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 I’ll be ending it in New York too! I’ll share more about my travels on Sunday. We’ll 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 Valentine’s 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 – 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. I’m clearly so excited to share!!
The details
What we’ll 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, it’s not the dominant flavor, so don’t 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. It’s made with butter, powdered sugar, melted dark chocolate, vanilla, and milk. It might be my favorite frosting. Everything is whipped together until it’s 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! It’s not as much the ingredients that matter as it is that the ingredients are warm. That’s the secret to success here!
Now the fun part – frost and decorate!
I’m not usually someone who enjoys sprinkles but I wanted to make these fit for a celebration! I used pinks and reds for Valentine’s Day and just love how they came out! What’s nice is that you can decorate the cupcake for the occasion. For this Sunday’s 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 you’re celebrating! I was so excited when Asher LOVED every last bite of these mini cakes. An Asher seal of approval means they’re a really big success! Looking for easy chocolate desserts? Here are a few ideas: Crinkle Top Brownies 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, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
