Baker by Nature

A Baking Blog by Ashley Manila

Super Decadent Chocolate Cupcakes

Chocolate Lovers – get excited! These rich, fudgy, super decadent chocolate cupcakes are all for you! So soft, fluffy, and full of chocolate flavor in every bite… they’re addicting! And a chocolate lovers dream 🙂
The idea for these pretty little cupcakes came straight from my longing to get BACK in the kitchen after a drawn out (and pretty boring) 6 day moving hiatus. The first two days were actually quite easy, in the beginning I was all “Yay – no dishes!”… “Hooray for pizza and Chinese take-out”… but by day 5 I was ready for my whisks and spatulas to be unpacked already so I could get back to business. Good thing for us, my business is making you delicious, decadent cupcakes 😉 I’m pretty lucky, huh?

Since I already knew I wanted to make us some cupcakes, the question really came down to what kind of cupcakes they should be. Then – like magic – a reader emailed me (Hi, Donna from New Jersey!) and asked if I had a chocolate cupcake recipe I could recommend since I didn’t have one in my recipe index. I immediately ran (with my fingers) to my recipe index to see if this could be true, and you guys – it was! No chocolate cupcake recipe?! Hmmm. To this I say Challenge Accepted!
Super Decadent Chocolate Cupcakes - These Homemade Chocolate Cupcakes have RAVE reviews in the comments and are so easy to make! We LOVE these. I have to admit making the perfect chocolate cupcake was a lot harder than I thought it would be. The first try I could tell without even taking a bite they were no good. The second batch came out with funky little spots on top? And the third turned out acceptable, but not epic by any accounts. So I spent Sunday testing recipes, too; tweaking teaspoons of this and 1/4 cups of that, until finally, I found us a perfect recipe! Well, at least my definition of perfect. They’re soft, fluffy, and don’t crumble when bitten; they’re packed with rich cocoa flavor, and hold up for up to 3 days; and the fudge buttercream is, simply put, killer. They’re also easy enough for a baker of any level to master! I even let my niece help with some of the mixing 🙂 Kids love that stuff!
Super Decadent Chocolate Cupcakes - These Homemade Chocolate Cupcakes have RAVE reviews in the comments and are so easy to make! We LOVE these. You can top these cupcakes with chocolate sprinkles, rainbow sprinkles, or even some big fat chocolate chips like I did! I’m a “never enough chocolate” kind of girl, so it was an easy choice for decorating 😉 You can also just leave them plain! I found them so dark and beautiful in their natural state that I almost didn’t add anything at all… almost!
These cupcakes were a great after dinner treat in our new home, and definitely the best dessert I’ve had in a long time! That just goes to show practice makes perfect. Speaking of practice, during my recipe testing I tried a few different variations of the recipe to make things a little easier if you want/need to substitute ingredients. For the most part I always recommend sticking to a recipe the best you can, but I know that “oh my god I forgot the…” moment all too well, so I tried to help you out in the recipe notes below if you find yourself there. xoxo
Super Decadent Chocolate Cupcakes - These Homemade Chocolate Cupcakes have RAVE reviews in the comments and are so easy to make! We LOVE these.

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Super Decadent Chocolate Cupcakes

Ingredients

  • For the cupcakes:
  • 3 tablespoons coconut OR canola oil
  • 1 stick unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
  • 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs + 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, not packed
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup full fat sour cream
  • 1/2 cup hot coffee OR hot water
  • For the Fudgy Buttercream:
  • 1 stick unsalted butter
  • 3 cups confectioners sugar
  • 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 2 tablespoons sour cream
  • 3 tablespoons whole milk or half and half
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions

