For when you can’t decide if you want a chocolate cupcake or a vanilla cupcake!
I have a few kitchen-tested, reader-approved, very trusty cupcake recipes on my website. Two favorites? These vanilla funfetti cupcakes and these chocolate cupcakes. I knew I wanted to make one of them, but was having trouble deciding which.
So I decided to jazz things up. Throw a curveball and surprise everyone with an irresistible medley of both chocolate AND vanilla. Ladies and gents, I bring you…
Ultimate Marble Cupcakes.
Lucky for both you and me, these cupcakes are a snap to make.
How to Make Marble Cupcakes
First, you do NOT have to make a vanilla cupcake batter and a chocolate cupcake batter. Thank goodness! Similar to how you make marble loaf cake, you’ll simply make my trusted vanilla cupcake recipe and add cocoa powder to part of its batter. Less dishes, less time, less headache!
The vanilla batter is all mixed together by hand in under 5 minutes. Once mixed, measure 3/4 cup of the batter and add to a medium mixing bowl with cocoa powder and a touch of milk. Since you’re adding more dry ingredients to this portion of the cupcake batter (the cocoa powder), you’ll need a touch of milk to thin it out.
The marbling part is not tricky at all. You’ll simply spoon some vanilla batter into your cupcake liners, then some chocolate batter, then some more vanilla batter on top. Take a toothpick and gently swirl it all together a couple times. I only swirled a few of my cupcakes because I wanted to see how each (swirling vs no swirling) turned out. The swirling looked the prettiest when baked up! Here are some visuals:
Now, let’s talk frosting. No cupcake is complete without it. If you’re anything like me, you like a little cupcake with a lot of frosting.
You’re going to make two frostings. My favorite vanilla frosting and my favorite chocolate frosting. There are a few options for frosting these cupcakes:
- Make both frostings and spread them each on your cupcakes however you’d like.
- Make either the vanilla frosting or the chocolate frosting (double the frosting recipes below to make sure there is enough for all 12 cupcakes) and frost the cupcakes with a knife or piping tip.
- Make swirled frosting using my How to Make Swirled Frosting page as a guide.
You’ll need a Wilton 1M piping tip and a piping bag if you choose the third option. All you do is spoon some vanilla frosting into one side of your piping bag and chocolate frosting into the other side. Then, pipe onto cupcakes in a swirl pattern:
Again, my how to make swirled frosting post has tons of visuals to help guide you. I also include how I use the Wilton 1M swirl piping tip. If you’re ever curious about how I frost my cupcakes, that’s a handy page to read!
So there you have it. A simple one-batter marble cupcake with velvety rich chocolate and vanilla frostings on top. Buttery vanilla paired with swirls of chocolate throughout every super-moist bite. Does it really get any better than this? Oh yes, it does.
Top with a sparkly pink candle and celebrate your ultimate awesomeness.
I can hardly wait for the birthday girls to taste their marbled treats!
*Don’t be overwhelmed by the ingredient list! A lot of the ingredients are just repeated for each part of the cupcake/frostings.
Print
Ultimate Marble Cupcakes
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours
- Yield: 14 cupcakes
- Category: Cupcakes
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Chocolate and vanilla marble cupcakes with chocolate and vanilla swirl frosting on top! These cupcakes are perfect for when you can’t decide between a chocolate or vanilla treat!
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- 1 and 2/3 cups (209g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, melted
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1/4 cup (60g) yogurt*
- 3/4 cup + 1 Tablespoon (195ml) milk, divided*
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 Tablespoons (10g) unsweetened natural cocoa powder
Milk Chocolate Frosting
- 1 and 3/4 cups (210g) confectioners’ sugar
- 1/4 cup (21g) unsweetened natural cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 2 Tablespoons (30ml) heavy cream or half-and-half*
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- salt, to taste
Vanilla Frosting
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 and 3/4 cups (210g) confectioners’ sugar
- 2 Tablespoons (30ml) heavy cream or half-and-half*
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- salt, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line a 12-count muffin pan with cupcake liners and an additional pan with 2 liners. This recipe makes about 14 cupcakes. Set them aside.
- Make the cupcakes: in a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In a large microwave-safe bowl, melt butter in the microwave. Whisk in sugar—mixture will be gritty. Chill in the refrigerator for 1 minute. Stir in egg, yogurt, 3/4 cup milk, and vanilla extract until combined. Slowly mix in dry ingredients until no lumps remain. Batter will be thick. Transfer 3/4 cup of batter to another medium bowl. Mix in cocoa powder and 1 Tablespoon milk until combined. Chocolate batter will be thick.
- Spoon 1 Tablespoon of vanilla batter into each cupcake liner. Top with a spoonful of chocolate batter, then more vanilla batter on top until all batters have been used up. At this point you may swirl the batters together very lightly using a toothpick or leave them as is, as I explained in the post. Bake the cupcakes for 20-24 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.
