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Sweet, delicious, and simple Chocolate Celebration Cupcakes. Light and fluffy chocolate cupcakes with both cocoa powder and real chocolate chunks, combined to create double the chocolate deliciousness. Each light, fluffy cupcake is generously frosted with a sweet whipped chocolate frosting made with luscious melted dark chocolate.
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These cupcakes are nothing short of delicious. Each sweet mini-cake is layered with chocolate cake, sweet frosting, and hinted with espresso and vanilla. The perfect chocolate cupcake for any and all celebrations.
Oh my goodness, happy Friday! It really does feel like a Friday to celebrate too. This week went so fast. It has been back-to-back. But no complaints, I love a busy, productive week, and Iโll be ending it in New York too!
Iโll share more about my travels on Sunday. Weโll save all that for Nine Favorite Things!
For now, we have my favorite cupcake of all time to share and gush over. The perfect Friday before the Super Bowl recipe. And these are probably even more relevant for Valentineโs Day!
When I set out to make these cupcakes, I knew exactly what I was trying to achieve. I knew how to photograph them, and I knew the texture and taste. I knew every detail of how I wanted these to go.
Key word โ wanted.
These took me far too long to get right. I should have given up on them. But I am so glad I stuck it out. These are my ideal chocolate cupcakes. Iโm clearly so excited to share!!
The details
What weโll all love most is just how no-fuss and basic these cupcakes are.
You can mix everything in one bowl, using ingredients you hopefully already have on hand. Start with the wet ingredients plus the sugar. Melted coconut oil, eggs, whole milk, Greek yogurt, granulated sugar, and vanilla.
Mix everything to combine. Now stir in the dry. Flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. The final two steps are to mix in hot coffee and a big handful of chocolate chips.
The coffee highlights the chocolate and vanilla, itโs not the dominant flavor, so donโt be afraid to use it! A little coffee with chocolate is always a nice pairing.
Now bake each cupcake up. There should be enough batter to make around 24 to 26 cupcakes.
While the cupcakes bake, make the frosting. The frosting is important. Itโs made with butter, powdered sugar, melted dark chocolate, vanilla, and milk. It might be my favorite frosting.
Everything is whipped together until itโs just perfect. The key to frosting is to use room-temperature butter. Then add warm, but not hot, melted chocolate and warm milk. If anything is cold, the frosting will not mix well.
Room temp and warm! Itโs not as much the ingredients that matter as it is that the ingredients are warm. Thatโs the secret to success here!
Now the fun part โ frost and decorate!
Iโm not usually someone who enjoys sprinkles but I wanted to make these fit for a celebration! I used pinks and reds for Valentineโs Day and just love how they came out! Whatโs nice is that you can decorate the cupcake for the occasion. For this Sundayโs game use your team colors, for birthdays use their favorite color. Have fun and use your favorite varieties!
The options are endless!
Each bite is filled with sweet moist cake and fudgy whipped chocolate frosting.
Best kind of any-time-of-year cupcake to bake, whatever it is that youโre celebrating! I was so excited when Asher LOVED every last bite of these mini cakes. An Asher seal of approval means theyโre a really big success!
Looking for easy chocolate desserts? Here are a few ideas:ย
Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Blondies
Giant Salted Espresso Hot Fudge Cookies
Lunchroom Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars
Retro-Style Chocolate Sheet Cake
Lastly, if you make these Simple Chocolate Celebration Cupcakes, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, donโt forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Ingredientsย
- 1/2 cup melted coconut oil or avocado oil
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 1 โ 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar, using to your taste
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3/4 cup hot black coffee
- 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips , (optional)
Dark Chocolate Frosting
- 2 sticks (1 cup) salted butter, at room temperature
- 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 6 ounces dark chocolate, melted
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1-3 tablespoons warm milk
- sprinkles or chocolate shavings, for decorating
Instructionsย
- 1. To make the cupcakes. Preheat oven to 350ยฐ F. Line cupcake molds with paper liners (24-26).2. In a large bowl, beatย together the oil, eggs, milk, yogurt, sugar, and vanilla. Add the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix until just combined, then slowly beat in the coffee until combined. It will be thin. If using, stir in mini-chocolate chips.3. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared cupcake molds. Bake 25-30 minutes, until the tops are just set, and no longer wiggly in the center. Remove and let cool.4. To make the frosting. In a large bowl, beat the butter until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add the powdered sugar and beat to combine. Pour in the melted chocolate, vanilla, and 1 tablespoon warm milk. Beat until fully combined and whipped. If needed, thin with milk. 5. Frost each cupcake, then decorate as desired with sprinkles and or chocolate shavings.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Did you make this recipe? Please rate & comment below.
would it be okay to replace coconut oil with canola? thanks!
Hi Jordyn,
Yes, that will work nicely for you! I hope you love this recipe, please let me know if you give it a try!
Hi! Do you think I could substitute maple syrup for the sugar and then omit the coffee? Iโm thinking since the syrup is liquid it will offset not incorporating coffeeโฆ thoughts? Thank you!
Hi Tess,
I have not tried this, so I can’t say for sure, I probably would not recommend that. So sorry!
can I substitute honey or maple syrup for the sugar?
Hey Mariann,
I have not tested that with this recipe, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work for you!
I hope you love these cupcakes!
Love these so much but now wondering if it could also be made as a cake/how long youโd advise to cook? Thank you!
Thanks so much, Jade! Love to hear you enjoyed this recipe, thanks for trying it! Sure, that would work, it really just depends what size cake pans you use. I would just follow this recipe:
https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/simple-chocolate-birthday-cake-whipped-chocolate-buttercream-video/
Have the best week:)
Do you know how these will do being made in advance?
Hi Stefanie,
That would be just fine for you to do. Please let me know if you have any other questions! xx
The most perfect chocolate cupcake! Nothing more needs to be said. This recipe is a keeper!
Hey Jacqueline,
Happy Friday!! So glad to hear that these cupcakes turned out well for you, thanks so much for making them and your comment! xT
Made these for my daughterโs birthday party today. Absolute hit. โTo die forโ my other said! Trust Tieghan though – I went a little light on the coffee, thinking it was too thin, and should have used it all. I think they would have been even better and more moist!
Hey Ashley,
Happy Monday!! ๐๐ซ I truly appreciate you making this recipe and your comment, love to hear that it was a hit! xT