These moist chocolate cupcakes are a longtime reader favorite, loved for their soft, fluffy texture and rich cocoa flavor. With simple pantry ingredients and a quick mixing method, they bake up into perfect bakery-style cupcakes topped with creamy chocolate frosting. It’s ideal for birthdays, holidays, or whenever a chocolate craving strikes.
I was skeptical with how thin the batter was, but these are soooooo good!!
I first shared this chocolate cupcake recipe years ago, and it’s been baked and loved by thousands of readers since. What sets it apart is the simplicity. There’s no fancy steps and no hard-to-find ingredients here, just a tried-and-true method that delivers rich chocolate flavor and a perfectly moist crumb every single time. It’s the kind of recipe that feels both classic and foolproof, which is probably why it’s become such a go-to favorite.
If you love these chocolate cupcakes, you’ll definitely want to try some of my other classic flavors that readers come back to again and again like my Vanilla Cupcakes, Red Velvet Cupcakes, and these Funfetti Cupcakes. Each one is simple, reliable, and perfect for any celebration!
Why you’ll love this family favorite recipe!
- The thin batter might surprise you, but it bakes into cupcakes with a beautifully tender crumb and consistent rise every time.
- Blooming the cocoa with hot water brings out a deep chocolate flavor that tastes rich and indulgent without being overly sweet.
- These cupcakes are sturdy enough to hold generous swirls of frosting, yet still soft and moist, making them a favorite for both everyday baking and special occasions.
What You’ll Need
Scroll down to the recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
- All-Purpose Flour – Provides structure while keeping the cupcakes light.
- Granulated Sugar – Sweetens and helps lock in moisture for a soft crumb.
- Natural Unsweetened Cocoa Powder – Use natural cocoa powder (not Dutch-process) for the right flavor and texture balance. I love Rodelle or Ghirardelli for their rich, smooth flavor, but classic Hershey’s unsweetened cocoa powder works great too.
- Baking Powder & Baking Soda – Work together to help the cupcakes rise.
- Egg – Adds richness and binds the batter; room temperature is best.
- Buttermilk – Creates tenderness and reacts with the leavening for lift; you can make a quick substitute with milk and lemon juice or vinegar.
- Vegetable Oil – Keeps the crumb extra moist and soft for days, even more so than butter.
- Vanilla Extract – Enhances the chocolate flavor and adds warmth – use my homemade vanilla extract for the best flavor.
- Hot Water – “Blooms” the cocoa, intensifying flavor and giving the batter its thin consistency for a tender crumb.
- Butter – Softened and whipped for the frosting, adding richness and a creamy base.
- Powdered Sugar – Sweetens and helps the frosting hold its shape.
- Heavy Cream or Whole Milk – Adjusts the frosting to a spreadable, pipeable consistency.
- Salt – Balances the sweetness in the cakes and frosting.
How to Make Moist Chocolate Cupcakes
- Mix dry ingredients. Combine the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.
- Mix wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla extract.
- Combine wet and dry ingredients. Add the wet ingredients mix to the dry ingredients and stir together just until everything is combined.
- Add hot water. Stir in the very hot water until the batter is smooth and well combined. It will look thin, but that’s exactly how it should be – the heat helps “bloom” the cocoa for a deeper chocolate flavor and gives the cupcakes their soft, tender texture once baked.
- Pour batter into liners. Fill each cupcake liner only halfway full, to give them enough space to rise.
Adding the Hot Water (and Why It Matters)
The thin consistency is what allows the baking powder and baking soda to create those beautiful domed tops and light crumb throughout. Don’t worry if it looks runnier than most cupcake batters, it’s all part of the process. For an extra depth of flavor, try using hot coffee instead of water.
- Bake cupcakes. Put the pan in the oven and bake the cupcakes for 18-21 minutes, until the tops spring back when lightly touched and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs.
- Cool then decorate. Ensure the cupcakes are fully cooled before adding any frosting or decoration, otherwise it will melt straight off! They can cool in the pan for a couple of minutes, then move them to a wire rack to cool completely.
How to Make Chocolate Cupcake frosting
- Cream butter and cocoa powder. Beat the butter and cocoa powder together in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, or use a hand mixer, until smooth.
- Add powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt. Mix in half of the powdered sugar on medium speed until combined. Then add the remaining powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Adjust consistency. Add heavy cream or milk, 1 to 2 tablespoons at a time, mixing between each addition until the frosting is smooth, spreadable, and holds its shape.
- Frost cupcakes. Transfer the chocolate frosting to a piping bag fitted with a decorative tip and pipe swirls onto the cooled cupcakes.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, this batter can make one 9-inch round or 8×8-inch cake. For a 9×13-inch pan or a two-layer cake, double the recipe and bake about 30-35 minutes, checking the center for doneness.
