Moist Chocolate Cupcake Recipe
The ultimate moist chocolate cupcakes with tons of rich chocolate flavor thanks to buttermilk, brown sugar, and a touch of oil. These chocolate cupcakes have a very moist crumb and bake up with a nice little dome that's perfect for a swirl of chocolate buttercream frosting!
Servings: 24 cupcakes
Calories: 128kcal
Ingredients
Chocolate Cupcakes
- 8 ounces all-purpose flour
- 5 ounces granulated sugar
- 3 ounces brown sugar
- 3 ounces cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 2 large egg room temperature
- 10 ounces buttermilk hot
- 4 ounces unsalted butter softened
- 4 ounces vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 Tablespoon espresso powder (optional)
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
Chocolate Cupcakes
- Preheat your oven to 350ºF and prepare your cupcake pan with paper liners.
- For the best results, warm the buttermilk in the microwave (roughly 100ºF), bring the butter to room temperature, and warm the eggs in hot water for 5 minutes. Warm ingredients will create an emulsion and a smoother batter.
- Combine the buttermilk, oil, and vanilla together and set it aside.
- Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and espresso powder in a mixing bowl and set it aside.
- Cream together the butter, white sugar and sifted brown sugar in your stand mixer with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy. If you don't have a stand mixer, you can use the whisk attachment and a hand mixer, but I would mix the rest of the ingredients by hand to avoid overmixing.
- Add in the eggs one at a time while mixing on low, letting the first one mix in before adding the second. Scrape the bowl to be sure that everything is mixed well.
- While mixing on low speed, add ⅓ of the dry ingredients, followed by ⅓ of the wet ingredients. Alternate two more times until just combined.
- Fill your cupcake liners ½ to ⅔ of the way full. This recipe makes about 24 cupcakes.
- Bake the cupcakes at 350°F for 18-20 minutes until set. Do not over bake.
- Cool completely on a cooling rack before frosting.
Video
Notes
This chocolate cupcake recipe is designed to be simple, reliable, and incredibly moist, even for beginner bakers.
For the best results, make sure all your ingredients are at room temperature before mixing. This helps create a smooth batter and ensures even baking.
Do not skip the espresso powder unless necessary. It will not make your cupcakes taste like coffee, but it will deepen the chocolate flavor significantly.
Be careful not to overmix the batter once you combine the wet and dry ingredients. Overmixing can lead to dense cupcakes instead of a soft and fluffy texture.
Fill your cupcake liners only halfway full. Overfilling can cause the cupcakes to rise too high and collapse after baking.
Bake just until the centers are set. Overbaking is the most common reason cupcakes turn out dry.
These cupcakes pair well with chocolate buttercream, vanilla buttercream, cream cheese frosting, or strawberry buttercream depending on your preference.
These cupcakes pair well with chocolate buttercream, cream cheese frosting, or even strawberry buttercream for a flavor variation.
Nutrition
Serving: 1cupcake | Calories: 128kcal | Carbohydrates: 19g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 27mg | Sodium: 115mg | Potassium: 108mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 160IU | Calcium: 30mg | Iron: 1mg
