Thank you so much for this recipe!! I started using it a few months ago (I LOVE chocolate!!) when I had very little experience baking. This recipe never fails me! It’s so delicious!
I made these cupcakes yesterday for my little girl’s birthday. I have never felt so impelled to write a review for a recipe until now. These cupcakes are the BEST! The cupcake is super fluffy, delicious and moist. Compliments abound and all were sneeking in a 2nd and 3rd cupcake. The cupcakes cooked perfectly and did not stick the paper, as some mentioned. Since my daughter loves chocolate, I frosted the cupcakes with chocolate buttercream frosting. The only thing I would change for next time is I would make 2x the recipe because these cupcakes went super fast! Thank you for sharing your cupcake recipe!
Made these tonight and they turned out great, top was a little bit chewy and fudgey like a brownie and the bottom was moist and fantastic! The perfect chocolate cupcake! I baked a peppermint pattie in the middle and topped with peppermint vanilla bean buttercream. Love this recipe, thank you!
Just want to say your recipe is wonderful. My cupcakes came out perfect! Thank you for the tips and foot notes, they are so helpful.
I will definitely come back to make more of tour recipes. 🙂
This recipe is perfect!! I followed the recipe exactly as written with excellent results. My cupcakes, including the frosting swirl, look identical to your great photos! Many thanks Sally for the lessons and tips on this website. Cheers!!
This recipe is perfect! Great chocolate flavor, moist and not crumbly! Perfect cupcake. Thank you!