Quick and Easy Chocolate Cupcakes

These chocolate cupcakes are light, fluffy, and so much better than a box mix! Made quickly and easily in just one bowl, they can be baked and frosted in less than an hour. Recipe: sugarspunrun.com/easy-chocolate-cupcakes/ Ingredients 1 ⅔ cups granulated sugar (333g) 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour (188g) ⅔ cup natural cocoa powder (65g) (note 1) 1 Tablespoon cornstarch (note 2) 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder 1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda 1 teaspoon table salt ½ cup canola or vegetable oil (118ml) 1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk, room temperature preferred 2 teaspoons vanilla extract ⅔ cup whole milk, room temperature preferred (157ml) 1 cup hot coffee (see note 3, may substitute hot water) (236ml) 1 batch chocolate frosting or preferred frosting Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases from the links below. Cupcake tin (Affiliate Link): amzn.to/398pW5N Mixing bowls (Affiliate Link): amzn.to/2C47vQx Instructions 00:00 Introduction 00:26 Arrange rack to center of oven and preheat oven to 350F (175C). Line two 12-count muffin tins with paper liners. 00:30 In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt (I make this recipe with an electric mixer but it can be done by hand using a whisk and spatula instead). 01:06 Add canola oil, egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract and stir until batter is combined (it will be a bit dry and crumbly but all of the flour mixture should be moistened before proceeding).. 02:13 Drizzle in milk while stirring and stir until batter is uniform and completely combined. 02:40 Gradually add hot coffee or hot water (take care not to burn yourself!) and stir until liquid is completely incorporated into the batter and you have a smooth chocolate batter. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure everything is well-combined. The batter will be very thin, this is normal! 03:42 Evenly divide batter into prepared muffin tin, but take care to fill liners between ½ and not more than ⅔ of the way full, this is typically about 3 Tablespoons of batter or less per cupcake liner. Over-filled liners will result in cupcakes with flat tops and they may cave in on themselves. If you have excess batter, discard it. 04:28 Transfer one pan of cupcakes to 350F (175C) preheated oven and bake for 17-19 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs (or clean). Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes in baking pan before carefully removing to cooling rack to cool completely before frosting (I like to use a knife to gently pry up the cupcake from the bottom and then carefully lift it out to a cooling rack). Repeat with second pan of cupcakes. 05:06 Once cupcakes have cooled, frost with my chocolate frosting or your favorite frosting recipe. Notes Cocoa powder I recommend using natural unsweetened cocoa powder for best results. However, in a pinch Dutch process cocoa powder can be used instead, but note that the flavor will be different. Cornstarch Cornstarch is my secret ingredient, it makes the cupcakes tender and fluffy and gives them the perfect, slight domed tops. However, if you do not have it on hand you may omit it, note that your cupcakes will likely be flatter though. Hot coffee/hot water A hot liquid is essential to properly blooming the cocoa powder (which gives the cake a pronounced, rich chocolate flavor). I like to use hot coffee because the coffee flavor enhances the chocolate, making the flavor even richer and deeper. However, you can just use hot water instead. The hotter the liquid the better; boiling is fine, just be careful! Please note I don’t recommend using other hot liquids such as hot chocolate which often have other additives and sugar added and could adversely affect the final outcome. Frosting I used my Ateco 848 tip to pipe the frosting on the cupcakes in the photos above and in the video. If you wish to frost all of your cupcakes this generously you will want to double the frosting called for in the recipe that I linked to, but honestly you don’t need to and a more modest amount (half the amount shown) works great and allows the cupcake flavor to really shine, it just didn’t look quite as nice in the pictures! Baking chocolate cupcake batter in different sized pans You may bake these cupcakes in two 8” pans for 35-37 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean with a few moist crumbs. In two 9” pans the cakes will take a bit less time, start checking at 30-32 minutes. This recipe should also work just fine in a 13x9” pan, but I would keep an eye on it as I haven’t tested it in this size pan yet. Facebook: www.facebook.com/Sugarspunrun/ Instagram: www.instagram.com/sugarspun_sam Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/sugarspunrun Email List: sugarspunrun.com/subscribe/

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