- For the chocolate frosting: Sift together the confectioners’ sugar and cocoa powder to assure there are no lumps. Set aside. With a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy—about 2 minutes. Gradually add the sifted sugar/cocoa powder alternately with the heavy cream and vanilla. Beat on low speed after each addition. Once all added, beat on high speed until creamy and combined for at least 2 minutes. Add a pinch of salt if frosting is too sweet.
- For the vanilla frosting: With a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy—about 2 minutes. Add confectioners’ sugar, cream, and vanilla extract with the mixer running on low. Increase to high speed and beat for 3 full minutes. Add more confectioners’ sugar if frosting is too thin or more cream if frosting is too thick. Add a pinch of salt if frosting is too sweet.
- Frost cooled cupcakes with a knife or with a piping bag/tip. If you’d like to just make 1 kind of frosting and not both, make sure you double the frosting recipe of your choice to make sure there is enough for all cupcakes. To swirl the two frostings like I did, here is how to make swirled frosting. There may be leftover frosting depending how much you use on each cupcake.
- Store cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days and in the refrigerator up to 5. I recommend a cupcake carrier for storing and transporting decorated cupcakes.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Prepare cupcakes and frostings 1 day in advance. Keep cupcakes covered tightly at room temperature and the frosting covered tightly in the refrigerator. 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 | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Fine Mesh Sieve | Piping Bags (Disposable or Reusable) | Wilton 1M Piping Tip (or another favorite piping tip) | Cupcake Carrier (for storage)
- Yogurt & Milk: Use any kind of yogurt you like—Greek, regular, vanilla, plain, nonfat or low fat. You can use any milk you like, too—buttermilk, skim, 1%, 2%, almond, soy, etc.
- Cream: For the frosting, heavy cream or half-and-half will give your frostings the creamiest texture. You can use milk instead, keeping in mind the frostings won’t be as creamy.
- Single Layer Cake: Simply layer the chocolate and vanilla batters into a 9-inch round cake pan or 9-inch springform pan. Fill the pan 2/3 of the way full. There will be leftover batter for an additional cupcake or two. Bake the cake for 30-35 minutes.
- Mini Cupcakes: For 28 mini cupcakes, bake at 350°F (177°C) for 9-10 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Be sure to check out my 10 tips for baking the BEST cupcakes before you begin!
Still can’t decide? Here are a few more chocolate and vanilla cupcake recipes you’ll love:
Reader Comments and Reviews
I made these today and they came out perfect!! Thanks Sally!!
What kind of yogurt? Plain? Unsweetened? Greek?
Any of the above. I typically use plain greek.
I made these, and they turned out amazing. Everybody loved them. I am planning on having them for my birthday. Thank you!!!
Hi Sally! When making the chocolate portion, can I use strong coffee instead of milk to thin the batter? Also. Do you think it would work if I layered the two flavors without swirling so I got a kind of horizontal line efffect or would it affect the baking somehow? TIA
I can’t see why you couldn’t use coffee. That’s actually a great idea! Layering *could* work but there may be a little swirl and not a clean line.
Hi Sally,
Can I use cake flour instead of AP flour? Do I need to make any other adjustments to the recipe?
Thanks!
Definitely. I wouldn’t change anything, just an even swap here.
I don’t have a stand mixer so, I’m just going to use my hand mixer, is that okay?
Absolutely!
They turned out looking like soft serve ice cream. Bonus!!
these turned out really well they taste and look great, thanks x
so i have made quite a few things from your blog now, and so far, everything has been just flawless! i made these for a little work event today, and they were a solid hit. thanks for all the great recipes and helpful tips!
Does this recipe double well? they look so yummy, and I haven’t made marble cupcakes in ages!
Thank you, and take care!
Instead of doubling, I recommend making 2 separate batters. This way you are working with less batter at a time, which decreases the risk of overmixing (which yields tough, dense cupcakes).
Made these cupcakes today. Oh MY GOODNESS!!!!! BEST cupcakes I’ve made in awhile. Beats the box, which used to be my go to years ago. Thanks for such a simple, delish recipe.
Hi, Sally! I want to make the mini ones for a birthday, so I have a question. For the regular size ones, it says use 1 tablespoon of each. So how much would you put in the mini tins?
About 1 teaspoon.
Hi Sally,
I just made this for my son’s birthday in his class. It taste so good!!! Thanks for sharing this recipe.
This weekend he will have the real party, i would love to make the cake with this recipe, is it possible to make round cake with this recipe?
Thanks
Poppy
Hi Poppy! Yes, absolutely. See my recipe note.
These look wonderful! I was hoping to bake the cupcakes inside plain cake ice cream cones so they end up looking like twist ice cream cones in the end. Do you think that work work with this cake recipe?
I can’t see why not!
I made these cupcakes a few weeks ago and they were a lot of fun, but I found they were dry. Can you tell me what I would need to alter to avoid that in the future? It seems the review are primarily that they are moist so I think it’s baker’s error…..
