Home›Recipes›Desserts›Chocolate
August 23, 2009 (updated Jan 12, 2011) — by Lindsay Landis
It’s been a good two months since I last baked cupcakes (with good reason, you’d need a break too if you had made 300 of them in one day). But I figured it was about time. I was also having major chocolate cravings, and we all know the result of those is usually cupcakes. Chocolate cupcakes. Rich, dark, chocolate cupcakes with even more chocolate buttercream. And, in the case of these cupcakes, a shot of espresso mixed right in. These are not your bedtime treats. In fact, I wouldn’t recommend eating them after 4:00 in the afternoon. At least if you’re as sensitive to caffeine as I am, you won’t sleep a wink. Though if you happen to need to stay up late for whatever reason, these cupcakes will put you well on your way.
Double Shot Mocha Cupcakes
Makes 12 cupcakes.
Did you make this recipe? Leave a review »
Print Recipe Leave a Review
Ingredients:
1 cup coconut milk
1 tablespoon instant espresso powder or 1/2 ground coffee
1/3 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Frosting:
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons brewed coffee (cooled)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin pan with paper liners.
In a microwave safe bowl, heat coconut milk until hot (but not boiling). Stir in espresso powder. If you don’t have espresso powder, put coffee grounds into a fine sieve. Pour coconut milk over grounds and allow to seep through. You will end up with a few grounds in your milk this way, but it won’t affect the final product.
Whisk sugar, oil, and vanilla extract in to coffee mixture. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add to wet ingredients and beat until no lumps remain (or very few remain).
Pour into liners, filling each with a scant 1/4 cup of batter. Bake 18-22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely.
For frosting, sift together powdered sugar, cocoa. Cream butter and add to sugar mixture slowly. Add salt, and coffee. Beat 2 minutes. Add vanilla and beat until light and fluffy. Spread or pipe onto cooled cupcakes.
All images and text ©Lindsay Landis / Love & Olive Oil
Did you make this recipe?
Let us know what you think!
Leave a Comment below or share a photo and tag me on Instagram with the hashtag #loveandoliveoil.
There may be affiliate links in this post. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
Chocolate Cupcakes Desserts
posted August 23, 2009 (last updated Jan 12, 2011)
45 Comments »
Like this recipe? Then you'll love these:
Get fresh recipes via email:
Leave a Reply
45 Comments
-
Liya — December 24, 2014 at 7:33 am Reply
Good one. Very moist and fluffy
-
tin — May 27, 2014 at 2:20 am Reply
can i add egg in this?? if yes how many?
-
tin — May 27, 2014 at 2:16 am Reply
why does egg did not include here? just wonderin'(:
-
Lindsay — May 27, 2014 at 8:17 am Reply
This is an eggless recipe, that’s intentional not a mistake. It’ll work just fine without the egg.
-
-
Elizabeth — February 9, 2013 at 2:13 pm Reply
Totally my favorite cupcake recipe! I use a little more powdered sugar for thicker icing, but other than that I keep everything the same. The coconut milk gives a light fluffy texture, and how can someone say no to coffee? 5 year olds to 105 year olds- all love them!!! Mmmm just made a batch!
-
jennie — September 27, 2012 at 7:16 pm Reply
mmmm, just polished off one of these. loved them lindsay, thank you!
-
Karen — August 8, 2012 at 4:24 pm Reply
Hi Lindsay – in the ingredients you have “1 tablespoon instant espresso powder or 1/2 ground coffee”. Should that be 1/2 tablespoon ground coffee? I think the instant should be stronger than the ground, but I could be wrong. Thanks!
-
shradha — July 2, 2012 at 4:08 pm Reply
thanks for replying, ill give your suggestion a go and fingers crossed it works out :)
-
shradha — June 30, 2012 at 7:03 pm Reply
hey there, just wondering if you could make this without the cocoa powder, im after just a coffee flavored cupcake, would it still work and taste like coffee?
