Shortly after Thanksgiving, I stopped by the mailbox to collect our weekly Safeway circular and monthly Comcast bill, nearly bumping into my neighbor and his 8-year-old daughter as they pulled out their own pamphlets and brochures. We exchanged pleasantries as we strolled back towards our driveways, and as we parted, I overheard his little girl advise, “Daddy, you should wish for chocolate cake for after dinner!”
My chocoholic heart smiled.
An hour later, I knocked on their door with a plate of homemade gingerbread, apologizing that it wasn’t the chocolate cake she wanted. My neighbor chuckled a bit and replied, “It’s okay; the kids will be happy to eat it anyway!”
Then two days before Christmas Eve, I spotted the little girl standing beside their front lawn at the end of my afternoon walk. She waved, exclaiming, “Hi Amy!” I knelt down to talk, and she proudly modeled her new sparkly teal ballet flats from Target, purchased just that afternoon for her Christmas Day outfit.
To continue our conversation, I asked, “Are you excited for New Years too?”
“Oh yes,” she responded. “It’s my birthday next month!”
“What day?” I inquired.
“January 26th,” she replied.
When her mom beckoned her back inside, I immediately raced home and circled the date in bright red Sharpie on my calendar, as well as January 12th, giving me a 2-week reminder to develop a chocolate cupcake recipe. Yes, despite my self-proclaimed out-of-control chocoholism, I didn’t actually have a chocolate cake recipe to call my own—and that needed to change!
After tempting lots of you with Instagram pictures, I finally perfected my recipe for Double Dark Chocolate Cupcakes! They’re incredibly decadent and intensely chocolaty, topped with a generous layer of rich fudgy frosting. Despite their sinfully indulgent flavor, these cupcakes are secretly skinny—they clock in at less than 200 calories each!
Many luscious chocolate cake recipes require a few more steps—blooming cocoa powder, melting dark chocolate, creaming butter and sugar—but not this one! It’s about as easy as a box mix: just whisk the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another. No electric mixer required!
For the dry ingredients, you’ll actually use more cocoa powder than flour. Without any melted chocolate, the cocoa provides all of the chocolate flavor, so you’ll need 1 full cup. (Make sure you measure it correctly, just like with flour!)
I generally prefer my chocolate cakes on the denser side—but not as heavy or thick as brownies—so I added a little extra baking powder to ensure these cupcakes turned out densely airy… If that makes any sense. Not as light as angel food cake, just really moist with lots of teensy tiny air pockets inside.
These low-fat cupcakes only contain 2 tablespoons of oil! The rest of the moisture comes from Greek yogurt, one of my secret weapons in healthier baking. It keeps these cupcakes incredibly tender without adding excess calories. Greek yogurt tends to clump a bit when added to the wet ingredients, so make sure you whisk it in really well.
I mixed in 1 full tablespoon of vanilla extract, which is more than most recipes require. I know, I know… You’re probably scratching your head and thinking, “Amy’s gone crazy! I thought we were baking chocolate cupcakes… Not vanilla!” But the vanilla actually enhances the chocolate flavor, much like the tiny amount of coffee included in other recipes.
To finish the batter, alternate between stirring the dry ingredients and the milk into the egg mixture. This method prevents overworking the flour’s gluten strands. Overworked gluten results in tough, chewy cupcakes instead of the tender texture we want. Just use a fork or wooden spoon—no electric mixer needed!
I highly recommend baking the cupcakes in foil liners, like I used for my original recipe testing (seen in this Instagram picture.). I chose paper liners for these blog photographs, and they soaked up some of the moisture in the batter, leaving the cupcakes’ bottoms slightly drier than in my test batches. Either way, low-fat cupcakes almost always adhere to any kind of liner as if you superglued them together. So spray the liners with nonstick cooking spray—it prevents them from sticking!
I based this fudgy frosting off of my rich dark chocolate truffle recipes. You only need 4 ingredients: cocoa powder, vanilla, milk, and honey or agave. That’s right; no powdered sugar or electric mixer involved (so you won’t end up with that huge white mushroom cloud billowing out of your bowl)! Just stir those 4 things together with a fork until you reach the perfect fudgy consistency; then spread it on top of the cooled cupcakes. So simple!
From their tender texture to their thick fudgy frosting, these Double Dark Chocolate Cupcakes simply exude decadence. They’re a chocolate lover’s dream: every intense chocolaty bite melts in your mouth, drawing you back for more until you’ve polished off every moist crumb and luxurious swirl of frosting. With their sinfully rich flavor, nobody will believe these cupcakes are actually healthy!
I knocked on my neighbors’ door with a plate of these cupcakes on Monday, the day after their daughter’s celebration. (I didn’t want to steal the thunder from the cake on her real birthday!) When she saw the treats, her eyes widened and she shyly whispered, “Thank you!”
The entire time, her younger brother giddily jumped up and down beside their mom, finally asking, “Will you bake me chocolate cupcakes for my birthday? With sprinkles?”
These moist cupcakes are a chocolate lover’s dream! They’re really decadent, and the rich fudgy frosting is the perfect finishing touch. Store any leftover cupcakes in an airtight container for up to 4 or 5 days.
