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 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 texture, is oil—the 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 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-count 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 chocolate 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 | Cupcake Carrier (for storage)
- 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 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 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!
Reader Comments and Reviews
I’ve never made a cupcake and frosting from scratch. Tried the moist chocolate cupcake for Valentines day and they were absolutely delicious!!! Now I have confidence to make more desserts from scratch. Thank you!
Could this also be used for vanilla cupcakes but subtract the coco powder and brown sugar?? I love this recipe but I can’t find a good vanilla one to match it.
Hi Emily, have you tried our vanilla cupcakes recipe? We’d recommend that instead! Cocoa powder is a finicky ingredient so unfortunately it wouldn’t be as simple as removing it from this recipe without making additional changes.
These were absolutely delicious when I first made them a few weeks ago! Making them again in about an hour. 10/10 would reccomend
I am so sad. These bombed TWICE. I normally never have problem with any of your recipes. These sunk both times. Everything was measured properly and the baking powder was not expired. I have no idea what went wrong.
Hi Caitlin! It could be a few different things but the culprit for cupcakes with sinking middles is often over-filling your cupcake liners. Hopefully this post can help you troubleshoot!
Hi Trina,
I reviewed the article and none of these apply to my situation. I baked these cupcakes twice and had to toss them. I baked the triple chocolate cake to replace them and still had some sinking. I also baked my daughter’s strawberry birthday cake from here today and that came out PERFECT. I have no idea why these didn’t work. 🙁
Easy good tasting cupcakes, but 18 to 21 minutes at 350 in my oven dries them out. 15 minutes is all they need. Especially when filling the cups only half way. Thanks.
Hi! Would it be okay to add chocolate chips to this recipe? Would it ruin the consistency or baking process?
Hi Rachel, feel free to add 1 cup of chocolate chips to this batter without changing anything else.
This recipe is perfection. I’ve been hunting for a chocolate cupcake recipe that delivers a deeply flavored, rich, moist, delicately-crumbed but sturdy cake. This is the one. I went with melted coconut oil and added 2 tsps. of instant espresso powder. Couldn’t be happier with the results.
TY, Sally’s Baking Addiction, and may you never go to !
Made these today these are sooo good and tip for others if you don’t have buttermilk use regular milk and add a couple drops of vinegar let it sit for a couple of minutes and let it turn to buttermilk
Made these cupcakes (and your homemade chocolate buttercream frosting) over the weekend with a friend. Simply put, these are the BEST cupcakes I’ve ever made! I love that they taste rich and chocolaty, and not just like sugar. Easy recipe and so so good!
I loved these cupcakes! They were so moist and rich!
The flavor itself is good, but I have made this recipe twice now. The first time, the muffins caved in horribly. A common cause is over mixing, so I tweaked my mixing methods to ensure I did not over mix the 2nd time. I ended up with mild caving in the centers, but either way, I did not get the raised middles that I would expect from cupcakes. I’ll be trashing this recipe and try to find an alternative.
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. I’ve been searching for the perfect chocolate cupcake recipe and this is it!
They are lovely and moist and super fudgey.
Do you think I could halve the recipe to make a smaller batch without affecting the recipe?
Thanks
Hi Christine! So happy you enjoyed these. You can halve the recipe or use this Small Chocolate Cake recipe that makes 6 cupcakes (see recipe notes for cupcake instructions).
These are excellent! I recommend adding 1/4 tsp instant espresso powder. I made one batch with it and one without. The former had a superior, more chocolate-y taste. It was also a little moister, but I’m not sure if that was due to the extra ingredient or some other element that I wasn’t aware of. I definitely recommend this recipe!
I want to make 2 round 8 inch pans. Should I double this recipe? I looked at the other chocolate cake recipe and I don’t want to put espresso or coffee in it.
Hi Tia, doubling this recipe would produce too much batter. We suggest sticking with the Triple Chocolate Cake for a 2 layer cake. You can leave out the espresso powder and use extra hot water or hot chai tea instead of coffee. Would love to hear how it goes!
I love this cupcake recipe – it’s easy and turns out a reliably delicious chocolate cupcake time after time! Is it possible to substitute gluten-free flour (like Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten Free Baking Flour) for the 3/4 cup of flour – would this make significant difference in the end product?
