Sweet and tangy cream cheese frosting tops decadent, moist chocolate cupcakes with a fudgy crumb and the perfect amount of sweetness.
Why We Love This Recipe
Rich flavor: Deep, dark chocolate cupcakes are moist and flavorful, topped with creamy, velvety cream cheese frosting for the best dessert recipe.
Impressive for any occasion: This beautiful cupcake recipe is great for birthdays, Easter, or a special treat. This cream cheese frosting also goes well with my pumpkin cake and carrot cake cupcakes!
Kid-friendly: Kids will love topping their cupcakes with their favorite sprinkles, candy, and more. They’ll love frosting their own cupcakes!
Best Chocolate Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
Have you ever had chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese frosting? I was pretty dubious of this combo until I realized it combined two of my favorite things: deep chocolate flavor and tangy cream cheese! There’s a delicious balance between dark chocolate in the cupcakes and milky sweetness of cream cheese frosting. Once you sink your teeth into this luscious dessert, you’ll want to have them over and over again.
Ingredient Tips
- Cocoa powder – make sure your cocoa powder is unsweetened and natural, not Dutch-processed, which can mess up the balance of the cupcakes.
- All-purpose flour – stick to your go-to AP flour and skip using cake flour or any other substitutes.
- Large eggs – ensure that your eggs are room temperature so that the cupcake mix ingredient meld together nicely during mixing.
- Instant espresso – or espresso powder to enhance the cocoa flavor in these chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.
- Buttermilk – adds a tangy richness to your chocolate cupcakes.
- 1 batch Cream Cheese Frosting – my homemade recipe that’s gone viral since its first day on Beaming Baker. It’s so easy to make and beyond delicious–better than any cream cheese frosting you’ve ever had.
- Chocolate sprinkles – you can swap this topping with whatever you’d like on your chocolate cupcakes.
How to Make Chocolate Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
You’ll simply love how deep, rich chocolate flavor combines with the tanginess of the cream cheese makes this decadent, yet balanced combination.
- Preheat: Start by preheating the oven to 350°F and lining a 12-cup cupcake pan with liners.
- Make the batter: Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, espresso, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Then, whisk together oil, eggs, sugar, vanilla, and buttermilk in a medium bowl. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients bowl and whisk just until combined.
- Bake the cupcakes: Pour the batter into the prepared cupcake pan. Bake for about 20 minutes, until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
- Frost the cupcakes: While you let the cupcakes cool completely, make the cream cheese frosting and frost with this piping tip. Enjoy!
Storing Chocolate Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Storing Instructions: These can be kept at room temperature for up to 2 hours. After that, cupcakes must be refrigerated.
- Refrigeration Instructions: Keep for up to 1 week in the refrigerator, sealed up in a container to prevent dryness.
- Freezing Instructions: Carefully store in an airtight, freezer-friendly container to not disturb the frosting. Place in the freezer for 1-3 months.
For more delicious recipe ideas like this easy baked dessert, follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest. If you’ve tried this recipe, take a pic and tag us on Instagram using #beamingbaker. Sending you all my love and maybe even a dove, xo Demeter ❤️
Dessert & Cake Recipes
Chocolate Cupcakes Ingredients
Prevent your screen from going dark
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Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two 12-cup cupcake pans with 16 liners.
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In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, cocoa powder, espresso, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
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In a medium bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients: oil, eggs, granulated sugar, vanilla, and buttermilk until well mixed.
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Pour wet mixture into dry mixture bowl, scraping down the sides of the bowl to get any last wet bits. Whisk together until just combined and no flour patches remain, being careful not to overmix.
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Fill cupcake liners about halfway with batter, any more than that and it will overflow. Bake for 18-22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Mine took 20 minutes.
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Allow cupcakes to cool in the pan for 8-10 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
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Once cool, frost with Cream Cheese Frosting and top with sprinkles. Here’s the piping tip I used for these photos.
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- Storing Instructions: Chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese frosting can be kept at room temperature for up to 2 hours. After that, cupcakes must be refrigerated.
- Refrigeration Instructions: Cupcakes can be kept for up to 1 week in the refrigerator.
- Freezing Instructions: Carefully store cupcakes in an airtight, freezer-friendly container in the freezer for 1-3 months.
