Best EASY Chocolate Cupcakes (no stand mixer) Recipe

The Greatest EASY Chocolate Cupcakes are moist, have a young crumb, are deeply chocolatey and made with out an electrical beater. No ready for butter to melt, no creaming, the batter is straightforward and fast to make. Wonderful emergency cupcakes!

After Vanilla Cupcakes? Right here they’re!

Chocolate Cupakes

Utilizing the time period “BEST” shouldn’t be one thing I do flippantly.

I do really feel a bit uncomfortable saying that these are the BEST Simple Chocolate Cupcakes. However within the cupcake world, I really do imagine these to be the most effective that may be for a easy no-standmixer, no creaming butter recipe.

I used to be forwards and backwards about which cupcake recipe to share. I used to be tempted to go for a “100% good” model which requires a stand mixer / electrical beater to cream butter. And I needed to have the ability to discuss to you about how good they’re.

However you already know what? The Excellent model shouldn’t be the one I take advantage of. This Simple model is. It’s my “go to”, the one I could make proper now, with out ready for butter to melt, with out pulling out my hand beater. And the distinction between this Simple model and the Excellent model is so insignificant, I don’t care.

And so it was settled. I went for the Simple model. 🙂

These Chocolate Cupcakes are…

1. Mushy and tender, not crumbly. Like Purple Velvet Cake – it needs to be “velvety”;

2. Moist;

3. Truly style of chocolate (unlucky many lack this!);

4. Delicate, however nonetheless be sturdy sufficient to help a beneficiant pile of frosting; and

5. Have a candy dome, formed such that it seems to be good sufficient if you happen to simply mud with icing sugar / powdered sugar, however flat sufficient to pipe on tall swirls of frosting.

Being the fast and straightforward model these are, you’ll discover that the floor of the dome does have some small cracks on it. However for the straightforward of this recipe, it’s a very small worth to pay.

In addition to, no cupcake ever leaves my kitchen with out frosting!!!

Greatest frosting for Chocolate Cupcakes

Exhausting to go previous chocolate-on-chocolate, however I’ll put ahead some non chocolate choices too!

• Chocolate Buttercream – I realise how ironic it’s that I’d characteristic these cupcakes with tall swirls of buttercream frosting which requires each softened butter and and stand mixer! 😂 However hey, frosting is well worth the effort. 😇 Pipe on swirls, or unfold on with a knife;

• Speedy Chocolate Fudge Frosting (pictured beneath, in recipe card) – made with cocoa powder combined with melted butter, then thickened with icing sugar/frosting till it’s a spreadable consistency, this frosting is kind of wealthy so I’d advocate simply spreading onto the cupcakes slightly than piping tall swirls;

• Decadent Chocolate Ganache Frosting – made with melted chocolate and cream, this can be a deluxe chocolate frosting that I take advantage of for my sinfully decadent Chocolate Fudge Cake. As soon as melted, it’s cooled till it thicken right into a spreadable consistency. I don’t advocate piping this on in tall swirls, it might be overly wealthy I really feel!

• Vanilla Buttercream – White frosting on chocolate cupcakes seems to be placing and makes for a stunning flavour mixture! Use the recipe in my Vanilla Cake recipe – it would frost 12 cupcakes generously (tall swirls) although if you happen to simply wish to smear it on then you’ll be able to halve the batch; and

• My Secret Much less-Candy Fluffy Vanilla Frosting – this frosting is magical! It’s like a cross between whipped cream and buttercream. Far much less candy and fluffier than buttercream, and it’s additionally 100% silky easy (buttercream will at all times have a faint grit to it, the icing sugar/powdered sugar by no means absolutely dissolves). Dense than whipped cream, and in contrast to whipped cream, it holds its kind for days.

