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 baking repertoire. There will never be a reason to find a better version—this 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 super-moist texture, is oil. 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 do that one.
Another tip? 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 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, and cream cheese frosting. 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.
PrintSuper 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 oil (or melted coconut oil)
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (120ml) buttermilk, at room temperature*
- chocolate buttercream and sprinkles for decorating
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Line a 12-cup muffin pan with cupcake liners. Line a second pan with 2 liners – this 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. Fill only halfway (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 vanilla 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.
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: KitchenAid Stand Mixer | Cupcake Liners | Cupcake Pan | Reusable Piping Bags or Disposable Piping Bags | Wilton 1M Frosting Tip | Reese’s Pieces Candy | Hershey’s Cocoa Powder
- Mini Cupcakes: Fill mini liners only halfway and bake for 10-12 minutes at 350°F (177°C).
- 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.
- 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 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.
- Be sure to check out my 10 tips for baking the BEST cupcakes before you begin!
vegan alternatives to buttermilk?
Hi Michelle, see the notes section for a how to make a DIY buttermilk with non dairy milk.
I’ve used dozens of recipes from SBA and every single one has turned out just lovely. This recipe is the only one that hasn’t worked for me. Even with following the recipe exactly and filling only 1/2 of the liner, every single one of my cupcakes fell. I’m at high altitude and after reading a few comments this looks like a common problem. Never had issues with any of the other recipes but I have a feeling this might be a skip if you’re baking at a higher altitude.
These are the best cupcakes I have ever made. Hands down. Absolutely delectable! I don’t prefer chocolate desserts, but a friend requested chocolate for her bday. I made a batch and am going to bring 12 to the office tomorrow. The other two, my bf and I just ate. WOW! Cake is delicious, light and moist. Didn’t collapse or overflow, following your precise instructions. Topped them with your chocolate buttercream, and piped it on with an open star tip. PERFECTION! Thank you for all of your recipes and being my go-to. I’m so pleased and I know my work bestie will be as well when I roll into the office with these chocolate babies tomorrow. BRAVO!
So what would happen if I add chocolate pudding???
I love this recipe, the cupcake is moist and didn’t stick to the cupcakes liner. YUM!
I wanted to like this recipe (I like almost all of SBR recipes) but this was just too dry. I did not overcook.
Wow. So good. Flavor of a brown with a cloud texture and a slightly crusty top. I’m in heaven.
Just perfect and so easy. As always, every recipe is a gem. Thanks so much for sharing your recipes and tips.
Could I use fresh brewed espresso instead of powder?
Hi Micaela, if you wish you use liquid coffee/espresso, you can try swapping some in for some of the the buttermilk. Let us know what you try!
These turned out great! I used softened butter instead of oil and normal milk and they were still moist, soft and delicious.
Hi Sally,
What will the ratio be if I use both natural and Dutch cocoa?
Thank you in advance.
It’s best to use natural cocoa powder in this recipe. If using dutched cocoa, you would need to switch out the baking soda (or some of the baking soda) for baking powder. Increase the amount of baking powder in the substitution since it isn’t quite as strong as baking soda. We haven’t tested it ourselves, so it will take some trial and error.
I agree I haven’t made this recipe in a while and when I saw the espresso I thought the recipe was different. I can’t remember the ojd recipe although I’m sure it’s similar without the espresso.
Hi Michelle! Espresso powder deepens the chocolate flavor. You can skip it or use 1 teaspoon of instant coffee powder instead.
Just made this and they turned out very well! I could have filled 3/4 of the muffin cup but they are really great chocolate muffins with fabulous chocolate flavor.
I used to make another moist chocolate cupcake recipe from you which was very similar to this recipe but there was no espresso in it.. it’s now gone from the website. It’s not any of the others you have listed and it was my absolute favorite could you please bring it back?!
Hi Jes! The only chocolate cupcake recipe that we’ve removed from the site started with a box mix. Could that be the one you’re thinking of? If so, you can email us sally@sallysbakingaddiction.com and we’ll send you a copy. We have quite a few chocolate cupcake recipes on the site – you can see them all by searching “Chocolate cupcakes” in the search bar at the top of the page. These super moist chocolate cupcakes are a favorite, though, and you can leave out the espresso if needed!
You have asterisks next to certain ingredients with no reference to explain that I can see. Did this recipe always contain instant coffee? I recall making with strong liquid coffee but don’t recall the measurements But my memory has not always been trustworthy these days!