Keep cooled cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. They stay soft and moist the whole time.
Yes! I recommend freezing them unfrosted for the best texture. Once completely cool, place the cupcakes in an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months. Let them thaw at room temperature, then frost before serving.
Bake the cupcakes a day ahead and frost once cooled. You can also make the chocolate frosting in advance, refrigerate, then bring to room temp and re-whip before piping.
Filling Your Cupcake ONLY Halfway
Only fill your cupcake liners halfway full – it might look like too little, but this thin batter rises a lot in the oven. Overfilling can cause the cupcakes to overflow, stick to the pan, or sink in the center instead of forming those perfect domed tops.
If yours aren’t doming nicely, try adding a little less batter next time, or check out my high-altitude baking guide and see if any of those tips help, since I’m baking from California near sea level.
Substitutions and Variations
- You can make your own buttermilk by adding ½ tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar to ½ cup milk and letting it sit for 5 minutes.
- Try my other frosting recipes one these cupcakes for more flavors. Some of my favorites are Salted Caramel Frosting, Oreo Frosting, Classic Vanilla Buttercream Frosting, Cream Cheese Frosting, and this S’mores Cupcakes with Graham Cracker Frosting.
- Add mini chocolate chips, espresso powder, or orange zest to the cake batter for extra flavor.
- Fold in a small handful of finely chopped nuts, like pecans, walnuts, or hazelnuts, for a little crunch and contrast against the soft, moist crumb.
More Cake & Cupcake Recipes You’ll Love
Chocolate Cupcakes Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- 1 cup all-purpose flour (141g)
- 1 cup granulated sugar (200g)
- ½ cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder (50g)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg room temperature
- ½ cup buttermilk room temperature
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ½ cup very hot water
Frosting
- 1 cup salted butter softened
- ⅔ cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 4-6 Tablespoons heavy cream or whole milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
Cupcakes
- Heat oven to 350°F. Line a cupcake pan with paper liners.
- Combine the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a bowl and whisk together.1 cup all-purpose flour, 1 cup granulated sugar, ½ cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon salt
- Combine the egg, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla in another bowl and whisk together.1 large egg, ½ cup buttermilk, ½ cup vegetable oil, 1 teaspoon vanilla
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix using a stand mixer until combined.
- Add the hot water to the batter and mix again, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary, until combined. Batter will be thin.½ cup very hot water
- Fill cupcake liners only ½ full, then bake for 18-21 minutes, until the tops bounce back when you touch them with a finger or a toothpick comes out with only a few moist crumbs when used to test a cupcake.
- Cool completely before frosting with chocolate frosting or your favorite frosting.
Frosting
- Cream butter and cocoa powder together until smooth in the bowl of a stand mixer using the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer.1 cup salted butter, ⅔ cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
- Add half of the powdered sugar mixing on medium speed until combined. Add remaining powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt, mixing well, and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.4 cups powdered sugar, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, Pinch of salt
- Add heavy cream or milk, 1-2 tablespoons at a time, mixing between each addition until you reach the desired consistency that is easily spreadable or pipeable, but will still hold its shape.4-6 Tablespoons heavy cream
- Transfer to a decorative piping bag and pipe swirls onto cooled cupcakes.
Video
Notes
- Measure flour correctly – spoon and level for accuracy.
- Use room-temperature ingredients for even mixing.
- Don’t overfill cupcake liners; halfway is perfect for domed tops.
- Let cupcakes cool fully before frosting.
- This recipe calls for buttermilk, but if you don’t have any on hand, you can make an easy substitute by adding ½ tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar to a ½ cup measuring cup, then filling the rest of the way with milk. Stir, then let sit for 5 minutes before adding to the recipe in place of the buttermilk.
- This recipe is on page 252 of my cookbook, House of Nash Eats Everyday!
- Store: Store cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
- Freeze: Freeze unfrosted cupcakes for up to 3 months; thaw at room temperature before frosting.
These cupcakes were truly moist and had a wonderful chocolatey taste. This will be my go-to recipe for sure. Thank you so much for sharing!!!
Can i use this recipe for steaming, if yes.. how many minutes should i steam it?
Sorry, but I have never heard of steaming cupcakes before!
Thank you very much for sharing this recipe.
It was indeed the end of all chocolate cupcake recipes when I found and tried this recipe.(hahaha)
Thank you for explaining on what we have to consider in baking cupcakes..
It was so informative and simply love it the way you explain.