The weekend is right here!! Do I hear chocolate cupcakes calling your identify?? I believe I do….. 😉 – Johnsat xx

WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT

Best EASY Chocolate Cupcakes (no stand mixer) Recipe

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Serves: 12 Prep Time: 15 minutes Cooking Time: 20 minutes 20 minutes

Nutrition facts: 408 calories 20 grams fat

Rating: 5.0/5

( 1 voted )

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup plain/all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup caster sugar (super fine sugar, or sub with normal white sugar)
• 1/2 tsp baking soda / bi carbonate soda (Note 1)
• Pinch of salt
• 120g / 8 tbsp unsalted butter , cut into 1" / 2cm pieces (1 US stick / 1/2 cup)
• 60g / 2 oz dark chocolate , preferably 70%+ cocoa, broken into pieces (Note 2)
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder , preferably Dutch processed (Note 3)
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil (or other neutral flavour oil)
• 2 large eggs (55 – 60g / 2 oz each)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 tsp white vinegar
• 120g / 8 tbsp unsalted butter , cut into 1" / 2cm pieces (1 US stick / 1/2 cup)
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder , preferably Dutch processed
• 2 1/2 cups soft icing sugar / powdered sugar (NOT pure icing sugar)
• 3 – 4 tbsp milk (any)
• Sprinkles and other decorations, if desired

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F (160°C fan). Put oven rack in the middle of the oven.
2. Place 12 cupcake liners in a cupcake tin.
3. Sift Dry ingredients into a bowl. Whisk briefly.
4. Place butter and chocolate in a separate, large heatproof bowl. Microwave for 45 seconds, mix, then microwave for another 30 seconds. Mix until chocolate is melted and smooth (keep microwaving in 20 sec bursts if chocolate not melted).
5. Add cocoa powder and mix.
6. Add milk and oil, then eggs, vanilla and vinegar. Whisk until smooth.
7. Add flour mixture and whisk until lump free.
8. Divide mixture between cupcake liners. I use a ice cream scoop for this. They should be just over 3/4 full.
9. Bake for 18 – 20 minutes, or until skewer inserted into the cupcake in the middle of the tray comes out clean.
10. Remove from oven and immediately transfer to cooling rack (spoon or knife helps).
11. Once cool, spread with frosting and decorate with sprinkles if desired. Alternatively, use Chocolate Buttercream Frosting!
12. Melt butter then mix in cocoa powder until smooth.
13. Add icing sugar and milk. Mix until smooth. Use milk to adjust consistency if required – it should be a soft spreadable consistency (like peanut butter).

Notes

1. You can substitute the bi carb with 1 1/2 tsp baking powder. The cupcake is not quite as fluffy, but it is still lovely and soft.
2. Use dark chocolate purchased from the baking section of the supermarket, not eating chocolate. You can use any dark chocolate you want, but a good quality one with 70% or more cocoa (will say on packet) will give a better chocolate flavour.
3. Dutch processed cocoa has a more intense chocolate flavour than normal cocoa. However, you can use normal cocoa if you want.
Using a normal cocoa and normal dark chocolate will still yield a lovely chocolate tasting cupcake. It is just that by using 70%+ chocolate & Dutch processed cocoa powder makes a more intense chocolatey flavour. 🙂
4. For BAKING NERDS: Mixing cocoa powder with hot butter (or hot water, as is usually done in recipes) makes it “bloom”, enhancing the chocolate flavour. Also, I add the milk and oil first into the melted butter mixture to bring the temperature down so you can add the eggs without worrying about the heat from the butter “cooking” the eggs!
This recipe is deliberately and specifically made with both oil and butter. Butter for flavour, oil for moisture.
Cup sizes in the US are slightly different to those in the rest of the world. For most recipes, the difference is immaterial and won’t affect the recipe. For baked goods, it can matter. I have made this recipe using US cups, Australian cups (same as UK, EU) and weight measures and noticed no difference in the results. I find this recipe pretty forgiving compared to most cupcake recipes – because it’s made like a quick bread / muffin batter.
5. The Frosting recipe makes enough to slather each cupcake quite generously – around 2.5 tbsp per cupcake. If you want less, use the SCALER (hover over servings) to reduce the butter to 70g – this will make enough frosting to just spread frosting on each cupcake.
6. These cupcakes stay beautifully moist for 3 days, in an airtight container. If it is very hot where you are, refrigerate them (because of the frosting) but ensure they are brought to room temperature before serving. They also freeze great (even with he frosting) – I’ve made so many in recent weeks, I’ve been freezing tons of them!
7. Nutrition includes the Chocolate Fudge Frosting.

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Sarah Miller

Hi, I’m Sarah Millar!
I’m a food blogger who loves creating quick and easy recipes that bring big flavor without the fuss. Cooking doesn’t have to be complicated — and I’m here to share simple, fast food ideas that anyone can make at home. When I’m not in the kitchen, you’ll usually find me tasting new dishes, exploring cafés, or coming up with fresh food hacks to make everyday meals more fun.

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