This is the perfect recipe for a small batch of 6 soft and fluffy chocolate cupcakes. The cupcakes are quick and easy (made in one bowl) and topped with vanilla buttercream frosting.
We love small batch recipes! These cupcakes join our Small Batch Brownies and Small Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies. Prefer a vanilla cupcake? Try our Small Batch Vanilla Cupcakes.
These cupcakes are
Quick and easy: The batter comes together in one bowl, in minutes!
Soft and fluffy: These cupcakes have a beautiful dome and a fluffy texture.
Flavorful: The chocolate flavor is enhanced with a bit of coffee (more on this below) and rounded out with smooth vanilla frosting.
Perfect for small celebrations: Celebrating with just a few people? This recipe is a great option that won’t leave you with a bunch of leftovers.
Recipe overview
*Full recipe below in recipe card*
Make the cupcakes:
- Combine dry ingredients.
- Add egg, oil, milk, and vanilla.
- Add hot coffee.
Divide the batter between six lined muffin cups.
Bake for 15-18 minutes, until the cupcakes have puffed up and a toothpick inserted into the cupcakes comes out clean.
Make the vanilla buttercream frosting:
Combine butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk.
Assemble:
Pipe or spread the frosting onto each cupcake. Topped with sprinkles or chocolate shavings.
Special ingredient: hot coffee
Maybe you’ve seen espresso powder or instant coffee added to cookies or brownies to enhance the flavor? We’re using the same technique here. Adding coffee (instead of water) helps intensify the chocolate flavor in these cupcakes. And using hot coffee helps to draw out even more rich flavor from the cocoa powder.
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Recipe
Small Batch Chocolate Cupcakes
Ingredients
Cupcakes:
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup all purpose flour
- ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg
- 3 tablespoons milk
- 3 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¼ cup hot coffee, see note
Vanilla frosting:
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
- 3 cups powdered sugar, sifted if lumpy
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon milk, half and half, or cream, plus more, if needed
Instructions
Cupcakes:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease 6 muffin cups or place 6 liners in a muffin pan. Set aside.
- With a stand mixer or hand mixer, combine sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add egg, milk, oil, and vanilla extract and beat until well combined, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl as necessary. Add hot coffee and beat until just combined. Batter will be thin.
- Divide evenly between 6 prepared muffin cups. Bake for 15-18 minutes, until the tops spring back when you touch them, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool completely.
Frosting:
- Beat butter and powdered sugar for several minutes, until smooth. Add vanilla extract and milk, and beat for several more minutes, until light and fluffy. If the frosting seems a little too thick, beat in a splash of milk. If it seems too thin, add another tablespoon of powdered sugar.
- Frost the cooled cupcakes using a decorating tip or a butter knife. Garnish with sprinkles or chocolate shavings, if desired.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional Information is an estimate based on third-party calculations and may vary based on products used and serving sizes.
Tried this recipe?Leave a comment and rating below!
Kelly
I made these with gluten free flour and lessened the milk by a tablespoon and they baked up perfectly! Thanks for the recipe that is just the right amount!
Celebrating Sweets
Fantastic! Thanks for sharing your adaptation with the gf flour! I’m glad you enjoyed them. 🙂
Amber
I love, love, LOVE this recipe! It has been my go-to cupcake recipe for over a year. The fact that I can make 6 for our family of 2.5 (me, husband, toddler) makes it even better!
Tonight, NYE, I decided to make them, but found I was out of cocoa powder and vegetable oil. I melted chocolate chips (a heaping 1/2 cup scoop; cut the sugar to about 1/3 cup) with 1 tablespoon of coconut oil (also all I had) and 1 tablespoon of butter for the cake. And it worked!
I also exploded a bowl in the microwave on my first try to melt the chocolate chips. I blame 2016 for trying to be a punk one last time.
Long, long comment short… Thank you for this recipe! And Happy New Year!
Celebrating Sweets
Ha! Thanks for the laugh! I’m so happy to hear that you like these cupcakes. I created this recipe back when my family was just my husband, our 2 year old, and I. It’s perfect for a small family. Thanks for taking the time to stop by. And thanks for sharing your adaptation. Happy New Year!
Anna
What do es “cup heaping 1/4 cocoa” mean? Is it a quarter of a cup? Please explain. Thanks.
Celebrating Sweets
Hi, Anna. I apologize. It should read “heaping 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa”. My recipe card format changed recently and a few words got jumbled. Thanks for bringing this to my attention, I have corrected it. Enjoy the cupcakes!
Cindy
When you say heaping does that mean you just scoop and not level? I don’t want to put too much. These look amazing I want to make them for my mom’s birthday.
Celebrating Sweets
Yes, scoop it generously and do not level. Enjoy!
Sabrina
These were amazing! My 6 year old wanted to do these on her own. Easy. Few dishes. And amazingly moist and delicious cupcakes. Thanks!
Celebrating Sweets
Thanks for taking the time to let me know that you liked them. I’m so happy to hear that! I’m also happy to hear that your 6 year old is spending time in the kitchen – hooray! Thanks, Sabrina!
Patricia
How thin should the batter be? I was only able to make 5 very small cupcakes.
Celebrating Sweets
Hi, Patricia. The batter is very thin, just barely thicker than water. I have made it several times and it produced 6 cupcakes each time. I have a couple of other readers who have been able to stretch the batter into 8 cupcakes. There might be small size variances between muffin tins.
Alex
HI..Can you please tell me the substitut for egg in this recipe as I am plannning to make eggless cupcake
Celebrating Sweets
I have never made this recipe without eggs, so I can’t say. You could try substituting flax eggs but I’ve never tried that.
Lori Blessner
Made these for a small birthday celebration and was told they were fantastic, the most moist cupcake they had ever had. I loved the “heaping” 1/4 cup of cocoa and the coffee addition-makes them delish! Thanks for the small batch recipe, it’s a keeper.
Celebrating Sweets
I’m happy to hear that you liked them. Thanks for stopping by!
Frances
This was such a delicious recipe! I was craving sweets tonight and wanted to make some cupcakes for my husband and I but since it’s just the two of us, I didn’t want to make a dozen (or more as some recipes call for!) So this was the PERFECT amount! I was able to bake, cool, and frost all within 30 min. I had leftover chocolate buttercream icing in the freezer so I used that to frost. But the cupcake itself was so yummy and moist. Thank you for this recipe! It will be going in my recipe box. 🙂
Celebrating Sweets
I’m so glad that you liked it! It is perfect for satisfying a craving. Thanks for stopping by!
Sonali
Delicious recipe! I’m not too crazy about buttercream frosting in general so next time I might cut the amounts in half but no complaints about the cupcakes. Moist, rich, chocolaty and best of all there’s half the temptation 🙂 thank you so much!
Celebrating Sweets
I’m so happy to hear that you liked them! Thanks for taking the time to stop by!
Abi Tracy
Love this recipe! So easy and makes really light, fluffy and chocolatey cupcakes. I have baked this 3X now with my 4 year old son and he loves it. I plan to bake this for his birthday party. If i would like to make it for 18, do i just triple all the ingredients? Or should it change? Thanks in advance!
Celebrating Sweets
Hi, Abi! I’m so happy to hear that you like it. Yes, you could try tripling the ingredients, although I haven’t tried it with this recipe. This recipe is based off the Hershey’s Chocolate Cake recipe (link below), so you might be better off using that as it’s written to feed more people. Thanks for stopping by! https://www.hersheys.com/kitchens/en_us/recipes/hersheys-perfectly-chocolate-chocolate-cake.html