These one bowl chocolate cupcakes are easy to make, foolproof and absolutely delicious! Deep chocolate flavor, and perfectly sweet. Special enough for birthdays, and simple enough for every day chocolate cravings!EASY - This recipe is great for beginners. Using a scale to measure ingredients will make it even easier and more accurate. US based cup, teaspoon, tablespoon measurements. Common Measurement Conversions. Please use the US Customary / Metric toggle button to switch between measurement units.
Preheat oven to 350°F / 180°C. Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners (12 cavities). You can also line 2 - 3 extra muffin pan cavities with liners, in a second pan (for a total of 14 - 15 cupcakes). Set aside.
In a large heat-proof bowl, add the hot water and cocoa powder. Whisk the two together until you have a smooth paste. Let it sit for a few minutes to allow the cocoa to bloom and for the mixture to cool down a little.
80 g hot water or hot coffee, 45 g Dutch cocoa powder
Add the salt, melted butter, sour cream, and mix to combine.
¼ tsp salt, 115 g unsalted butter, 60 g sour cream
Add both sugars, and whisk to break up and mix the sugars into the batter.
100 g brown sugar, 100 g white sugar
The batter should not be too warm at this stage. If it is, let it sit for a few minutes to cool down a little.
Add both eggs and vanilla extract, and whisk to combine.
2 large eggs, 10 mL vanilla extract
Add the flour, baking powder and soda. Gently whisk, just until the flour is mixed through the batter with no lumps. (You can also whisk the flour with the baking soda and baking powder in a separate bowl, and add this to the batter.)
125 g AP flour, 3.6 g baking powder, 2.5 g baking soda
Evenly divide the batter into the cupcake liners (about 3 tbsp, which should be about ⅔ of the way up the cupcake liners). If you have extra cupcake batter, cover it with plastic wrap and keep it in a cool place until the first batch of cupcakes is done and cooling.
Bake the cupcakes in the preheated oven for about 16 - 17 minutes, rotating the pan at the 10 minute mark (if needed). The cupcakes are done when a toothpick inserted into the cupcake comes out clean, and the tops are slightly springy to the touch.
Remove the cupcakes from the oven and let them cool slightly for a couple of minutes. Then carefully remove them from the muffin pan, and place them on a cooling rack to cool completely.
Once cooled, these can be frosted using one of the following recipes.
When the cupcakes have cooled to room temperature, store them in an air-tight container at room temperature for up to 2 days (I’ve kept them for up to 3 days as well). This goes for frosted or unfrosted cupcakes.They will keep in the fridge for about 1 week (in an air-tight container), unfrosted.Or you can freeze them to keep them for longer. Make sure to avoid freezer burn. To do this, wrap the unfrosted cupcakes individually to minimize exposure to air in the freezer. They will keep for about 3 months this way in the freezer.Cold and frozen chocolate cupcakes can be thawed out at room temperature, frosted and served again.