  1. For the cupcakes:
  2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (F). Line a 12-cup cupcake/muffin tin with cupcake liners and lightly spray the liners with non-stick spray (optional but it does help them peel right off).
  3. Melt the oil, butter,and chocolate together in the microwave, heating in 30 second increments, and stirring between increments each time. You can also melt the oil, butter, and chocolate over very low heat on the stovetop, but I find the microwave to be much easier. Whisk mixture until completely smooth and set aside to cool.
  4. In a medium sized bowl combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa powder, and salt; stir together until thoroughly combined; set aside.
  5. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, yolk, sugar and vanilla together; beat until smooth. Add the cooled oil/butter/chocolate mixture and whisk until smooth. Add half of the flour mixture, then half of the sour cream. Repeat the process until everything is added, and be sure to mix until JUST combined - then quickly stir in the hot coffee/water. It's important not to over mix, here! Just stir until evenly combined.
  6. Divide the batter among the 12 liners in your prepared pan. Bake for 16-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool *completely before frosting.
  7. For the fudge buttercream:
  8. Sift together the confectioners sugar and cocoa powder, whisking well to ensure it's bump and lump free!
  9. Using a handheld mixer OR a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed until creamy; about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to low and slowly add the sifted sugar/cocoa powder, alternating with the sour cream and milk, then add the vanilla and salt. Once all of the ingredients have been added, beat on high speed until light and creamy and combined; beat for at least 1 minute on high.
  10. Frost cooled cupcakes and top with any decorations if desired.
  11. Cupcakes stay fresh at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 4 days.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

      • I want to make these for a birthday party, I’m going to be out of town till the day before, can you freeze these & they still be as good?

        Reply

      • Mine slightly sunk in the middle and there was way more batter than 12 cupcakes. Measured and followed the recipe exactly. Still yummy though. Just piped on a lot of frosting.

        Reply

    • I’m a very, very experienced baker, always using best ingredients, no mixes, etc. I have always specialized in really bringing out wonderful chocolate flavors, and these are THE best Chocolate Cupcakes I have ever made in my life. The balance is perfect! Well done on perfecting a lovely recipe! Easy to follow, easy to execute, can’t compliment this enough and I’ll stop with the exclamation points now!

      Reply

      • I’m not a super experienced baker, but I love baking. The last chocolate cupcake recipe I tried was horrendous and left me feeling defeated. I made this today and these are not only the best cupcakes I’ve ever made, but one of the very best I’ve ever tasted!

        Reply

  2. oh my gaaah the chips on top just put me over the edge – these look SO good girrrl!

    Reply

  11. That buttercream looks fab!! Also you are killin it with this blog layout! I’m loving the design 🙂

    Reply

  18. I’ve just made these and I have to say they’ve just come out of the oven and smell amazing! I had to adlib a little as there’s no mention of when to use the hot coffee in the method and there’s no mention of the quantity of vanilla to use in the cupcake mixture. Fingers crossed they taste as good as they look/smell!

    Reply

    • Hi Irene! How did they turn out? The vanilla is 1 tsp and the hot coffee gets stirred in VERY quickly right at the end (before scooping into the cupcake liners). I hope the cupcakes were delicious, but please let me know either way 🙂 xo

      Reply

      • These cupcakes were unbelievable! My guests said they were the best cupcakes they’ve ever eaten! Thanks so much for a great recipe!!

        Reply

  21. These cupcakes are off the chain! {I know that is an antiquated phrase but it just seem appropriate here} All that chocolate!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CHOCOLATE! This is exactly what I would want after a week long move!

    Reply

  23. Yay for being back in the kitchen! I’m sure NOT being in there got to be a bit nerve wracking. And way to come back with a BANG! These are crazy awesome.

    Reply

  27. Hubby says chocolate IS a food group….he is going to LOVE these!!
    YUM…definite Pin!! Thanks for a wonderful treat!!

    Reply

  29. These look amazing and I cannot wait to make them! I forgot that I need to buy new cupcake pans so, in the meantime, can this be made into a 9″ cake round? And maybe double the recipe for a two-layer cake?
    Thanks!!

    Reply

    • Hey Rachel! Great question. I think the recipe should translate into a cake just fine! That being said, I haven’t tried it myself. If I were to bake it into a cake, I would add maybe 10 minutes to the cook time, as cupcakes cook much faster than a whole cake 😉 Let me know if you have any more ?’s! xo

      Reply

  30. Hi:)
    These look amazing, and since i am making them for my 24th birthday i was thinking if i should double the ingridients so that i can make 24 cupcakes or should i just double bake?

    Reply

    • Hey Ileanna! Happy almost birthday! I’ve never tried doubling the recipe myself, but I think it should work. Just double the ingredients exactly and then scoop and bake as directed! Good luck!

      Reply

  31. These looks AMAZINGG!! I’m making them for my friends’ birthday!! One questions: can hot milk replace the hot water/ coffee? Will it make the batter richer?

