These super moist chocolate cupcakes pack TONS of chocolate flavor in each cupcake wrapper! Made from simple everyday ingredients, this easy cupcake recipe will be your new favorite. For best results, use natural cocoa powder and buttermilk. These chocolate cupcakes taste completely over-the-top with chocolate buttercream!
Today we’re diving deep into what I like to call a “foundation recipe.” Basic chocolate cupcakes which are, indefinitely, anything but basic.
This is a solid base recipe that serves as a jumping off point for many others. Like my basic vanilla cupcakes recipe, these chocolate cupcakes hold a sacred spot in my desserts repertoire. There will never be a reason to find a better versionโthis is THE chocolate cupcake recipe I use time and time again.
I shared this recipe 3 years ago as chocolate cupcakes with vanilla frosting, but I want to walk you through the process (1) with step-by-step pictures, (2) with careful explanations, (3) and I want to emphasize one VERY crucial instruction. If you skip this instruction, your entire batch will be ruined. Trust me, the evidence has landed in my trashcan time and time again. It’s not pretty.
Curious about other foundation recipes?
- Vanilla cupcakes and vanilla cake
- Sugar cookies and chocolate sugar cookies
- Chocolate cake (try this!!)
- Chewy fudgy frosted brownies
- Peanut butter cookies (foundation for 6+ other cookies on my site!)
Today’s chocolate cupcakes are for true chocolate fans. I’m talking about those of you who don’t qualify an item as dessert unless there’s chocolate involved. Strawberry shortcake is a dessert impostor and forget about apple pie. That’s some sort of health food, right?
You need 2 bowls, 1 whisk, and 1 spatula. The base of these chocolate cupcakes, and what is responsible for the texture, is oilโthe same powerhouse ingredient we use for a super moist chocolate cake roll. Like double chocolate muffins, we’re not creaming butter here, so there is no need to break out the mixer. Though you can absolutely use a hand or stand mixer if it’s easier for you.
We’re also achieving an incredibly moist texture with buttermilk. Just like in these cream-filled chocolate cupcakes, buttermilk also gives us the best flavor. I don’t typically have buttermilk in the fridge, so I sour whole milk instead. Check out my recipe notes for how to make a buttermilk substitute.
Another tip? Make sure you’re using natural unsweetened cocoa powder, not dutched cocoa, just like when making chocolate frosted cookies. Why? Here’s the difference between dutch-process vs. natural cocoa powder. And if you really want to learn today, here is the difference between baking soda vs. baking powder and why I use both in these chocolate cupcakes.
So there’s 1 bowl for dry ingredients and 1 bowl for wet ingredients. Gently mix the two together. The batter isn’t as thick as you would think. We don’t really want a super thick chocolate batter because that would yield a cupcake similar to brownies. Dense. We don’t want dense! We want spongey, cakey, and rich.
This Will Make or Break Your Recipe
Fill the cupcake liners only halfway full. Not 2/3, not 3/4, not all the way to the top. Half full. You will question yourself as you pour in the batter. Really? This is ALL that I’m using for each cupcake? The answer is yes, that is all you are using for each cupcake.
- If you fill the liners too full, the cupcakes will overflow.
- Too full = crisp mushroom tops
- Too full = sinking in the center
Got that? Halfway full! Halfway full!
Now that the cupcakes are baked and your self control is fading quickly, it’s time to frost them. The frosting flavor is completely up to you. We have a plethora of options on this site from chocolate buttercream and rainbow chip frosting to strawberry frosting, vanilla buttercream, salted caramel frosting, cream cheese frosting, and even a black chocolate buttercream frosting that we developed with these black velvet cupcakes. Keeping things even (though highly indulgent) with chocolate buttercream and a friendly dose of chocolate sprinkles.
And layer that buttercream on nice and tall. (I used Wilton 1M!)
I don’t normally reach for chocolate desserts if there’s a fruity one on the menu, but I would gladly unwrap one of these over any other choice.
By the way, this recipe transfers beautifully into cake pans to make a 6-inch cake.
Print
Super Moist Chocolate Cupcakes
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours, 35 minutes (includes cooling)
- Yield: 12-14 cupcakes
- Category: Cupcakes
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Made from simple everyday ingredients, this easy chocolate cupcake recipe will be your new favorite. For best results, use natural cocoa powder and buttermilk. These chocolate cupcakes taste completely over-the-top with chocolate buttercream!
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup (94g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1/2 cup (41g) unsweetened natural cocoa powder*
- 1 teaspoon espresso powder or instant espresso*
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature*
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (100g) packed light brown sugar
- 1/3 cup (80ml) vegetable or canola oilย (or melted coconut oil)
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (120ml) buttermilk, at room temperature*
- chocolate buttercreamย and sprinkles for decorating
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ยฐF (177ยฐC). Line a 12-count muffin pan with cupcake liners. Line a second pan with 2 linersโthis recipe makes about 14 cupcakes. Set aside.
- Whisk the flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl until thoroughly combined. Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, granulated sugar, brown sugar, oil, and vanilla together until completely smooth. Pour half of the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Then half of the buttermilk. Gently whisk for a few seconds. Repeat with the remaining wet ingredients and buttermilk. Stir until *just* combined; do not overmix. The batter will be thin.
