Really Easy Chocolate Cupcakes is a dairy free (without milk or butter), one-bowl recipe and the best chocolate cupcakes ever!
Really Easy Chocolate Cupcakes recipe is so good that it may just quickly become your go-to snack or party treat, because everyone will love it!
Want more flavor? Just use your favorite frosting or genache, add some sprinkles and enjoy!
The batter is very liquidy, but that is how it is supposed to be, so no worries!
Just mix all of the ingredients in one bowl, pour into your pan (or pans), bake and voila!!
Really Easy Chocolate Cupcakes recipe also makes around 54 mini cupcakes!
Love chocolate muffins? Try these: Really Easy Chocolate Muffins
If I can bake, anyone can
I am the type who hates paying more for something than I feel it’s worth and and loathe paying a lot for something I can bake at home.
So, paying a lot of money for a cake similar to one I can bake on my own just doesn’t work for me.
My problem was that I couldn’t really make a layer cake. I could make one in a 9″ x 13″ pan, but not one that could be used for a birthday or celebration.
For years, I tried, failed, and gave up. Then again, tried, failed and gave up.
It normally wasn’t the taste that was the problem, it was other things such as density or lopsidedness.
One day, I decided that no matter what, I would learn to make a decent looking cake (I wasn’t even aiming for good-looking, just decent).
One day, my daughter Elissa came into the kitchen during one of my “I will learn to do this” phases and stopped.
“You are NOT really measuring oil in the palm of your hand!”
I wasn’t sure what the problem was. I couldn’t be bothered to stop what I was doing to get the measuring spoons and I certainly know what a tablespoon of oil should look like…
“You can’t bake the way you cook,” she informed me (I often cook by “it looks right” or “it tastes right”, not by directions – which I often find people make unnecessarily complicated).
Finally, I decided OK, I am going to follow directions. I will measure properly and that will be it. So, I did.
The cake came out tasting really good, but it was really heavy.
I complained to Elissa.
“I followed the directions and even measured and look at it!”
We decided that she would try the recipe to see what was wrong (she is great at following exact measurements and was tired of my complaining).
I read the instructions to her (off a very highly reviewed recipe) and was very gratified when it came out heavy for her too. Ha!
She insisted we go over the instructions again and she also wanted to see the original recipe. I gladly showed her.
“You doubled the recipe,” she accused me. “Why?”
“Because I wanted a higher cake.”
“That is NOT considered following directions. The recipe is for two pans and you put double in each pan, so it couldn’t rise.”
Oh. I took back my “ha” and never did that again.
After a while, I finally gave in. Now, I follow directions, measure properly, and use the proper tools.
Not surprising, everything I bake comes out as it should (of course…as long as I don’t forget to remove from the oven…!).
Baking Pantry Essentials
I never know when someone in my family is going to want a dessert at home, to bring to a friend’s house or need for an event, so I like to make sure I can bake anything with very short notice. To that end, I keep a variety of supplies and ingredients in the house that will allow me to do just that.
I can’t tell you how many times I was glad to have whatever I needed within reach for the last minute visitor or for when one of my kids went to a friend or had a school event without much prior notice.
I have slowly collected things over the years as I needed them (or if I found a good sale) and like to keep more than one of the smaller items, in case I don’t want to wash dishes in the middle of baking.
My basic “equipment” includes:
- a stand mixer, which I use mostly for dough and, sometimes whipping
- a hand mixer (for things that aren’t dough and I don’t want to mix manually)
- a small scale
- different sizes and shapes of baking pans, including loaf pans
- mixing bowls (or just large bowls – I have plastic, glass, and metal)
- cookie sheets
- pie dishes
- dry measuring cups
- liquid measuring cups
- whisks
- rubber spatulas (really good for when you don’t want to leave anything in the bowl)
- rolling pins
- a baking mat for rolling out dough
- baking strips
- a good supply of baking (or parchment) paper (also round for layer cakes)
I can certainly get by without a lot of the above, but it makes baking so much simpler when I just have whatever I need at my fingertips.
In addition to the equipment, there are the baking ingredients that I try to keep in the house at all times:
- flour
- white granulated sugar
- brown sugar (light/dark – I usually keep dark)
- confectioners sugar(powdered sugar)
- salt
- baking powder
- baking soda
- cocoa powder
- ground cinnamon
- ground nutmeg
- ground ginger
- ground cloves
- baking chocolate
- chocolate chips
- instant dry yeast
- vanilla and/or vanilla sugar
- cooking oil/cooking spray
- margarine or butter
- eggs
- honey
- instant coffee
- various extracts (real or imitation)
I also make sure that I have the following on hand to be able to make a variety of fillings, frostings, and toppings:
- whipping cream
- powdered pudding mix
- powdered sugar
- a good chocolate spread
Then, there is the following to make last-minute quick desserts:
- packaged pie dough or ready-made pie crusts
- puff pastry dough
Lastly, it’s not a bad idea to keep fun toppings, such as chopped walnuts, raisins, and the oh-so-important container of sprinkles.
Love chocolate? Try: Really Easy Chocolate Cake
Benefits
Want to feel better about eating such chocolatey goodness? Check out the benefits of chocolate!
Really Easy Chocolate Cupcakes
Absolutely delicious and fluffy dairy free chocolate cupcakes.
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups white granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups hot water or hot black instant coffee
- 1/2 cup oil
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Add water orcoffee, oil, eggs, and vanilla and mix until smooth. The batter should look somewhat liquidy.
- Line two 12-cup cupcake pan with cupcake paper or spray inside of pan with cooking spray well or coat with oil.
- Distribute the batter evenly between the cups of the two pans (approximately 2/3 full or so).
- Place in oven that has been preheated to 350°F and bake for approximately 30 minutes or until the cupcakes are firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Remove from oven and let cool a bit.
- Remove cupcakes from the pan and frost and decorate as desired.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
18Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 216Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 21mgSodium: 286mgCarbohydrates: 35gFiber: 1gSugar: 22gProtein: 3g