How to make easy chocolate cupcakes with a sour cream chocolate frosting. The batter for these cupcakes combines butter, cocoa powder and sour cream, these chocolate cupcakes are light, chocolaty and moist. Jump to the Easy Double Chocolate Sour Cream Cupcakes Recipe or read on to see our tips for making them.
How to Make Double Chocolate Cupcakes From Scratch
There’s no need to break out the mixer for these cupcakes or the frosting. Just a few bowls, a whisk and a spoon.
The cupcakes are simple — melt butter, add coffee and cocoa powder then whisk until smooth. Add flour, sugar and a few more ingredients like baking soda and salt then stir in sour cream, eggs and vanilla. Simple.
By the way, we know, coffee sounds a little odd, but trust us. You don’t end up tasting the coffee, but you do taste the chocolate. That’s right — coffee boosts the flavor of the cocoa powder, making these taste rich.
We love adding a sour cream chocolate frosting to these. If you’ve never had it, it tastes like a combination of chocolate pudding and buttercream. You don’t pipe it onto the cupcakes and instead just spoon or spread it on top. The frosting then has enough powdered sugar in it to gently fall over the sides of the cupcake, but not so far that it’s messy.
For more chocolate cake recipes, take a look at our favorite chocolate cupcakes recipe or this amazing chocolate cake.
Recipe updated, originally posted April 2013. Since posting this in 2013, we have tweaked the recipe to be more clear. – Adam and Joanne
Double Chocolate Cupcakes
- PREP
- COOK
- TOTAL
These double chocolate cupcakes are so easy to make. They are light, but so chocolaty. We top each cupcake with a spoonful of sour cream chocolate frosting — a frosting that’s between pudding and buttercream. It’s rich, chocolaty and delicious.
We add coffee to this recipe — you don’t really taste the coffee. It’s there to bring out as much chocolate flavor as possible. If you don’t want to use coffee, water will also work. Also, you can make the sour cream chocolate frosting a day in advance — just keep covered in the refrigerator.
You Will Need
Chocolate Cupcakes12 tablespoons (170 grams or 1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
3/4 cup (175 ml) brewed coffee
1/2 cup (40 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups (195 grams) all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups (300 grams) sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
2 large eggs
1/2 cup (125 grams) sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Sour Cream Frosting4 tablespoons (55 grams or 1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1 ounce (30 grams) unsweetened chocolate, chopped
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup (115 grams) powdered sugar
1/4 to 1/3 cup (60 to 80 grams) sour cream
Directions
- Make Cupcakes
1Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Place paper baking cups in each of 18 regular-size muffin cups.
2Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat then add coffee and warm through. Remove from heat then whisk in cocoa powder until smooth. Cool 1 minute.
3In a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl. In a small bowl, whisk together eggs, sour cream and the vanilla extract until well blended.
4Gently stir the cocoa and coffee mixture into the flour mixture until combined. You do not need to beat, just stir until incorporated. Add the egg and sour cream mixture and continue to stir until blended.
- Bake Cupcakes
1Fill prepared muffin cups two-thirds full then bake until a tooth pick is inserted and comes out clean, 16 to 20 minutes. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely before frosting.
- Make Frosting
1Melt the butter and chocolate in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly until smooth. Transfer butter and chocolate to a medium bowl then whisk in the cocoa powder and vanilla extract.
2Whisk in the powdered sugar and 1/4 cup of the sour cream. The frosting should be loose, but spreadable. Add more sour cream as necessary. Refrigerate 30 minutes. (The frosting will thicken slightly after refrigeration).
- Frost Cupcakes
1Check the consistency of the frosting — if it is a little too loose, refrigerate it for another 30 to 45 minutes. It thickens slightly when cold.
2To frost cupcakes, spoon or spread a generous tablespoon on top of each cooled cupcake.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
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This recipe is my favorite chocolate cupcake recipe very moist added choc chips😁 not because the recipe was not but just for chocolate addiction😋
Dear Adam & Joanne, The cupcake recipe was really easy to make and they tasted fantastic but mine sunk-in, I followed the recipe to the T are there any tips you could give me. Thanks
Hi Tanya, It is possible that you needed to bake them a few minutes longer.
Cook them a few minutes longer and they should work out
Hi Joanne,
I tried your bluberry muffin and it was a hit. Today i will try this chocolate cupcakes, and i have one question to ask to you. Should i mix coffee with water first or just put directly coffee granules to the butter?
Thanks in advanced?
Rannie
Hi Rannie, We actually use brewed coffee for these cupcakes. Just add it to the melted butter. Sorry if the recipe was not clear. I just updated it to say “brewed coffee” instead of “coffee.” All the best! Joanne
Hi Joanne, can I put chocolate chips in these cupcakes and if so, will I have to adjust the rest of the recipe?
Yes, some chocolate chips added would be great. No adjustments should be necessary. We would add around a 1/2-cup of chocolate chips.
I tried this recipe yesterday and it was not moist. Was it supposed to be moist? But still, our church group loved it as I baked a whole batch for them. You’re right, coffee enhanced the flavor of the chcolate that my church friends thought i used dark chocolate 🙂 And it tasted even better the following day 🙂 thanks
So glad everyone enjoyed them. The cupcakes should not be dry — it is possible they baked a few minutes longer than necessary (since cupcakes are so small, they can over bake and become dry).
Yum yum !!!!!! There good
I got this recipe and I can say it was thick batter. And very chocolatey. I love the smoothness of it.I will definitely make this again. They also taste mmmmmm!
Wonderful…..
Going to make these this weekend, I bet they’ll be a hit!
Love this recipe! I’m going to try it and compare it with my (as of now) go-to chocolate cake / cupcake recipe and see what the difference is.
Is it possible though to substitude yogurt for sour cream in the actual batter? Or will it not have the desired effect?
Substituting yogurt for sour cream should work just fine. You will have to come back and let us know if it replaced your go-to 🙂
Hi Joanne, would there by a high altitude adjustment for this recipe? I live at about 4500 feet. Cannot wait to try this – I need to bake 6 dozen for a baby shower! thanks
Hi Judy — This is a tough one since we really have no way to test the recipe at higher altitudes. Here is a great article from All Recipes with tips for baking cakes at higher altitudes. We’re assuming you will need to increase the oven temperature slightly (by 25 degrees F). We also recommend testing the recipe first before making the 6 dozen for the baby shower.
This looks delish! Excited to try them..but is the 3/4 cup coffee in the recipe just straight black coffee? Im not a coffee drinker so wondering just how much coffee goes into the 3/4 cup… a teaspoon maybe? stronger?
Hi Sarah — You could use instant coffee. Take a look at the instructions on the package — instant usually requires a slightly rounded teaspoon per cup of coffee. For regular brewed coffee, one cup of water usually needs about 2 tablespoons of coffee. The coffee does not need to be strong.
Just wanted to let you know i made them last week and LOVED them!! Wouldn’t expect something so quick and easy to put together could be so yummy! Next week i’m going to try the Guinness Chocolate Cake..can’t wait!!
Gotta love a classic like this! Yum!
These look absolutely incredible! Can’t wait to make them ASAP!