Looking for the best moist chocolate cupcake recipe? Ditch the box and learn how to make the best chocolate cupcakes from scratch with this delicious chocolate cupcakes recipe.
I am excited to partner with Florida Milk on this post.
Confession time...while B and I love to bake we often use a box mix for cakes, cupcakes and brownies. I had always thought there would not be a big taste difference. Boy was I wrong. If you are a follower of my blog, you know we love to celebrate. So, for Slade's 4 month birthday we went all out with a Happy Birthday sign and cupcakes!!! We were out of box mix, so B and I started experimenting to make homemade chocolate cupcakes.
This recipe makes the most moist and rich chocolate cupcakes I have ever had. After trying them you will ditch the box mix too. Everyone in our house kept saying I just cannot believe how moist and chocolately (even if this is not a real word) they are. We had all the ingredients in our kitchen and if you have Taco Tuesdays every week like we do, you probably do too. Yes, I said Tacos in a post about chocolate cupcakes because you will never guess our secret ingredient.
How to Make the Best Chocolate Cupcakes from Scratch
You need 2 medium sized mixing bowls, 1 whisk, hand or stand mixer, cupcakes pan and a cooling rack (if you don't have one you can simply place the cupcakes on the counter to cool). Are you ready for the secret ingredient...SOUR CREAM. The mixture of sour cream and oil makes this recipe so moist.
1 bowl will be for your wet ingredients like the butter, sugar, oil, vanilla, eggs, melted chocolate and sour cream. and 1 bowl for dry ingredients, flour, baking soda, salt, cocoa powder. If you have one bowl that is larger than the other use it for the wet ingredients since you will mix the dry ingredients into that bowl with a small amount at a time. The batter will be thin and runny so a bowl with a spout to pour would be best.
The batter was so thin we were worried that we should have not added the water, but don't worry you are on the right track. A super thick chocolate batter bakes into a dense cupcake that is similar to a brownie. To bake the moistest cupcakes possible, you want a thin batter that will cook into a rich cakey sponge.
Tips for Delicious Chocolate Cupcakes
To get the best chocolate flavor you want to use natural unsweetened cocoa powder instead of dutched cocoa. And combine it with melted chocolate. You can use any type of chocolate from chocolate chips to chocolate bars. Just avoid a chocolate bar that has a filling or candy melts, they look like chocolate, but they are not.
Melting chocolates are made with cocoa butter and not pure chocolate. They are perfect for projects where you need to melt and reset multiple times. Chocolate chips are made with temperature stable oils so they can be used in baking and other high temperature applications.
If you don’t have sour cream, you could replace it with plain yogurt. And for the oil you can use any oil, I recommend using vegetable oil, you can use canola oil too.
Possible Add-in
Coffee can enhance chocolate flavor so if you are a coffee lover there are two ways you can add in the coffee flavor. If you want to use instant coffee, you can mix in 1 teaspoon to your dry ingredients. If you want to use brewed coffee you can replace water with coffee, just make sure it is room temperature.
Love a different type of chocolate? You can use any type of chocolate as your melted chocolate from dark, milk or white chocolate.
Want to add an extra surprise, cut a hole and add in sprinkles inside your cupcake.
Looking to make a cake instead, this recipe is perfect for baking a cake as well. All you need to do is increase the baking time.
Best Moist Chocolate Cupcake Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ cup cocoa powder natural
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 ounces chocolate We used 4 tablespoons of mini chocolate chips
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 2 large egg yolks room temperature
- 9 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup full-fat sour cream
- ½ cup water room temperature
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- Mix flour, salt, baking soda, and cocoa powder into a medium-sized bowl. Set aside.
- In a separate mixing bowl mix butter and sugar until fully combined with a hand mixer or a stand mixer. It will be sandy texture.
- Melt the chocolate. We melted it in the microwave. Heat in 30 second intervals so you do not overcook it.
- Wait until the melted chocolate is cool enough to touch. Then add it to the butter/sugar mixture and mix until just combined.
- Mix in eggs and egg yolks one at a time and mix until fully combined.
- Mix in oil, vanilla, and sour cream until just combined.
- Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients in small amounts, mixing until just combined.
- Mix in water. The mixture will look really liquidity.
- Fill cupcake liners ⅔ full and put in the oven.
- Cook for 18 minutes – then check to make sure they are fully cooked. The toothpick should come out clean.
- Remove cupcakes and place on a cooling rack or on the counter to cool to room temperature.
- Ice them once they have cooled off completely.
Looking for other ways to use up milk check out these 22 ways.
Check out more recipes that use dairy.
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