- To prepare the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350°F and place foil cupcake liners in 12 muffin cups. Lightly coat the liners with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder, flour, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the oil, eggs, and vanilla. Stir in the sugar and Greek yogurt, mixing until no large lumps remain. Alternate between adding the flour mixture and milk, beginning and ending with the flour, and stirring in each until just barely incorporated. (Note: For best results, add the flour in 3 equal portions and the milk in 2 equal portions.)
- Divide the batter between the prepared liners. Bake at 350° for 21 minutes. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- To prepare the frosting, add the cocoa powder, honey or agave, vanilla, and 8 teaspoons of milk to a medium bowl. Stir until smooth. If the consistency is too thick, continue stirring in the remaining milk until the desired consistency is achieved. Spread on top of the cooled cupcakes.
Notes: I highly recommend foil liners! The cupcakes will stick less and stay moister than if you use paper liners. If you forget to spray the liners (foil OR paper), place the cupcakes in an airtight container for 12-24 hours to help loosen them from the liners.
If you use honey in the frosting, it will have a subtle honey undertone. Agave provides a slightly cleaner chocolate flavor, but both taste equally rich and decadent.
This recipe is also easily halved if baking for a smaller crowd!
Oooohh! It sounds perfect for my aunt! I guess I’ll double this batch. I don’t think the batter will be enough for a 24 cm springform. Oh, and btw, is the cocoa powder regular or dutch-processed? I don’t see a baking soda for a regular cocoa… or was that intentional?
There should be enough batter for a single-layer cake in your springform pan! The cocoa powder is regular unsweetened, not Dutched, and the recipe works exactly as written without baking soda. I hope you and your aunt enjoy it Austin!
Thank you! We’ll definitely enjoy it. I just hope there’s enough for us! 1 slice won’t be enough! :))
I made this as a cake and doubled it to make a two-layered cake. I must say, IT WAS AMAZING! BEYOND AMAZING! My aunt and family loved it! I added a little instant coffee (1/4 tsp), which added a little sourness to the cake but it was amazing because it contrasted the sweetness of the cake itself. Mmmm!! I used chocolate cream cheese frosting instead because I have no agave or honey on hand. It added tartness but still very chocolate-y and not overpowering. I just… I have no words. I love the cake by itself! It was rich and tasty and really good. I must do this again and try it with the frosting you have made! 😀
I’m so glad you enjoyed the cake Austin! I haven’t tried a two-layer cake yet with this recipe, but I think I need to try that after how much your family loved it. Thanks for reporting back, and I hope you enjoy the frosting when you try it too! 🙂
Hey Amy! I really want to bake these cupcakes – they look absolutely delicious! But I don’t have a spray for the liners, so what should I do? I also don’t have foil liners. Do you think it would work if I added a bit more oil in the cupcakes so the moisture stays? Thanks for posting this recipe! 🙂
If you can, I highly recommend buying cooking spray! It’s fairly inexpensive and a lot easier to use than the method I’m about to describe. 😉 Here’s what you can do: fold a paper towel into quarters, and place it over the mouth of your oil bottle. Invert the bottle 2-4 times to get oil on the paper towel. Rub the paper towel around the insides of each liner once or twice to coat it with oil. (Yes, even the paper ones!) Then proceed with the recipe as directed. You can also skip the liners and wipe the oil on the muffin cups instead, if that’s easier for you. I really hope you enjoy the cupcakes Lucy!
Thanks for replying so quickly! 🙂 I’m excited to see how these turn out.
I can’t wait to hear what you think Lucy!
So excited I found this. My 7yo wants chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting for her bday party and she wants to make them with me. I needed something healthier and something we could make together, so this looks just perfect. I generally use coconut oil instead of vegetable or canola, but wanted to check here first bc your experience in substitutions clearly surpasses mine in baking. But I also wondered about silicone cupcake liners instead of foil. Any experience with these? Thanks so much! I cannot WAIT to try this beauty.
You’re such a sweet mom to bake homemade cupcakes for your daughter Kelli! Coconut oil would work just fine. If you prefer silicone cupcake liners, I still recommend spraying them with cooking spray, but the bake time should remain about the same. I hope you all enjoy the cupcakes!
This recipe is so good! The cupcakes turned out lovely and chocolately, I’ll definitely be making them again. I actually somehow got 18 pretty large cupcakes, not sure how I managed that! Is there any possibility of you posting your ingredients in grams as well as cups? I have to keep converting them. Thanks a lot!
Thanks Katie! For the past year, I’ve been posting recipes in grams and cups; I just haven’t been able to convert all of my old recipes as well. Not enough hours in the day! 😉 (I actually do have the cupcake part of the recipe in grams here!) I’m not sure how you got so many cupcakes though… Were you using a standard-sized muffin tin or a mini one? I’m glad you enjoyed them!
Hi Amy!!!
Couple of questions:
1. Could i replace Agave instead of sugar in the cucpake mixture?
2. Could I replace whole wheat flour instead of all purpose?
I can’t eat sugar and try to stay away from refined flours, so this would be awesome. Thanks a bunchhh!
Whole wheat flour would work just fine, although I think that whole wheat pastry flour or white whole wheat flour would work slightly better because they provide a more tender texture. If you substitute agave for the granulated sugar, reduce the milk to 2 tablespoons, and add up to 2 more tablespoons if necessary. The batter should be thick and scoop-able. I hope you enjoy the cupcakes!