Hi Sophia, we haven’t personally tested that, but many readers have reported success using 1:1 gluten free flour swaps in our recipes. We’d love to know if you give it a try!
Easy to make, and moist and delicious.
These cupcakes are delicious! My only question/concern is that my cupcakes are sticking to their liners. What did I do wrong or what can I do differently next time?? I’ve made other cupcake recipes from your site and this hasn’t happened. Did I over mix it?
Perfect recipe! I got 12 muffin sized cupcakes. They rose just right.
This is truly the best chocolate cupcake recipe!!
These cupcakes are delicious! I’m not great at baking from scratch so I usually stick to box mix but these were quite easy! I steeped 2 peppermint teabags in the milk for a couple hours before baking to add some flavour. I don’t use dairy so I made a buttermilk substitute with soy milk and 1tsp apple cider vinegar.
Hi Sally! Thank you for this recipe! I already made it twice and it was a success. I just have a question, I am planning to make this into an 8 inch cake with atleast 4 layers. Should I double the recipe for it? I hope you can help me with it
Hi Liz, you can use our handy Cake Pan Sizes & Conversions guide to scale this recipe for a cake, or you might like our Triple Chocolate Cake recipe instead. Enjoy!
Thank you! the recipe is perfect and the little details you provide are quite useful. I’m a dad who loves to bake with my daughters. I have, in the past, use recipes from various websites but the results weren’t always good. However, using your recipes, my success rate has been 100% so far and my daughters love the finished products. Also your technical details are also very informative and have helped me in becoming a better baker!
Hi, I noticed that you specify using natural cocoa powder. I only have dutch-processed cocoa, and I was wondering what you recommend for substituting? Is there anything I can add to the recipe to get the same effect you have? Thanks for the help!
Hi Kim, 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.
This is now my go-to chocolate cupcake recipe, my friends and family love it just as much as I do!
I halved this recipe and they turned out great: light, airy and delicious. I followed the recipe as closely as possible but used dark brown sugar because it was what I had on hand and since I had no buttermilk, I added fresh lemon juice to 2% milk. I made 6 cupcakes but should have made 7 as one or two were “muffin-topped” (I’ll know better next time). I cored the centers of each and filled with whipped cream and a dollop on top then drizzled with chocolate syrup. The hubby, who does not have a sweet tooth, proclaimed them “oh mmmm gee.” Thanks much, Sally. This is a recipe I will use regularly.
I just made these cupcakes, and had to use dark brown sugar since I had no light brown, but all other ingredients were measured/weighed as per the recipe. The batter was not thin, but more between thin and muffin batter thickness. I was careful to only fill the liners halfway – and they still sunk. I baked them 15 min since my oven runs a little hot, they’re baked through and fluffy, no dryness. They taste good – if a little too sweet – but I’m still really disappointed they didn’t rise correctly since I was making these for my 2yo’s birthday. 🙁
I have been wanting to try this recipe as I have been looking to change from butter to oil in my cakes, so this was an experiment bake- I followed the recipe exactly ! Which is a very, very first thing for me as I only use a recipe as a guide! This recipe absolutely works! I would like to add chocolate chips to the mixture- should I mix the chocolate chips in or sprinkle on the top once the batter is in the cases?? Thanks for advise!
Deb The Baking Nurse
I made these today! They did not rise in the middle. Hope they taste good!
Hi Katelyn, The cupcakes will sink in the center if (1) there’s too much batter in each cupcake liner and/or (2) if the cupcakes are under-baked. If you make them again, keep a careful eye on how high you fill the liners and how long you bake time– even an extra minute or 2 would help.
Truly the best chocolate cupcake recipe out there! I love that it only makes 12-14 cupcakes. The perfect recipe size. The cake itself, moist (the word that should only be applied to food) and so very delicious. We make it often.
This was a super yummy chocolate cupcake recipe, and it turned out moist. However, I expected my cupcakes to be just as moist on Day 2, and they were already dry and crumbly. Actually, it had only been about 14 hours – so, overnight. I was a bit bummed. Wondering if maybe I should use more oil next time.