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These Chocolate Christmas Cupcakes are great for your next Christmas party or family gathering. Made with ingredients you probably already have in your cupboards, topped with a Chocolate Buttercream Icing and festive sprinkles you will love making these for all your family and friends.
I love the holidays. November and December are some of the best months of the year, but as soon as Black Friday hits the tree goes up and Christmas baking begins! I fight the urge every year to put my tree up after Halloween so my husband and I have come to the agreement that Black Friday is our day to begin the Christmas festivities. We always get some eggnog and I make some kind of Christmas treat as we set up the tree and decorations! This year I made Chocolate Christmas Cupcakes and my family loved them!
How to make these Chocolate Christmas Cupcakes:
Ingredient Notes:
Cupcake:
- All-Purpose Flour
- Cocoa Powder
- Baking Powder
- Baking Soda
- Salt
- Eggs (room temperature)
- Sugar
- Brown Sugar
- Vegetable Oil
- Vanilla Extract
- Buttermilk (room temperature)
Directions:
Step One – Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a muffin tin with cupcake liners and set aside.
Step Two – Whisk together all-purpose flour, unsweetened cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a mixing bowl. Once whisked together set aside.
Step Three – In a separate mixing bowl mix eggs, granulated sugar, brown sugar, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract until combined.
Step Four – Slowly add in about half of your wet ingredients into your dry ingredients along with about half of your buttermilk.
Mix together then add in the other half of the wet and buttermilk. Mix until just combined being careful not to overmix.
- Tip – A dense or dry cupcake is a result of not enough liquid in the batter. If you batter is really thick or dry, add 1 tablespoon of water at a time to get to a nice smooth and creamy consistency.
- Tip – One thing an eager baker may do is check their cupcakes early. One big tip to help keep this moist and fluffy is to not open that oven until they have been in the over for about ¾ of the time. Opening the oven will offset the temperature by bringing in outside cool air, and this could affect the fluffiness
Step Seven – Allow cupcakes to cool slightly then remove them from the pan to cool completely before frosting.
How to make Chocolate Frosting:
Having a great cupcake relies on 2 main components: the cake and the frosting. I love a good Buttercream frosting, so I had to make this Chocolate Buttercream Frosting for this recipe. Once your cupcakes are fully cooled, you can then frost them. While the cupcakes are baking mix and prepare your frosting.
Ingredient Notes:
Frosting:
- Unsalted Butter (room temperature)
- Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips (melted)
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- Powdered Sugar
- Heavy Whipping Cream
- Vanilla Extract
- Christmas Sprinkles (you favorite kind)
Directions:
Step One – To prepare your cream together softened butter and melted chocolate with an electric hand mixer until creamy.
Step Two – Add unsweetened cocoa powder, 1 cup powdered sugar, and 1 tablespoon heavy whipping cream.
Mix until well combined. Then add another 1 cup of powdered sugar and another 1 tablespoon of heavy whipping cream.
Mix and repeat until all powdered sugar and heavy whipping cream have been mixed into your frosting.
Step Three – Last add vanilla extract and mix until your frosting is combined.
Step Four – Place frosting into a piping bag and frost cupcakes once they have cooled.
Tips for making a great cupcake:
- Use room temperature ingredients: Room temperature ingredients will not cause any drastic temperature changes to your batter when mixing. Yes, you need to melt the butter, but allow it to cool to room temperature before you mix it in with the ingredients.
- Make sure to use accurate measurements: If you do not measure accurately and use a heaping “cup” of flour you will have too much and your cupcakes will be dense and/or dry. One thing about this recipe is it is very simple to make but does need to be precise. Making a fluffy, moist cupcake is tough for a lot of people (including me), and using accurate measurements definitely helps!
- Allow to cool before icing: This may sound like a no-brainer, but icing these cupcakes that are still even a little warm will melt your frosting and make the frosting look runny. part of the appeal and deliciousness of cupcakes is how the frosting looks. Having beautiful frosting will make your mouth water before even tasting them!
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Chocolate Christmas Cupcakes
Ingredients
Cupcakes:
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ cup buttermilk, room temperature
Frosting:
- 1 ¼ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 12 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 5 cups powdered sugar
- 5 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup Christmas sprinkles
Instructions
Cupcakes:
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a muffin tin with cupcake liners and set aside.
- Whisk together all-purpose flour, unsweetened cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a mixing bowl. Once whisked together set aside.
- In a seperte mixing bowl mix eggs, granulated sugar, brown sugar, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract until combined.
- Slowly add in about half of your wet ingredients into your dry ingredients along with about half of your buttermilk. Mix together then add in the other half of the wet and buttermilk. Mix until just combined being careful not to overmix.
- Fill each cupcake liner in your prepared cupcake pan about half way but no more then ¾. Overfull cupcakes will spill over the sides. If you need grab another cupcake pan and and cook 2-4 more extra cupcakes in that one.
- Place in the oven to bake for 18-20 minutes or until cupcakes are cooked through and you could place a toothpick in the center and it would come out soon.
- Allow cupcakes to cool slightly then remove them from the pan to cool completely before frosting.
Frosting:
- To prepare your cream together softened butter and melted chocolate with an electric hand mixer until creamy.
- Add unsweetened cocoa powder, 1 cup powdered sugar, and 1 tablespoon heavy whipping cream. Mix until well combined. Then add another 1 cup of powdered sugar and another 1 tablespoon of heavy whipping cream. Mix and repeat until all powdered sugar and heavy whipping cream have been mixed into your frosting.
- Last add vanilla extract and mix until your frosting is combined.
- Place frosting into a piping bag and frost cupcakes once they have cooled.
- Add Christmas sprinkles to the top of each cupcake and serve.
Nutrition