    Reply

    • Hey Em! Thanks you! Your friend is going to LOVE these! They’re so decadent 😉 To answer your question… I’m honestly not sure. Because milk has fat in it, I would say to stick to water or coffee, but if you try the hot milk, please let me know how it goes! xo

      Reply

  32. I made these and I will never go back to boxed cake mix ever again. EVER. They were so good, perfectly fluffy, rich, and just amazing. (And that’s an understatement) the only thing was my buttercream frosting came out too thin, but nonetheless was still really really good. Thanks so much for this great recipe!!

    Reply

  33. Has anyone tried these with gluten free cup 4 cup flour?
    I’m planning to make these tomorrow, but since I’m allergic wanted to know if there are any variations (besides the flour) I would need to make.
    Thanks!!

    Reply

  34. So, I just made these and wow. They are so soft and fluffy and amazing and I am definitely going to keep this recipe forever. Thank you so much for coming up with this recipe, I literally could not have gotten even close to this without you 🙂

    Reply

  37. could you covert the recipe for these chocolate cup cakes in to grams or pounds and ounces plus fluid ounces.as I live in England and cup sizes I never use at all.
    Thanks very much
    Beryl

    Reply

  38. I have had a terrible craving for weeks for a truly decadent chocolate cupcake. Bakery cupcakes just will not do for me. There is plastic flavor I can taste even if they use the same ingredients as I do. I searched the internet and thought my
    search would be in vain until I spotted this recipe. Thanks for all your hard work. It meant that I did not have to tweak the recipe myself. The work was already done for me, and I KNEW these would be fantastic They did not disappoint.
    They were moist and fudgy and did not fall apart, just like the description.

    I made these ALMOST exactly per the recipe (I found I didn’t have full fat sour cream, so I used light sour cream for the recipe. Also for the frosting I added a few ounces of cream cheese because I could see from the photos I wanted just a little stiffer frosting). They turned out GREAT. I made 1& 1/2 recipes worth because I wanted enough to share at work. I got a lot more than 18 cupcakes though, and ended up making a 1 layer cake as well (I put that in the freezer for an emergency craving). I figured my cupcakes must have been much smaller than yours, so I watched them like a hawk, and they baked in less than 15 minutes. I used foil cupcake liners sprayed with cooking spray since I have learned the product tends to come out so much easier than with paper liners.

    They were a big hit at work, and I am the hero of the week. (except with those coworkers on a diet). Thank you again.

    Reply

  39. By the way, I only made 1 recipe of frosting (along with a few ounces of cream cheese) and it was just enough for my 18 cupcakes, but I did not pile the icing as high as you did.

    Reply

  40. I just have to tell you, these turned out PERFECT. I made them for a friend’s recital and everyone absolutely loved them! They were time consuming, but it was so worth it! I’m going to be using your recipes in the future for sure. Thank you! 🙂

    Reply

  41. Hi. Just made these today and they taste amazing!! But they baked super flat on top. I have those same problem with cookies and sometimes bread I make. I’m not a baker. Is there something I am doing consistently wrong? Is it mixing things in a kitchen aid? I have heard that can over mix. I’m about ready to give up baking because things do not turn out for me!
    Thanks for any advice!!

    Reply

    • Hi Emmy. Hmm… it could be one of many things, but let’s start with the usual suspects: expired baking soda/baking powder. I definitely recommend checking the dates on those and if they’re old, tossing them asap. Over mixing is also easy to do when baking, but typically the result of over mixing is dry baked goods, not flat ones. Don’t give up on baking 🙂 I’m here to help you with any other questions you may have. P.S. I’m glad you enjoyed the taste of the cupcakes! xo

      Reply

        • Your oven temp could be the culprit.. get an oven thermo and make sure its the correct temp. A trick of the trade to get a domed top on a cupcake is to make at a higher temp for about the first 4 mins and them bake and a lower temp for the remaining baking time. It causes the sides to rise first and then the middle to slowly bake up into a dome. What happens sometimes is the opposite causing the cupcake middle to “sink” because the middle cooks faster than the sides.

          Reply

  42. Just made these and they are amazing! They are one of those things where you bite into them and you get this ridiculous smile on your face because they are just so good! Thanks for the wonderful recipe!

    Reply

    • Hi Kate! Your comment made my day. I totally know what you mean about the ridiculous smile post chocolate cupcake eating 😉 Thank you for letting me know how much you enjoyed them!

