Best Chocolate Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting

Recipe based on our "Best Chocolate Cake", these gluten free cupakes are super chocolately and yummy! Plus, they are the easiest recipe ever! Top with your favorite buttercream frosting... chocolate, vanilla or strawnberry.

Chocolate cupcakes buttercream frosting gluten free #glutenfreerecipes www.healthygffamily.com
Best Chocolate Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting

Soft & fluffy, chocolate-y and yummy!

If you’re looking for The Best Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting, click here.

For Chocolate Cupcakes, read on!

Who else loves cupcakes?

Just the best cake to frosting ratio, right?

Well, we’ve been slowly updating our recipes to include more cupcakes so that the website better represents our love of them lol…

We have Red Velvet Cupcakes, Carrot Cake Cupcakes, Classic Yellow Cake Cupcakes and it was about time we added some Gluten-Free Chocolate Cupcakes!

Chocolate cupcakes buttercream frosting gluten free #glutenfreerecipes www.healthygffamily.com

These are based on The Best Chocolate Cake, a recipe from my Aunt that is a fan favorite in our extended family. 

The cake is an old-fashioned, made-from-scratch cake that is moist and chocolatey and sooooo good! And it’s really EASY!

In fact, in full transparency…  it is the same recipe, but I cut it in half and adjusted the baking time.  Why mess with a really good thing?!

So let’s make it!

It’s made with all the usual goods —

all purpose gluten-free flour (we use with GF Jules -affiliate link )

sugar

egg

Hershey  cocoa (100% cacao unsweetened)

baking powder

baking soda

salt

canola oil

vanilla

coffee (we used a dark roast decaf) 

buttermilk (we made some!) for extra flavor and moistness.

Chocolate cupcakes buttercream frosting gluten free #glutenfreerecipes www.healthygffamily.com

As an aside, you may have noticed that we are affiliate for GFJules.  To learn more about why we love GFJules flour and why we have used it for 10 years, click here.

Bonus: at the bottom of that post is a one-time use affiliate Discount Code.

And importantly, purchasing through an affiliate link does not change your cost at all. It generates a small percentage of the sale for me, and purchasing through an affiliate link helps me fund this website and all the recipes I share, so thank you!

Back to the Chocolate Cupcakes….

It is the easiest recipe ever!

All you do it mix the dry ingredients together, add in the wet ingredients and that’s it!

Chocolate cupcakes buttercream frosting gluten free #glutenfreerecipes www.healthygffamily.com

Pour or spoon into lined muffin tins and bake!

So chocolatey and yummy!

And some in my house have been known to eat them as is…

But… the rest of us love frosting!

Chocolate cupcakes buttercream frosting gluten free #glutenfreerecipes www.healthygffamily.com

I give options for 3 different buttercream frostings:

  • chocolate (the most amazing chocolate frosting ecipe from my aunt!)
  • vanilla (the best recipe from my mom!) and
  • strawberry (based on the vanilla but made with strawberry puree).

One is better than the next, so can’t wait for you to try them all!

They are all made with a combination of:

confectioner’s sugar (also known as powdered sugar)

butter or dairy-free butter

vanilla

milk or dairy free milk

plus cocoa for the chocolate and strawberries for the strawberry.

Frost them and enjoy as is or top with sprinkles or decorate for a holiday.

For Easter, it would be super fun to top with jelly beans if you have any.

Which would you chose?

Chocolate cupcakes buttercream frosting gluten free #glutenfreerecipes www.healthygffamily.comThey taste every bit as good as they look!

Chocolatey, moist, soft and fluffy texture and yummy!

Want one?

Chocolate cupcakes buttercream frosting gluten free #glutenfreerecipes www.healthygffamily.com

Hope you love them as much as we do!

For The Best Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting, click here.

For Yellow Sheetcake/ Cupcakes, click here.

Scroll down for recipe and leave a comment if you try.

Recipe

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5 from 1 vote

Best Chocolate Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting

The easiest and yummiest gluten-free chocolate cupcakes! Based on our family's amazing chocolate cakes recipe, the cupcakes are moist, soft & fluffy and super chocolatey! Options for chocolate, vanilla or strawberry buttercream frosting.
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time25 minutes
Total Time40 minutes
Course: Birthdays, Cake and Cupcakes, Dessert, Holidays
Cuisine: Nut-Free, Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Optional
Servings: 12 cupcakes
Author: Healthy Gluten-free Family

Ingredients

Chocolate Cupcakes

  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup + 1/3 cup all purpose flour I use GFJules (affiliate link)
  • 1/3 cup Hershey’s Cocoa
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 cup strong black coffee I used decaf
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk or sour milk to sour milk: use 2 teaspoons white vinegar plus milk to equal 1/2 cup
  • 1/4 cup canola oil
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Vanilla Frosting (recipe halves well)

  • 1 box confectioner sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • ½ stick butter or dairy free butter softened
  • tablespoons milk or dairy free milk

Chocolate Frosting (recipe halves well)

  • 6 Tablespoons butter or dairy free butter softened
  • ¾ cup Hershey’s Cocoa
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
  • 2⅔ cups powdered sugar
  • 4 to 6 Tablespoons milk

Strawberry Frosting (recipe halves well)

  • 1 box confectioner sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • ½ stick butter or dairy free butter softened
  • 1-2 tablespoons milk* For a deeper strawberry flavor, skip or use less milk and more strawberry puree
  • 3 tablespoons strawberry puree I mashed strawberries, then strained out the juice with a strainer

Instructions

Cupcakes

  • Heat oven to 350 degrees F and line muffin tins with baking cup liners.
  • In large mixer bowl, blend sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
  • Add egg, coffee, buttermilk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed for 2 minutes (batter will be thin).
  • Pour or spoon batter into prepared muffin tins. Bake 17 mins, then cover loosely with foil and bake another 5-10 minutes or until tooth pick inserted in center comes out clean.
  • Cool completely. Frost as desired.

Vanilla Frosting

  • In a small mixing bowl, beat butter. Add remaining ingredients, and mix until combined and creamy. Makes 2 cups frosting.

Chocolate Frosting

  • In small mixer bowl, beat butter. Add powdered sugar and cocoa alternately with milk; beat to spreading consistency. Blend in vanilla. Makes about 2 cups frosting

Strawberry frosting

  • In a mixing bowl, beat the butter. Add remaining ingredients* and mix until well combined and creamy. Makes 2 cups frosting.
Tried this recipe?Mention @HealthyGFFamily or tag #HealthyGFFamily!

 

6 thoughts on “Best Chocolate Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting

  1. 5 stars
    These cupcakes are unbelievably delicious. I’m wondering if recipe can be baked as a cake also? In an 8×8 pan perhaps? Thanks.

  2. cupcakes came out great replacing the egg with a flaxseed meal
    very moist and fluffy. Question: Do you let cool in pan or remove them to cool?
    Thank you for your help.

    1. So happy the adjustments worked out! Thanks for sharing. And it is always good to let things cool in the pan for at least 15 minutes as they are still actually “baking/ setting” when they first come out of the oven, then I move to a baking rack.

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