-
Lindsay — July 2, 2012 at 8:34 am Reply
I think you’d be better off adding coffee to a vanilla cupcake recipe. Taking the cocoa powder out of this one would affect the chemistry of it too much, I’d think, and I have no idea what the end result would be. Try my go-to vanilla cupcake recipe, and add a few teaspoons of instant espresso powder.
-
-
Michelle — March 29, 2011 at 6:09 pm Reply
I use coconut oil as well as these cupcakes are my go to chocolate. They are divine! I frost with a chocolate ganache that is also divine and I make it not too sweet. I’m making these for at least the 10th time this weekend.
-
Nikki (Pennies on a Platter) — February 16, 2011 at 4:49 pm Reply
Yes, please! I love coffee flavored cupcakes and these look divine! Bookmarking this for a possible dessert option next week. Mmmmm!
-
Tasia — May 5, 2010 at 2:00 pm Reply
These looked so good I decided to leave work early to make them. I am presently licking the bowl and anticipating the the arrival of my lil’ cupcake buddies. Thanks Lindsay and Taylor! PS this is my new favorite website and I just discovered it today, good work!
-
Meili — February 24, 2010 at 8:54 pm Reply
Hey! absolutely fabulous looking cupcake! I wanted to know what type of camera you use for your food photography? Your pictures are absolutely drool worthy! Im in the market for a good camera for this exact market, any suggestions or help would be fantastic!!
:)
-
Lorena — October 24, 2009 at 11:47 am Reply
I’m intrigued by the use of coconut milk instead of regular milk. I’m pretty sure they are as tasty as they look.
-
b — September 29, 2009 at 9:52 pm Reply
yummy it’s my boyfriend’s birthday next week so i’ll be surprising him with these
thanks -
Katie — September 24, 2009 at 1:01 pm Reply
These cupcakes look amazing! I want to try to make some tonight, but I don’t have a coffee pot. Is there something I can substitute for the brewed coffee in the frosting, or some secret way to brew coffee without a pot? Thanks!
-
Lindsay — September 22, 2009 at 9:53 pm Reply
Hi Cristin! For sure! Go for it! I was just having one of those I really don’t want to clean the piping bag days. hehe. Hence, spread frosting. :)
-
Cristin — September 22, 2009 at 4:50 pm Reply
Hi Lindsay, was just wondering – is this icing a consistency that could be piped? Thanks!
-
Nida — September 13, 2009 at 6:37 pm Reply
Heh. Yeah, I used them as wake-up cupcakes as they had an insane amount of coffee :) Everyone kept saying I got the recipe wrong, so I thought I’d just check. Anyway, I loved them *even with crazy amounts of coffee* and will definitely make them again.
-
Lindsay — September 13, 2009 at 6:30 pm Reply
Hi Nida –
In the frosting, it is brewed coffee, not espresso powder. I could see how 3T of that would make things very strong! :) Hope you were able to sleep after eating some of those! hehe.
I’ll update the recipe now so as to avoid confusion in the future. :)
-
Nida — September 12, 2009 at 11:04 am Reply
I made these cupcakes and while they tasted great the coffee flavor was very strong. When you say 3T coffee, do you mean brewed coffee or coffee powder?
-
Doug — August 29, 2009 at 10:18 pm Reply
I have completed making a batch tonight. Since the can of coconut milk had 1 3/4 cup, I just added another 1/4c milk and doubled the recipe I have a question about the frosting. When listing 3T coffee,do you mean to use the same instant espresso powder?
-
Erin — August 27, 2009 at 1:33 pm Reply
Awesome! I definitely love coffee & chocolate.
-
Allison Arevalo — August 26, 2009 at 5:36 pm Reply
I love coconut milk and chocolate. I combined the two when making pancakes and it was delicious! I wonder if you add the espresso and coconut milk in a french press if it would work? Thanks for the recipe!
-
Ceceli — August 25, 2009 at 5:39 pm Reply
Celebrated my 41st birthday on the 23rd WITHOUT a birthday cake because I couldn’t find one without a gazillion fake ingredients. Just didn’t feel like a real birthday without cake, so made these yesterday and they are so good that I’m celebrating all week long!
-
Michelle Huynh — August 25, 2009 at 5:14 pm Reply
Yummm these look so delicious! I especially love how you decorated them!