Hi Tracy, the asterisks indicate that there is a note about those ingredients in the Notes section beneath the recipe steps. And this recipe uses instant espresso powder, but the full-size chocolate cake does use hot coffee!
This is now my ‘go to’ recipe for chocolate cupcakes! I needed 24 cupcakes for my mom’s 92nd birthday yesterday and they were a huge hit! I tried them first a few days ago and cut the recipe in half which was super successful because I used a kitchen scale to downsize it. Please, please, please, don’t ever stop including grams and milliliters with your recipes! Being in Canada, my cup sizes are not all American measurements, so having the weights and volume in metric lets me use my scale and get perfect results every time. I also made your Very Vanilla Cupcakes for the same party and didn’t even get to try one as they all went before I had a chance! I am making another batch tomorrow just for me so I can try them too!
Just made these for a gender reveal this evening and my kitchen smells amazing! I want to emphasize one tip for future bakers. You cautioned not to fill the cupcake liners more than halfway or they would overflow. I just had to put that last little bit into each liner and sure enough they overflowed. Your yummy frosting will cover that little oops. Thank you for sharing this recipe. 🙂
This did not work for me. I only filled them up halfway and instead of going up they went out and sunk in the middle. It made a big mess. I don’t know what to do with them.
Didn’t overfill and they are still kind of sunken and not nice. I wish these were a little sturdier. They smell nice.
Hi Sally !!!
Your recipes are amazing. I have been following your recipes for a life time.
May I know if I am using chocolate ganache to frost this cupcakes how much ganache would be needed for 12 cupcakes?
Hi Lakniiii, Thank you so much for using our recipes! You can follow this chocolate ganache recipe and if you have any left over, it does freeze well!
Delicious cupcakes!
I could not get this recipe to work out for me at all. Every other recipe here has worked well for me despite being at high altitude.
The modifications I made finally worked! Only 4/15 cupcakes sank in the middle, and they aren’t that awful of sinks.
Keep in mind I’m at high altitude – about 7200 feet. YMMV depending on your altitude.
This is what I changed:
-increased flour to 1 cup
-decreased sugar to 1/3 cup
-decreased brown sugar to 1/3 cup
They’re not as sweet, but they baked well and finally didn’t have to toss the whole batch!
Wow, these chocolate cupcakes are super moist and sensational!
Could you please tell me how many days I could store them at room temperature? (just the plain cupcake without any frosting).
Thank you so much.
Kind Regards,
Simone
Hi Simone, even unfrosted, we recommend storing these in a refrigerator if possible.
Thank you so much Michelle.
Hi, do these work best with liners or would they come out okay in a greased mini shaped cake pan?
Hi Christianne, you can use cooking spray to grease your cupcake pans rather than using liners.
I am wondering…can I exchange the oil for extra virgin or avocado?
If you do this they will have a weird flavor because those oils are salty.
Hi Sally, instead of putting this batter in 2x 6 inch tins, do you think it would work in one 8 or 9 inch tin? And if so, how long would you bake each size for? Thank you!
Hi Rebecca, you can, just fill your cake pan half way and use any leftover batter for a few cupcakes on the side. Bake time will be closer to that of this chocolate cake, but keep a close eye on it and use a toothpick to test for doneness.
Could I cut this recipe in half for less cupcakes? Thanks!
Hi Nav, you should be able to halve this recipe without any issues.
I followed the recipe precisely and the result was moist, chocolatey cupcakes which actually rose to form little peaks – no question of sinking. My only complaint is that the flavour was too cocoa-ey for me and not sweet enough. Perhaps I would substitute some cocoa with flour and add some more sugar or coconut.
Perfectly moist and chocolatey cupcakes so easy to make by hand. This should be everyone’s go-to recipe when company is coming and you need to bake something quick! I topped with mini chocolate chips and hoped they would not sink! They turned out nicely risen filling half way as instructed, NO sinking, NO overflow. Your directions are always spot on and informative. Not too sweet and great without frosting for me .I added a pinch of cinnamon. I used short 3 -1/2 ” paper baking cups I buy on Amazon, making 9 short muffins, 18 minute bake time at 350 degrees. Thanks for another great recipe!
What should I do to adjust this recipe to high altitude?
Hi Angie, I wish we could help, but have no experience baking at high altitude. Some readers have found this chart helpful: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/high-altitude-baking.html
Super moist and super easy to make!! No sinking, no overflowing, and baked in 19 minutes. I made a peanut butter frosting to go with them.
Hi Sally,
If I don’t have cream, what can I substitute it for?