These classic Moist Chocolate Cupcakes with Best Ever Buttercream Icing are the perfect sweet treat for birthdays or just for fun.
I love cupcakes. I loved cupcakes before they were even the “thing” to eat!
One of my favorite cupcakes is simply the classic chocolate cupcake with vanilla bean icing. What is great about this recipe is that it easy to mix things up by adding a filling and frosting it with any flavor you would like. Today I am doing my favorite Vanilla Bean Buttercream.
Enjoy! XOXO San
How do you make Moist Chocolate Cupcakes with Best Ever Buttercream Icing?
-
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pan with paper liners.
-
Mix all ingredients together until moist and well blended. Pour batter into liners until about 2/3 full. Place in oven for 20-25 minutes. Let them cool on a rack before frosting.
-
In a large bowl, I use my Kitchen Aid mixer, cream together butter and vanilla. Slowly blend in the sugar, one cup at a time beating well after each addition.
-
Beat in the milk and continue mixing until light and fluffy. You may need to add more sugar or milk until you find the right consistency, this varies every time I do the recipe.
-
If you are not going to use the frosting right away keep covered until you are ready to do so.
-
Stir in the vanilla bean seeds.
-
Frost cupcakes with icing and add sprinkles if desired. Enjoy!
My favorite kitchen tools used to make Moist Chocolate Cupcakes with Best Ever Buttercream Icing:
This post may contain affiliate links. See my Full Disclosure for further details.
MEASURING CUPS: Nothing beats a good set of measuring cups that last a long time. I love metal measuring cups because of their durability.
MEASURING SPOONS: I have to have a metal set of measuring spoons on hand. The plastic ones just don’t last long in our house thanks in large part to the garbage disposal.
KITCHENAID MIXER: I love my Kitchen-Aid mixer and use it almost daily. For cookies, bread, sauces, frostings and dough – I find many recipes that I can use my Kitchenaid to reduce prep time. I have two that I couldn’t live without.
OR
HAND MIXER: I love these for small batches or quick and easy recipes that don’t require a lot of ingredients. I love that you can have so many color options now, I love personally love teal
MIXING BOWLS: I love having a variety of sizes of mixing bowls. From small to large, I find that having at least 3 bowls of different sizes has been essential in my kitchen. I prefer Pyrex because of its durability.
Looking for more tasty cupcake recipes? Try these other recipes! Easy Rocket Cupcakes, Lemon-Poppy Seed Cupcake with a Blackberry White Chocolate Buttercream, and these Chocolate Caramel Surprise Cupcakes. Also, be sure to check out this Strawberry White Chocolate Buttercream, which pairs perfectly with these chocolate cupcakes.
Don’t forget to pin this to your favorite Pinterest board to save for later!
Moist Chocolate Cupcakes with Best Ever Buttercream Icing
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup oil
- 1 cup water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon vinegar
Buttercream
- 1 cup butter softened
- 1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract
- 4 vanilla beans seeds removed and bean discarded
- 4 cups confectioner's sugar
- 2 tablespoons milk
Instructions
Cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pan with paper liners.
- Mix all ingredients together until moist and well blended. Pour batter into liners until about 2/3 full. Place in oven for 20-25 minutes. Let them cool on a rack before frosting.
Buttercream
- In a large bowl, I use my Kitchen Aid mixer, cream together butter and vanilla. Slowly blend in the sugar, one cup at a time beating well after each addition.
- Beat in the milk and continue mixing until light and fluffy. You may need to add more sugar or milk until you find the right consistency, this varies every time I do the recipe.
- If you are not going to use the frosting right away keep covered until you are ready to do so.
- Stir in the vanilla bean seeds.
- Frost cupcakes with icing and add sprinkles if desired. Enjoy!
Kids review: They love these and are always proud to take them as their treats to school for their birthday.
You can’t go wrong with a chocolate cupcake – My kiddos would love this! 🙂 PInned!
I’ve still never tried vanilla beans- I have got to get some! Maybe I’ll see if I can score a jar at Homegoods- love that place!
These look delicious! Thank you for sharing them today on the Daily Blog Boost! 🙂
~ Brooke ~
Stopping by from Easy Life Party. GREAT frosting!!!
I love how versatile these are! Thanks for posting on the Four Seasons Blog Hop! Pinning and Google+ ! Sandra from Scrumptilicious 4 You!
What kind of vinegar do you use for this recipe? I have white-wine vinegar, red-wine vinegar, apple-cider vinegar, Will ANY of these work? Or do I need to go to the store and get just a plain, regular vinegar? If so, is there any substitute that I could possibly use to get the same yummy taste? Please advise…I need to make chocolate cupcakes for my son’s birthday party in preschool tomorrow and I would LOVE to try these! Thank you! 🙂
Shannon – just use regular white distilled vinegar. Sorry that you will have to make a run to the store but I wouldn’t substitute with any of the other vinegars you have. You will love these! Enjoy and let me know how it goes. xoxo San
I am so so glad I found this on Pinterest! Making cake tomorrow for my sons birthday and he requested chocolate cake! I know this will be great!!!! Thanks!!!!
Angela – how was the birthday? xo San
These look amazing! I love classic cupcakes too, what size tip do you use for your frosting? So cute!
TASTE HORRIBLE
No eggs in these cupcakes?
Correct Julie, there are no eggs 🙂
Just finished my first batch of these! They turned out great. (First time I’ve made chocolate cupcakes from scratch.) Thanks for the recipe!
I was on Pinterest, looking for a new chocolate cupcake recipe. I came across this page and the recipe was vegan without any modifications, so I gave it a try. They turned out GREAT! They were super moist and the perfect amount of sweet. I’m definitely keeping this recipe. Thanks for sharing!
Awesome! Thanks for those hints on making it into a layer cake! 🙂 🙂