Two years ago, I shared my old apartment landing with three law students. With their intensive classes and my busy work schedule, we barely crossed paths, but every once in a while, I’d knock on their door with a tray of brownies or leave a paper plate of cookies covered in tin foil on their welcome mat. Always grateful for the sweet study snacks, they usually inquired how I was doing and made polite conversation, despite their baggy eyes and tired smiles.
When summer arrived, they each arranged a three-month internship in a different part of the country. Before leaving, one of them texted me while I ran errands. “Hey i wanted 2 thank u for all the treats this year. If ur ever bk in town or so cal give me a ring. Hope u enjoy the cupcakes.”
I arrived home to find a plastic bag hanging off my doorknob. Although I fully expected homemade treats, baked from a box mix and topped with frosting from a tub, I found four expensive gourmet cupcakes they bought from a new boutique downtown instead!
I immediately raced into my kitchen, giddily grabbing a fork and sampling each flavor. Despite the sweet and classic flavors of the coconut, red velvet, and mint chocolate ones, the dulce de leche completely captivated my taste buds. I slowly savored bites of the desserts over the next few days, but I saved the rest of my favorite dulce de leche one for last.
Had my law student neighbors not gifted and introduced me to those cupcakes, I probably never would have entered the boutique downtown and experienced their other incredible options. So I’d like to start paying that favor forward to you as readers!
As a food blogger—and a regular human being—I’ve had the pleasure of trying lots of products, and I’ve started to work with some of those brands to share their goodies with you too. You’ll see a few more sponsored recipe posts and giveaways in the future, but I absolutely promise that they’re for products and brands I personally love and enjoy myself.
How does that sound?
Now, back to dulce de leche… After two years, I finally decided it was time to recreate that cupcake myself. However, I put my own little spin on it and swapped out their somewhat bland vanilla base for my favorite dark chocolate cupcakes instead!
Positively indulgent, my Dulce de Leche Chocolate Cupcakes are moist and rich, with the perfect balance of complementary light and dark flavors. Thick creamy frosting sits atop the tender little cakes, and both parts are so addictive that you just might find yourself reaching for seconds… But don’t feel guilty—they’re low fat, low calorie and secretly skinny!
The cupcake batter is very easy and straightforward. There’s no chocolate to melt and no butter to cream—just lots of cocoa powder and decadent goodness! To achieve their tender texture, you must alternate between adding the dry ingredients and milk to the egg mixture.
Alternating additions are mandatory! They prevent over-mixing and over-developing the gluten strands, which would turn the cupcakes tough and dense. I promise the extra 90 seconds of switching and stirring are worth it!
Although it doesn’t matter for most of my other cupcake recipes, metallic liners work much better for these. Even with generously coating paper liners with cooking spray, the cupcakes still stick to their sides like superglue. So for the best results, use metallic liners and still lightly mist with cooking spray.
Note: Most craft stores sell metallic liners, but I found mine at Walmart. They stock a small selection of their “No Fade” cupcake liners on the baking aisle, and they come in quite a few fun colors and patterns!
You only need 3 ingredients for the frosting: Greek yogurt, dulce de leche, and instant pudding mix. That’s right, no butter and no powdered sugar! Greek yogurt is already thick and packed with protein, and the dry instant pudding mix helps it thicken even further. After chilling for 2 hours, the frosting achieves that perfect piping consistency. Swirl it on top of the cupcakes for that classic bakery look!
These decadent Dulce de Leche Chocolate Cupcakes are guaranteed to satisfy any chocolate or cupcake lovers, but it can be our little secret how simple they are to make! With just a few common ingredients and a couple of easy steps, you can whip up a batch that rivals any upscale bakery’s offerings. Plus they’re perfect for birthdays, dinner parties, or “just because” chocolate pick-me-ups!
Besides, you can never have too much chocolate… Or too many cupcakes!
These are the best dark chocolate cupcakes I’ve ever tasted, and the sweet dulce de leche frosting makes them even more irresistible! You can prepare each component up to 2 days in advance. Store the cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature and the frosting covered and chilled in the refrigerator until ready to assemble.
- 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 yogurt. 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.
- While the cupcakes bake, prepare the frosting. Add the Greek yogurt and dulce de leche to a medium bowl, and beat until smooth. Add in the pudding mix, and beat for 2 minutes, or until thickened. Chill for 2 hours before piping onto 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.
You will only need about 2/3 of the frosting, which has been taken into account for the Nutrition Information (see link below).
This recipe is also easily halved if baking for a smaller crowd!
To make your own dulce de leche:
Preheat the oven to 425°F. Place two one-cup ramekins inside of an 8”-square baking pan. Divide the contents of a 14 oz can of fat-free sweetened condensed milk between the ramekins. Cover the tops with tin foil. Add 3 cups of water to the 8”-square baking pan, making sure not to spill any on the covered ramekins. Bake at 425°F for 60-90 minutes, or until the milk reaches your desired shade of caramel. (For lighter, bake for less time; for daker, bake longer.) Cool completely to room temperature before chilling until ready to use.
they look delicious!
Thanks Dina!
This frosting sounds delicious!! and only three ingredients; you can beat that 🙂
Thanks Matea!
What is vanilla pudding mix? I don’t think we have that in the UK! What are the main ingredients?!
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Clare! This is the instant vanilla pudding mix that I use. There’s an image with the ingredients list at that link to the pudding mix! If you can’t find something similar (the “cook and serve” style of pudding mixes won’t work, unfortunately!), then just mix together the Greek yogurt and dulce de leche until they’re combined (not for 2 minutes!). The frosting probably won’t be thick enough to pipe and you’ll need to spread it on top of the cupcakes instead, but it should still taste delicious! 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of these cupcakes!
Hi Amy,
Can you make this into a layer cake for a birthday? What would you have to do to the recipe? Cook time? Thank you for your wonderful recipes!!!! Lynn
I truly appreciate your interest in my recipe, Lynn! I’m really sorry about my delayed response. I was out of the office to take care of some family things, and it took a lot more time than I anticipated. I completely understand if it’s too late and this reply isn’t very helpful, but just in case…
I’m so honored that you’d consider making my recipe to celebrate a birthday! That’s such a special type of occasion. I haven’t personally tried converting this into a layer cake, but I have a feeling that it might turn out okay. My best guess would be to double the recipe, use two 9″-round cake pans (line them with wax paper first!), and bake until the centers are quite firm and a toothpick inserted into the centers comes out clean or with crumbs attached (no wet bits!). I’m not sure how long the layers would take to finish baking, but it’d be good to start checking on them after 20 minutes or so.
Again, I know it might be too late… But if you do end up trying that, I’d love to hear how it turns out! And happy birthday to the lucky recipient of your homemade cake too! 🙂