Do you think you overmeasured the flour by chance? Always try to spoon and level. Meaning, do not scoop your flour. Spoon it into the measuring cup. This prevents it from packing into the cup, which often results in a dry baked good.
Hi Sally! I made these and they tasted great! But my marbling didn’t quite work. Instead, the chocolate batter sunk, so the cupcakes had a massive chocolate blob at the bottom. Did I use too much chocolate batter? Because you do mention that the chocolate batter is thicker than the vanilla batter, so it’s not really that surprising… Should I use more milk to thin the chocolate batter out?
Nikki, you could try to thin the batter out with a little milk, yes. Try to use a little more vanilla batter in each cupcake. Maybe you’ll have a little extra chocolate batter leftover to make plain chocolate cupcakes then. Enjoy!
Hi! Thanks for sharing your recipe. Would it be possible for this recipe to be baked in a bundt pan as well? Or do you suppose it would not cook thoroughly ?
It could, yes. But you’d likely have to 1.5x or double the recipe for a Bundt pan. Not sure of the outcome, Danitra. I’ve never tried it before.
I just made these today and I gotta say they were AWESOME! They are what cupcakes should be: sweet, light and moist. The sweetness of the vanilla cake goes beautifully with the hint of bitterness from the chocolate mixture. I made my family try them and sure enough they were all amazed. This is the first recipe I try here and I am sure coming back for more. Thank you <3 <3
Thanks for the pictures and instructions. I made the cupcakes last week and they came out great!
These are beautiful! Can’t wait to make them for my daughters birthday party. Thanks for all the details on marbling. Can you substitute whole wheat pastry flour for all purpose?
That would be fine, but the cupcakes may be a little heavy tasting.
Hey Sally,
When I read the recipe I instantly knew I will be making them. I just made them and they have turned just so awesome! Thank you for sharing 🙂
Hello Sally,
My mom’s favorite is marble cake. Just made it for her birthday on Saturday. I have NEVER made a recipe as good as this. I couldn’t even stop eating the batter- good thing I doubled the recipe!!!! The frosting was a little too sweet- but as I added salt, it didn’t balance, it just started tasting salty to me. Can you recommend a way to make it less sweet? I wasn’t sure if I could just reduce the sugar content or if there is something that needed to take the place of the sugar as a dry ingredient to keep the texture/consistency right. Was worried it might get “greasy” from too much butter and not enough sugar.
Thank you!!!!!!!!
Hi Melissa! So happy you enjoyed these marble cupcakes. I would simply add less sugar next time. The frosting will be a little thinner, but you can also reduce the cream as well. I hope this helps!
These are the best cupcakes I have EVER MADE. So easy yet they looked so impressive and tasted like HEAVEN, so moist, so tender. The frosting…well, lets just say the cupcakes were lucky they got iced. IT WAS THE BEST FROSTING EVERRRRRRRR! I could not stop eating it! It was the perfect buttercream (it went hard in the fridge which is what I lurrrrve) and I will use it as my basic frosting for everything that needs frosting (or not!). You surely are the baking-queen. Thank you 🙂
Made these for my daughter’s bday. Great vanilla flavour, rich fudgy chocolate cake. Icing is rich & yummy. Less complicated that I thought! I used salted butter and icing tasted great, decreased icing sugar by 1/2 c also.
What’s an alternative to yogurt? Can it be omitted or is it necessary?
Sour cream is a good option.
Hi Sally! I made these cupcakes yesterday for my cousin’s birthday because I wanted to try making something special. Initially I wasn’t planning on frosting them since I’ve actually never used a piping bag before, but after pulling the cupcakes out of the oven, I kept looking at your picture and thinking how pretty they would look with the frosting so I gave it a shot! It worked beautifully and everyone loved them! The double frosting is such a cool idea. I’ve never commented on here before but your blog is one of my favourites, I’ve been following it for a while now (I live in India) and I’ve tried so many recipes -the chocolate chip cookies, the triple chocolate layer cake (SO good!), the banana streusel muffins, garlic bread etc. And the guides are so helpful! Keep up the great work and thanks for sharing your creations 🙂
I made these for a family lunch yesterday – LOVE them! The cupcakes themselves are just outstanding, such a great balance of sweetness and flavours. And? Not, at all, terrifyingly difficult. Lady – you are amazing. I cannot wait to own your cookbook!
These are cooling on my counter right now! I just have to make the frosting. I’ll report back once they’re finished and eaten 😀 But I was wondering: how do you get the frosting to be that tall on your cupcakes? I also use the 1M tip, but I just end up with a single, short layer.
Thanks for sharing your recipes! I also made your chocolate cupcakes, chocolate frosting, and white chocolate frosting. All of which have been fantastic!
Cupcakes are finished and they are delicious! I followed the recipe exactly, cupcakes and frosting. I had some frosting leftover, and I couldn’t stop eating it! Every recipe I’ve made from your blog has been fantastic. You’re my go-to baking blog 🙂