- Pour or spoon the batter into the liners. Fillย only halfwayย (this is imperative! only halfway!) to avoid spilling over the sides or sinking. Bake for 18-21 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before frosting.
- Frost cooled cupcakes with chocolateย buttercream. 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 3 days. I recommend a cupcake carrier for storing and transporting decorated cupcakes.
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 up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before frosting and serving.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 12-count Muffin Pan | Cupcake Liners | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Piping Bags (Reusable or Disposable) | Wilton 1M Piping Tip | Icing Knife |ย Cupcake Carrier (for storage)
- Mini Cupcakes:ย Fill mini liners only halfway and bake for 10-12 minutes atย 350ยฐF (177ยฐC).
- Cake: Here’s my chocolate layer cake recipe.
- Cocoa Powder: Use natural cocoa powder, not Dutch-process. See Dutch-process vs natural cocoa powder for more information.
- Espresso Powder: Espresso powder deepens the chocolate flavor. You can skip it or use 1 teaspoon of instant coffee powder instead.
- Why Room Temperature? All refrigerated items should be at room temperature so the batter mixes together easily and evenly. Read more about the importance of room temperature ingredients.ย
- Buttermilk: Buttermilk is required for this recipe. You can make your own DIY buttermilk substitute 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 work for this soured milk, but the cupcakes wonโt taste as moist or rich.) Stir it around and let sit for 5 minutes. The homemade โbuttermilkโ will be somewhat curdled and ready to use in the recipe.
- Be sure to check out my 10 tips for baking the BEST cupcakes before you begin!
Reader Comments and Reviews
I make the recipe but they stuck to the paper liners. Any suggestions with that are welcome. Flavor was great!
Hi Jes, using high quality liners is key. We love Paper Chef brand parchment baking cups (not sponsored, just a fan!).
Hello! I’m a beginner at baking and absolutely love this recipe. I have made these cupcakes more times than I can count, but I feel I can never get them to be consistent. I follow the recipe exactly and use a kitchen scale to measure my ingredients, but many times they will come out just a bit too dry. The best luck I’ve had is lowering my oven temp by 5ยฐ. I’ve also tried baking them for 17 minutes instead of 18 minutes, but that causes them to collapse in the center. This is the only recipe I have struggled with – I also love your carrot cake cupcakes, and they turn out perfect every time! Do you have any troubleshooting tips? Thanks so much!
Hi Alyssa! When testing for doneness, always go by the toothpick test or by feel instead of the exact time on the oven since all ovens are slightly different. If you gently poke a (hot!) cupcake right out of the oven, it should spring back. If it leaves a dent, the cupcake isn’t quite done yet. And the toothpick test is tried and true as well!
Can i use butter instead of oil? I want to use it as the top tier for my two tiered cake.
Hi Tamara, when these were tested with butter they tasted pretty dry. The chocolate flavor really overpowers the butter flavor, and the oil helps to create a supremely moist crumb. For best results, we recommend sticking with oil.
These turned out dry and not very flavourful. I followed the recipe exactly. I baked them for 15 minutes, less than recommended and they were still dry.
I have made lots of great recipes from Sally, but this one just wasn’t it for me.
Delicious and super moist cupcakes! I substituted buttermilk for almond milk and slightly reduced the sugar used. I also used Nescafรฉ cafe de olla instant coffee which added a hint of cinnamon. Definitely a new favorite!
Just made! And OMG, came out perfect. I preheated my oven to 360* since it runs cold and left it for an hour before making. I cook in my oven often and learned through time it needs to be warmer especially when itโs cold outside. Did the push back test method after 20m and came out perfect. I knew i needed 1-2 more minutes and trusted 20m. Now i havenโt made the buttercream yet but if this came out great, iโm sure butter and sugar will come out excellent. Will be making these as regular treats. I wish we can upload photos.
What did I do wrong? These cupcakes came out horribly sunken in the middle. I’ve never had a Sally recipe fail me before. My guess is that it’s because I used the natural & Dutched cocoa powder blend we had on hand, but that generally doesn’t cause problems, even when the recipe calls for just one. I know that our baking powder and baking soda are fine.
Hi Aspen, these are very moist and soft cupcakes, but if they sank down a lot after baking they could have been under-baked. A couple extra minutes in the oven should help for next time. Hope you give them another try!
I believe that I followed the recipe to the T. But the cupcakes didnโt rise enough. They seem dense. For me. I think I like a lighter fluffier cupcake. I filled them exactly half full. I had 14 cupcakes. Some of them came out. Like a little discs. They didnโt rise enough for my liking. And again, I think I like a fluffier, lighter consistency in the baked cupcake.
Hi Suzanne! These should be very light and fluffy cupcakes. Could your baking powder or baking soda be getting old? We find they can lose strength after just a few months.
I believe that was the problem. I think my baking soda and baking powder was old.. Iโm going to buy fresh and try these chocolate cupcakes again because the flavor was wonderful, but there was something wrong with my ingredients. I will let you know how the next batch turns out.