This Chocolate Cupcake recipe is my go-to for birthday parties and bake sales, since they are perfectly moist and oh-so chocolatey. Top them with our chocolate frosting, and you have the ultimate chocolate lover’s cupcake!
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Helpful Reader Review
“I made these last weekend for my husband and my wedding anniversary, and oh my goodness, DELICIOUS!!! The cake was so simple and quick to put together, baked beautifully and the icing was delicious and so lovely and thick! Can’t wait to bake it again!!!” – Jazz ★★★★★
Chocolate Cupcake Video Tutorial
This recipe is SO EASY! Simply mix the dry ingredients, then mix the wet ingredients, and whisk them together. They bake up with a beautiful domed top and taste way better than a store-bought box mix.
Best Chocolate Cupcake Recipe
Ever since my daughter was little, we’ve celebrated her birthday with these decadent chocolate cupcakes, so they’ve become a staple on her day. Fast forward to now, and she has begun to make the cupcakes and Chocolate Buttercream herself (and I’m not allowed to help). She loves them so much that we even made Mini Chocolate Cupcakes out of them.
This chocolate cupcake recipe is moist and fluffy at the same time with a tender crumb. Adding coffee is the secret ingredient here, making these intensely chocolatey and giving the cupcakes a deeper color (and yes, you can sub with decaf coffee). You can’t really taste the coffee, and you probably wouldn’t know it’s there if you didn’t read the recipe, but it really makes the chocolate flavor shine.
Ingredients for Homemade Chocolate Cupcakes
After coffee, you’ll notice this recipe for chocolate cupcakes requires all the usual suspects for the perfect chocolately texture and taste.
- All-purpose Flour – Be sure to measure correctly for the best crumb.
- Cocoa powder – Use naturally unsweetened cocoa powder for the best chocolate flavor and light, fluffy texture.
- Sugar, baking soda, and salt – remaining dry ingredients, giving sweetness and rise
- Brewed coffee – warm regular or decaf coffee works perfectly. The acidity of the coffee deepens the chocolate flavor. Swap with room-temperature buttermilk if necessary.
- White distilled vinegar – reacts with the baking soda for a better rise.
- Vegetable oil, egg, and vanilla extract – remaining wet ingredients for moisture, strength, and flavor. P.S. If you are egg-free, try our Eggless Chocolate Cupcakes.
Pro Tip:
I’ve tested chocolate cupcakes with coffee and with buttermilk, and the coffee makes for a better tasting, darker colored, more moist cupcake, but buttermilk works in a pinch. See the difference below.
Pro Tip:
To make a cake instead of cupcakes, double the recipe and cook in two 9″ cake pans. See our Chocolate Cake Recipe for guidance on baking the cake
How to Make Chocolate Cupcakes
This recipe for chocolate cupcakes couldn’t get any easier, but the result tastes like it’s straight from the bakery.
- Quick prep – Preheat the oven with a rack in the center, and line a 12-count cupcake pan with liners (I love parchment paper liners – excellent for being non-stick).
- Mix dry ingredients – In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt, breaking up any big clumps.
- Mix wet ingredients – In a second bowl, whisk together the warm coffee, vinegar, oil, egg, and vanilla.
- Combine cupcake batter – Pour wet ingredients over dry ingredients and whisk just until combined. The batter will be a little loose with small lumps. Overmixing can make the cupcake too dense.
- Fill and bake – Fill each cupcake liner 2/3 full and bake at 350˚F for 18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (do not overbake or your cupcakes will be dry). Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, and then transfer the cupcakes to a rack to cool before frosting.
Pro Tip: Do not overfill the cupcake tin
Use a trigger-release ice cream scoop for even portioning and fill each cup 2/3. If you overfill, it will flow over, get stuck to the tin, and won’t form that perfect dome top. It’s better to have a little batter left over than to overflow the pan.