      Reply

  45. I just made your cupcakes!! The batter tasted soooooooooo good!!! I grave a question…when I have to put the cream and milk…I put half&half….because you don’t mention in which moment to put the milk….did I do it right?!

    Reply

  46. I tripled the recipe and ended up with a few more than 48 cupcakes for my little
    guy’s birthday tomorrow. They are so moist and delicious. I’m trying the frosting tomorrow. Can’t wait! Thanks for the recipe!

    Reply

  47. If these cupcakes taste half as amazing as the batter, you should be exhalted into food blog heaven immediately! I tripled this recipe and ended up with 36 huge cupcakes and a double layer cake 🙂 Incredible!! Thanks.

    Reply

  48. I have a small question I can’t figure out what I am doing wrong. Your cupcakes have a dome And Mine while still taste great are not getting that nice dome to it. Any advice here?

    Reply

  49. These are the best tasting chocolate cupcakes I have ever eaten! I’ve tried many recipes in the past but nothing compares to the intense chocolate flavor of these cupcakes. Thanks so much for sharing an amazing recipe!

    Reply

  50. Omg just made them and I thought the batter looked thin but baked till the toothpick came out clean and I used coffee they are so good and supper soft and yummy awesome I will be keeping this recipe WOW

    Reply

  51. These are the BEST chocolate cupcakes I have ever had! I used the coffee and they were PERFECT. I will never make another cupcake again! This is the only recipe I’ll ever use!!! Yum yum yum

    Reply

  52. HI,

    I love the recipe. The only problem is my egg cakes / cupcakes leave a little eggy taste which is unpleasant. Can you please suggest an alternate for egg in this recipe.

    Thanks,

    Reply

    • Hi Sunaina. At this time I do not have an egg substitute for this recipe. The cupcakes should not taste at all like eggs, so I’m not sure why you’re having this result. Are you using large eggs? Or extra large?

      Reply

  53. I made these cupcakes for my coworkers birthday. Everyone loved them, and I loved them. However some people said they were a little dry. How can I fix that because I have to make them again in a week….

    Reply

    • Hi Paige. These cupcakes definitely should not be dry at all. Sounds like one of three things:
      1) Too much flour was added to the batter. This can happen if you pack your flour.
      2) The batter was overmixed. Over mixing will cause dry, dense cupcakes.
      3) The cupcakes were overbaked. Every oven runs a little different, so check your cupcakes a few minutes before the “done” time, as they may bake faster in your oven.

      Using those tips and following the recipe exactly as written, you should definitely not have dry cupcakes 🙂

      Reply

      • Thank you. My oven at that time wasn’t working correctly so I know that was it because I made them again yesterday and they were amazing! Thank you.

        Reply

  54. I love your recipes!!! You are amazing! Is there a difference in taste if I use hot water or coffee? Thank you

    Reply

  55. Hey,
    Thank you so much for this recipe. You are awesome..
    It tasted delicious…sinfully tasty just like the name suggests..
    i was so impressed with myself…LOL 😉
    Actually it tasted even better the next day…
    Cheers to you!

    Reply

  56. These are wonderful cupcakes!!! I have made them several times and have loved them as the recipie calls. Today, I used Hershey’s “Special Dark” cocoa powder. OOOhhh boy! What a treat! I use a cherry almond buttercream frosting and it tastes like a chocolate covered cherry!

    Reply

  57. Just made these cupcakes and LOVED them! Excited to try out some of your other recipes, thank you for all of the help!

    Reply

  58. Hi, I’m a beginner baker and was wondering if in Step 5 of the recipe, should I use a Kitchen Aide stand mixer, or a hand whisk, or a spatula, etc, to mix the ingredients together? Does it make a difference? Also, is there an approximate time I should mix for? (I’m worried I might over-mix it!)
    Thanks so much for the recipe. I can’t wait to try it!

    Reply

    • I made these cupcakes twice and used a wisk the entire time. And when you are mixing, just mix until you see that everything is incorporated.

      Reply

  59. Hi! I made these cupcakes last night… While the flavor is delicious, during the last 5 minutes of baking they all sank in the middle! I live in Guatemala and we have high elevation. Could that have caused the problem? I’m sure that I followed the recipe exactly, I checked and double checked. Could you recommend any alterations for altitude?
    Thank you!