Again…thank you…
Made these this evening with gluten free all purpose flour, avocado oil, coconut sugar, and almond milk.Everything else I followed exactly. The batter wasn’t as thin as yours seemed, but it worked just the same. First time attempting gluten free baked goods since my eating habits changed to clean eating, free of cane sugar, dairy and gluten. Holy moly, these cupcakes are delicious. Would not know they were gluten free at all! Thank you for this recipe, I will forever make them. Just thought you would like to know that the recipe works great with the subs I made.
I’m so glad these turned out so well for you and that you shared your experiences with the substitutions! Thank you!
Could you use regular milk instead of buttermilk
If you don’t have buttermilk, you can make a really easy substitute by adding 2 teaspoons of vinegar or lemon juice to a 1/2 cup measuring cup, then filling it the rest of the way with milk. Leave it for 5 minutes, then you’ve got buttermilk to use in the recipe!
Hi Amy,
I would love to try this recipe,what is the size of the cup you use ?
I am living in Ireland and I am not sure we use the exactly same measurements.
Hi Szilvia! I have had a lot of requests for measurements in grams lately for this recipe and will work on getting that for you!
WOW WOW WOW these really are the BEST chocolate cupcakes EVER. Super rich and moist. I’ve made them 2days in a row, big hit with friends and family. Thank you for sharing!
I made these for my grandson. Absolutely delicious, especially when topped with peanut butter icing. The only change I did was to use coffee in place of the hot water.
OMG these are the bombbbbb you are so talented and thank you for sharing this recipe with us!
This is the BEST recipe ever! I’ve done these for bridal shower and the bride asked for wedding cupcakes because she loved them. Thank you so much for this recipe!
Greetings from Czech republic 🙂
Can i use cake flour instead of all purpose flour?
Yes.
Hi, could you provide the measurements in grams please? As I don’t have cup measurements
I will work on that! I have been trying to add more gram measurements to many of my baking recipes for readers in other countries, but haven’t gotten to all of them yet.
These were great! I halfed the receipe to just make a small batch. I also added 1 tbsp decaf instant coffee to the hot water. They are delicious. Can’t wait to add the strawberry buttercream to them.
I like using cake flour.
Can I use cake flour and if so how much would be needed to replace the regular flour?
Sure! You can do a straight substitution with equal amounts of cake flour for all-purpose flour for this recipe.
Thanks it really turned out v moist.Only challenge I had was that they didn’t rise ..I filled them half and they stayed half when I took them out of oven..baked them for 15 mins as were done at 350 degree.
Just made these and they turned out perfect! Very soft and moist, thanks! 🙂
so easy and sooo good!!
I used this recipe for weed cupcakes and they turned out amazing!! you could barely taste the weed. I subbed the the oil for canna coconut oil and the water with hot coffee
Tried these out… So so good! I used coffee instead of water, mostly because I had some left in my pot.
I’ve tried so many chocolate cupcake recipes and was never happy with the outcome. Dry or crumbly and not the chocolate flavor I wanted. So I kept going back to box mixes just for the consistency. These are going to be my new go to! Thank you!
Hi Amy. Can I use half a cup sugar and half a cup brown sugar instead of a full cup of sugar?
This recipe sounds delicious! Thank you
Hi Amy, Can I use half a cup of sugar and half a cup brown sugar instead of 1 full cup of sugar? Thanks this recipe sounds delicious!
Brown sugar has extra moisture in it so they might not round quite as much, but it would still work okay!
these are actually the best ever chocolate cupcakes. i made these for a family gathering and everyone absolutely ADORED them!! the secret ingredient is the water; it makes the cupcake light and fluffy, but not so much were you don’t get the flavor. 10 out of 10, would make again and recommend to a friend!!!
Hi! I’m so excited to try making these! I don’t have a stand mixer, do you think it would work ok with a hand mixer? Thanks!
Absolutely!
While I liked the recipe in end, I think it should be clearly noted in the recipe that these absolutely will NOT work as written at high altitude!
I followed the recipe exactly and every one of the 24 cupcakes fell – not just fell a little bit, but completely collapsed in the middle. Using very hot water and adding an egg and a little flour helped, but I don’t like modifying recipes on the fly. So for those of us at high altitude (I’m in Denver at 5200 ft), do NOT use this recipe without modifications! It will not come out well.
For the author, I know there was a link to some high altitude modifications in the text, which I do appreciate! But I think a warning that this absolutely has to be modified to work at high altitude would be useful as well, so that no one else is as disappointed as I was by an otherwise good recipe! I’ve tried other cupcake recipes that didn’t need modifications, but this one does, so I think it deserves a mention.
These was truly the best chocolate cupcake recipe I’ve made. I swapped the veg oil for coconut oil and they were delicious.
Been looking for an ideal chic cake recipe. These were delicious and moist. Good chocolate taste and cakey not fudgey.
Well Worth it.
Can you add chocolate bits to it once the batter cools down?