The Best Frosting for Chocolate Cupcakes
This moist chocolate cupcake recipe only gets better when topped with my 6-minute Chocolate Buttercream Frosting. If you want something different, try any of these popular frosting recipes:
- Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
- Vanilla Cupcake Frosting
- Cream Cheese Frosting
- Swiss Merignue Buttercream Recipe
- Chocolate Ganache
- White Chocolate Frosting
- Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
- Homemade Whipped Cream
Helpful Reader Review
“Made these, and used coffee in the chocolate buttercream recipe instead of cream for a mocha frosting. They were delicious, my sister loved them.” – K Booth ★★★★★
Make-Ahead and Storage Tips
This chocolate cupcake recipe is perfect for party prep because you can make them ahead of time and they refrigerate really well, maintaining their soft and moist texture.
- Make-Ahead: Make the cupcakes a day ahead, cool, cover, and store on the counter overnight, and then frost before serving, or freeze (see below).
- Store Frosted Leftovers: Pack into an airtight container and store on the counter for a day, then move to the refrigerator for 4-5 days. If you don’t have a cupcake carrier, you can flip a storage container upside down to store cupcakes on the lid, snapping the bottom on top.
- Freezing: Cooled unfrosted cupcakes or Cupcakes frosted with buttercream can be covered and frozen up to 2 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight or quick-thaw on the counter for 2 hours.
My Chocolate Cupcake recipe is sure to become a go-to favorite for you! I cranked out 8 batches of cupcakes when I was developing the recipe, and I am confident these are the ultimate chocolate cupcakes. Let us know your favorite way to decorate in the comments!
Easy Chocolate Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, measured correctly
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup warm coffee, or substitute with room temperature buttermilk*
- 1 Tbsp white distilled vinegar
- 1/3 cup light olive oil, or vegetable oil
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Quick prep – Preheat oven to 350˚F with the rack in the center of the oven. Fill a 12-count muffin tin with cupcake liners.
- Mix dry ingredients – In a large mixing bowl, thoroughly whisk together dry ingredients: flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Break up any larger cocoa clumps with your whisk.
- Mix wet ingredients – In a second mixing bowl, add the wet ingredients: coffee, vinegar, oil, egg, and vanilla, and whisk until well blended.
- Combine batter – Pour wet ingredients over dry ingredients and whisk just until the ingredients come together and no dry streaks remain. The batter will be a little loose and lumpy.
- Fill and bake – Use an ice cream scoop to portion batter, filling each cup 2/3 full (do not over-fill). Bake 18-22 min (20 minutes was perfect), until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Don't overbake. Cool 5 minutes in the pan, then transfer to a rack to cool completely to room temperature before frosting.
Notes
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
Cupcake Recipes to Try Next
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- Pumpkin Cupcakes
- Dark Chocolate Cupcakes
- Greek Yogurt Cupcakes
- Cherry Stuffed Honey Cupcakes
The BEST cupcakes and buttercream recipe I have ever tried, can’t stop making them 🤤
That’s awesome feedback, thank you so much!
The BEST cupcakes and buttercream recipe I have ever tried, can’t stop making them 🤤
Love your feedback, thanks a lot for your wonderful review!
Hi Natasha,
I made 3 batches of these cupcakes today. They were super moist and fluffy but all 3 batches had a strong bitter acidic after taste. Is it because of the vinegar? I used exactly a tablespoon and not more. This recipe is so easy that I really want to save it as my go to chocolate cake batter. Please help me figure out the reason behind this taste.
Hi Fatima, did you possibly substitute any of the ingredients or possibly use too much baking soda? I’ve never experienced that kind of aftertaste.
I used natural white vinegar that doesn’t say distilled. I guess that might have caused it.
I sometimes get this after taste when I use dutch processed cocoa instead of natural cocoa for recipes that also use baking soda so I switch to Hershey’s instead of the Valrhona brand I typically use. You may want to try that and see if that takes care of it.
I used Hershey’s cocoa for this recipe. 😊
I think it has to do with the natural vinegar that I uses.
Hi Natasha! What is the key to perfect frosting piping on a cup cake?
Hi Sydney, the key is to have a piping bag and large frosting tips.
I thought about using fora base of Strawberry shortcake. What do you think
Hi Virginia, do you mean making a chocolate strawberry shortcake? I haven’t tried that.