    Reply

  60. Hi, these look uttetly delicious and I would love to make them, but I live in the UK, we don’t have ‘sticks’ of butter could you provide weights for the ingredients instead please? I” always a little unsure of how much to put in the cup 😉

    Reply

  61. I absolutely LOVE this recipe, the cupcakes are the best chocolate cupcakes I’ve ever made/tasted!! I am wondering though if you’ve ever made these in a mini cupcake pan with liners? I was thinking about trying it for little bite sized deliciousness but I don’t know how they’ll do. Any thoughts? Thank you and Merry Christmas!

    Reply

    • Hi Alix. SO happy you’re enjoying this recipe! It’s my favorite 🙂 I haven’t tried making them into minis, but it could work! You’d definitely want to decrease the bake time as they’ll bake much quicker.

      Reply

    • Just tried minis and they are just as good! 😀 I doubled the recipe and made 18 full size cupcakes and 48 minis. The minis took about 11-12 minutes to bake.

      Reply

  63. mine flopped! No idea what went wrong, I just thought there was too little flour for all the oil?butter?liquid. Theres always got to be that annoying party pooper someone and it seems that it is me! I love to bake and dont often have this happen. They taste great but are really oily and they sunk in the middle. I upped the oven temp to 200 C and that worked a little better. Im at sea level so its not that. Maybe the gram for the stick of butter is not accurate (113g) or a tablespoon is not 15ml … I gave up.

    Reply

  65. Wow, I just baked these and I have to say they are the best chocolate cupcakes I have ever made! The cupcakes are so chocolatey and they came out of the oven looking perfect. I had to leave mine in for 30 min though for it to completely set. I will try to bake the pumpkin & carrot cake next! Thanks! 😀

    Reply

  66. I don’t usually leave comments, but I am compelled to say publicly how delicious these cupcakes are! I made some for my daughter’s birthday party, along with the frosting, this past weekend and they were a huge hit!
    Just made another batch per request of a parent who was at the party. We can’t get enough of them!
    The recipe is perfection as is!! Thank you for such a perfect chocolate cupcake and frosting!

    Reply

  68. Thank you so much for this glorious recipe! I’ve been searching for the PERFECT chocolate cupcake, and I’ve found it! I take so much pride in the food I prepare, and I couldn’t be more proud to share this cupcake with those I love.

    Reply

  69. My grandson wanted chocolate cupcakes with vanilla icing for his birthday. To be honest, I didn’t have a recipe that really lit the world on fire, so after seeing this recipe and reading the comments, I decided to give this recipe a whirl. HOLY SMOKES!!! These are divine! The only thing I changed slightly is that I only had Dutch Cocoanon hand, so that’s what I used. I made 14 goodsized cupcakes with this batter, which gave us one each for Grandpa and me (SCORE!!!)

    This is now the ONLY chocolate cupcake recipe I will ever make. It was easy and the flavour and texture of these are pure bliss. Thank you SO much for creating this recipe; I agree with you that they are PERFECT!

    Reply

    • Chris – this comment just made my day! Thank you so much for letting me know these were a hit with you and your family 🙂 Happy belated birthday to your grandson!

      Reply

  70. Hello!
    So I definitely need to reiterate the ridiculous amazingness of this recipe. The best compliment I can give is that I’m hoping to turn this into a cake for the anniversary party we’re throwing for my parents (and all their friends and my dad’s coworkers-yikes!). Have you used this recipe for cake rounds? Do you have any advice on how to do that? Thank you for the best chocolate cupcake recipe of all time!!!

    Reply

  72. I made these for my daughters wedding and they were a hit. I had many people say they were the best chocolate cupcakes they have ever had. Thank you!

    Reply

  73. I just made choc muffins they looked great when I took them from the oven, then they sank a bit in the middle (an reason) I tasted the muffin, just lovely. I then made the frosting, I put 3 cups of icing sugar, will add another half a cup extra next time, as my frosting needed to be a bit more stiff! Will know more next time!

    Reply

  74. Have you ever added something like chocolate chips, M&Ms, toffee chunks or things like that to the cake batter? If I did that, is there anything special I should do or can I just put it in at the end just before I put the batter in the cups?

    Reply

  75. Have made these a dozen or so times and they never fail to be a huge hit! Thanks for a recipe that makes me look like an expert baker!!!!!

    Reply

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