Homemade Coffee Cupcakes

This Chocolate Mocha Coffee Cupcakes recipe combines chocolate and coffee to make the best chocolate cupcakes.  Chocolate and coffee lovers alike will love these chocolate coffee cupcakes which are topped with sweet homemade buttercream.

Have a special occasion coming up and looking for the perfect chocolate cupcake recipe? These Chocolate Mocha Cupcakes are a delicious way to celebrate every special occasion. Or just because.

I adapted the Food Network’s Basic Chocolate Cake recipe and added a little instant espresso. Because chocolate and coffee go together like peanut butter and jelly. For real. The espresso helps to intensify the chocolate flavor.

What’s not to love about more chocolate-y goodness? Nothing. That’s what.

How To Make Coffee Cupcakes

To make these incredibly delicious chocolate cupcakes, you need the following ingredients:

• 1 cup Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa
• ¼ cup espresso powder
• 1 ½cups boiling water
• 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• 3 large eggs
• ¾ cup vegetable oil
• ½ cup sour cream
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• buttercream icing

To make them, you start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. You can either spray a muffin tin with non-stick spray or use paper or silicone liners. My favorite liners are parchment paper.

Next, whisk together the cocoa and espresso powder in a medium-sized bowl. Add boiling water to the cocoa mixture and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Set the flour mixture to the side.

Combine eggs, oil, sour cream, and vanilla at low speed in the bowl of an electric mixer.

Turn off the mixer and add the cocoa mixture and dry ingredients to the egg mixture. Turn the mixer on low speed to blend the ingredients.  Increase the speed on the mixer to medium-high speed and beat for 2 minutes to create a smooth cake batter.

Using a large cookie scoop, add two scoops of batter to the muffin cups.

Bake for 22-24 minutes or until a wooden toothpick comes out clean.  Allow cupcakes to cool on a wire rack before decorating with buttercream.

Recipe Notes

• Don’t have espresso powder?  In a pinch, you can use instant coffee in its place.
• For a special touch, top each frosted cupcake with a chocolate-covered coffee bean.

Topping Chocolate Cupcakes

A simple buttercream icing is the perfect topping for chocolate cupcakes because buttercream + chocolate = love.

I decorate the cupcakes in a couple of different ways: with a simple swirl of buttercream, with a few chocolate chips, and with an Andes mint perched on top.

You could add jimmies, sprinkles, premade cupcake toppers, or just leave them with plain, luscious buttercream.

Questions

Have a sweet tooth? Be sure to check out these other sweet treats at Southern Kissed:

• Peppermint Fudge
• Christmas Cupcakes
• Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream
• No Bake Peppermint Cookies
• Cheesecake Brownies

Be sure to come back and tell us how your Coffee Cupcakes turned out!