Oh natasha I tried these but they cam out like fudge do you know whats the culprit
Hi Ranuth, it sounds like they didn’t rise properly. I would double-check you used the correct ingredients like baking soda.
Thanks Natasha i added baking powder so I think that’s why. Youre the best.Keep it up
I tried this recipe out for the first time and the cupcakes came out perfect!! I doubled the ingredients and actually got about 30 cupcakes out of it. It’s a great simple recipe.
We love simple recipes!! Glad you enjoyed this also Ayesha!
Hi Natasha,
I have to tell you that I’m so addicted to your videos!! I go on Facebook to watch your videos! I feel that I’m part of your family!
You’re doing an amazing job! God bless!!
I have a question for you: can I use buttermilk & coffee? Did you try it?
Aww! Thank you, Soad! I’m so happy you’re enjoying my recipes! I have tested this with buttermilk, it was a bit less chocolaty and lighter in color with buttermilk.
This is by far my favorite chocolate cupcake recipe and I’ve been baking for 55 years! The coffee really does give the chocolate flavor a boost. They are perfect! I had a friend suggest piping Nutella into the center after they had cooled and then to make the chocolate buttercream frosting to top it. OMG! Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Hi Robin, that’s fantastic feedback! Thank you so much for sharing that with us, I’m really happy to know that you enjoyed these cupcakes.
I loved it! Thank You Natasha!
You’re welcome, glad you loved it!
These chocolate cupcakes are absolutely divine. Frosted those with crushed Oreo buttercream 🙂
I’m so glad you enjoyed them, Tej! We absolutely love them!
Hi Natasha!
I watch your videos on Facebook, and when I saw the video for these cupcakes I knew I had to try them. I made them today and they are delicious!!!!
The chocolate buttercream frosting is delicious too! Thanks for sharing this recipe.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
Natasha thank you sooooo much for this recipe . Will try soon . The one I have is different. My granddaughter loves cupcakes and I often make them . To make the exact way you made pls let me know how much coffee to put in one cup of water
Hi Kamlesh, I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Your favorite coffee will work; we used espresso, but instant/ brewed works also and I recommend following the coffee packaging instructions to make a cup. I hope you love this recipe!
Hi Ms. Natasha!
Hope you’re doing good these days!
I would Just like to to ask, What can we substitute for White Distilled Vinegar. It’s not actually available in my region and I really wanna make these cupcakes for my mom!
Have a great day and my god Bless you!
Hi Ash, I imagine that would work but we always use distilled vinegar. Another one of our readers substituted it with lime juice. Here’s what they said ”I just made these today and woww🤤🤤🤤🤤they were the best chocolate cup cakes ever definitely gonna try again and also i used lime juice instead of white distilled vinegar and still it was soo good. Thank you soo much natasha for thus recipe ❤” I hope this helps!
I made these… It tasted really great! It was a good pair with the buttercream. (I made few adjustments with the sugar but still it tastes great!)Thank you for the recipe!
I’m a fan of your recipes btw 🙂
That is fantastic feedback, thank you so much for sharing that with us!
Hi Natasha
I just made this cupcake, sooo yummy the best chocolate cupcake , and I will try the frosting next time, my son love it.
Thank you,
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing your great review!
Hi Natasha… I wanted to try this recipe… but wanted to ask u how much coffee u added to one cup of water ?
Regards
Hello there, we use brewed coffee but I suggest following the package instructions which will usually give you a fairly strong coffee.
I made these for my husbands birthday and they were delicious. I picked this recipe because it was for only 12 cupcakes and we didn’t need a lot. Everyone raved about them, especially the chocolate cream cheese frosting I paired them with. We will definitely make both again
Sounds great, Paula! Great to know that the recipe was a hit, thank you for sharing that with us!
Omg!!! These are soooo good!! I made them and they all disappeared before I could even frost them!!!
Glad this cake recipe was a big hit!
#checkoutnatasha
Thanks Amy!! I’m so happy you’re enjoying my recipes!