Thanks for sharing this. Please what is the best preservatives to use for this chocolate cup cake to last for a month without freezer.
I don’t have experience adding preservatives to make baked goods like this last for that long without freezing. Sorry!
How do you recommend storing these?
I keep them in an airtight container on the counter for maybe 4 days. But they also freeze really well!
Hello,
Can I substitute the all purpose flour for the cake flour? So in this recipe said 1 cup all purpose flour. So how many cup of cake flour do I use? Please advise. Thanks you
I haven’t tried this particular recipe with cake flour, but in general, yes, you can do a straight 1-to-1 substitution of cake flour for all-purpose flour in a cupcake recipe.
They were delicious! I’m making them again.
Sorry if I missed this info but when do you add the hot water?
It’s the last thing you add, in Step 5.
All of my cakes fell in the middle. The frosting is too thick and DON’T use a whisk attachment, what a nightmare, everything stuck to the whisk!
I didn’t have an issue with my cupcakes. Those turned out beautifully. But I do have to agree with NOT to use a hand held mixer for the frosting! That was rough! I ended up using my stand up mixer and that worked out good.
I made this into 6 layer cake AND IT WAS ABSOLUTELY PERFECT. The cake was so moist and decadent. I used dark cocoa powder cause I’m more into the dark chocolate taste. However, I’m afraid I may have done something wrong because the cake rose too high in the middle and cracked. Any idea why it might have happened? Thanks
Oh dear! I’m so glad you loved this recipe, but that is a bummer that is rose in the middle and cracked! I have two recommendations if you are having this problem. The first is to make sure to use room temperature ingredients so they aren’t cold from the fridge. But the other is to consider using “cake strips”. I’ve seen YouTube videos on how to make homemade versions, but you can buy them online or at craft stores in their cake decorating sections. They wrap around your cake pans and help insulate the cakes so they bake more evenly to correct this very problem! Cook’s Illustrated did a really helpful write up on how they remedy cakes that are rising high in the middle. They help correct a number of factors outside the recipe that contribute to this problem. I hope this helps!
Could I add a teaspoon of orange essence instead of vanilla. Thanks.
Yes, I would think so!
If I want only 7 cupcakes. What’s the measurement? If I wanted to do for my friend who is vegan. What is the substitute for egg?
This is by far the best chocolate cupcake recipe ever! The others are going away. No need to save them. Thank you!
Hi thanks for the recipe. Theses cupcakes really are the best so soft, fluffy and chocolatey! I baked them in a fan oven at 350° and only half filled the paper liners but they did not dome but rather rose and had a peak in the centre. Any ideas why please?
My guess is that it was the fan oven? I haven’t used one, but that sounds like a heat issue.
I just baked these for my daughter’s 5th bday and they came out sooo good! I tried another buttermilk chocolate recipe (no hot water) which were good but too crumbly. I love the idea of coffee but these are for little ones so I was happy to see a version with plain hot water. Looking forward to frosting them tomorrow. Thank you again!
Dear Amy, these cupcakes were so good. All the credit goes to your recipe which is so precise and magic. Love it. God bless and happy holidays.
Thank you so much! This comment made my day!
Wonderful recipe! Soft cupcake is all good! I will test here at home and thank you very much!
I made these with homemade German chocolate frosting. Yum
These cupcakes were a hit! I will be making these again!
Thank you for this recipe.
Could I add chocolate chips to the cupcake recipe and cream cheese swirl?
That sounds delicious! I’m not sure how that would turn out since they definitely add weight to a thin batter. I would at least toss the chocolate chips in a little flour to help them not sink so much while the cupcakes bake.
I’m so happy I found this recipe, these cupcakes are delicious. My 5 year old daughter and I wanted to eat them all before icing them, they are so good! I added coffee instead of hot water but otherwise followed the recipe and they turned out beautifully. I made peppermint white chocolate buttercream to make them Christmas cupcakes, next time I’ll try your chocolate frosting.
I baked these in two inch tart pans for a fluted bottom and couldn’t have been happier with the domed tops! They really baked to perfection with so little fuss and effort. Definitely saving this recipe!
Do you think I can add Oreos to this recipe?
Yes.
Can I add Oreos to the cake?
Sure! I don’t see why not!
Hi! How long will these last in the fridge or out on the counter? Which is the best place to store these? Thank you – I love this recipe!
They will last on the counter for 4-5 days if they are kept in an airtight container. I’m so glad you love these cupcakes as much as we do!
I wanted to make these but decided not to because I’m unsure of how you measured the flour. Dip and sweep or 1 cup sifted or sifted 1 cup? I prefer a recipe that uses weight when given a preference. Thank you, Russ
I do a scoop and sweep method.
hi can send me a vanila cupcake recipe please please
I have a great one right here!