-
Erin — August 25, 2009 at 12:47 pm Reply
Those look so pretty! The sprinkles and coffee bean make for a great presentation. I made my husband an espresso type cake a few nights ago for his birthday… and last night he totally couldn’t sleep and blamed it on the cake! So I agree w/ your advice :)
-
Danae — August 25, 2009 at 10:02 am Reply
These look fantastic. Maybe they’re just the recipe I need for my perfect chocolate cupcake quest! And thanks so much for the recipe cards. I got mine this weekend as well, and they’re gorgeous! I can’t wait to try them out, and can’t wait to “borrow” your idea whenever I get married!
-
Lindsay — August 25, 2009 at 9:19 am Reply
Beth –
I’ll have to consult Taylor (he’s the mini-cupcake baking expert!) but I’m guessing mini cupcakes will take about 10-12 minutes rather than 20. Just keep your eye on them and I’m sure they’ll turn out great! :)
-
Beth — August 25, 2009 at 9:16 am Reply
How should I adjust the time if I’m using a mini-cupcake pan? These look amazing, and I can’t wait to try. Thanks!
-
Alejandra — August 24, 2009 at 10:09 pm Reply
Those look fantastic! I love the sprinkles!
-
Mimi — August 24, 2009 at 10:00 pm Reply
I don’t know what it is about the first picture, maybe it’s the sprinkles? But wow! That cupcake looks inviting!
-
Nida — August 24, 2009 at 4:23 pm Reply
Woah! That was a quick reply :) Even though it’s 3am here, I’m headed off the kitchen. :D
-
Lindsay — August 24, 2009 at 4:22 pm Reply
Nida –
Any milk should do… regular 2%, whole milk, heavy cream, even soymilk or almond milk. The coconut gives a very unique and slightly nutty flavor to the chocolate which I LOVE, but they’ll still turn out just fine without it. :)
-
Nida — August 24, 2009 at 4:16 pm Reply
Hi,
Any ideas for what I can use as a coconut milk substitute? Can’t get my hands on any, and really want to bake these.
Thanks,
nida -
Hillary — August 24, 2009 at 2:17 pm Reply
So glad you got back into making cupcakes because these look and sound awesome! My boyfriend will love these – he’s a huge chocoholic.
-
Laura — August 24, 2009 at 1:40 pm Reply
I’m excited to try these–fascinated by coconut milk in chocolate baked good.
-
Alanna — August 24, 2009 at 10:21 am Reply
Hiya Lindsay! =) I also got your recipes cards this past weekend (THANK YOU!) and they are just lovely! What a nice wedding favor for your guests! :)
It was so funny when I looked at the address on the envelope and I was like, “But I don’t know anyone in Tenn….OH YEAH THE CUPCAKE LADY lol!”
Thank you and congratulations again on your wedding. I hope married life makes u as happy as my husband and I are! :-D *hugs*
-
veggievixen — August 24, 2009 at 8:46 am Reply
this cupcake = my love. caffeine makes the chocolate go into your system even faster! score.
-
dawn — August 24, 2009 at 8:40 am Reply
These are perfect!!! Great for breakfast, right? lol
-
Erin — August 24, 2009 at 7:19 am Reply
I’m the same way with caffeine. Unfortunately that doesn’t curb my Starbucks addiction one bit…and I wonder why I have insomnia.
These cupcakes are adorable and I’m sure they’ll give you a little zing in your step. Great recipe!
-
Alisa - Frugal Foodie — August 23, 2009 at 11:06 pm Reply
Oh my goodness, talk about picture perfectT
-
Alyse — August 23, 2009 at 10:37 pm Reply
Oh my these look wonderful! I am glad to see you making cupcakes again, yours are the recipes I book mark most =)
-
Gina — August 23, 2009 at 10:36 pm Reply
Hey! I got your recipe cards that were from the wedding and I made the Mexican Hot Chocolate ones this weekend and they were so fantastic! Sweet chocolatey goodness! Thank you so much for sending them! :) Gina
Did you make this recipe? Leave a Review »
