Chocolate Mocha Cupcakes

4.84 from 42 votes

Chocolate + espresso in a cupcake! And this cupcake recipe is super easy to make!

Prep Time30

Cook Time20

Total Time50

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: cupcakes

Servings: cupcakes

Calories: 237kcal

Heat oven to 350°F. Prepare two muffin pans with cupcake liners.
Stir together flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, instant espresso powder and salt in large bowl.
In a second mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil, sour cream (or greek yogurt), vanilla extract, and sugar .
Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir just until combined. Do not overmix.
Fill each cupcake well about 3/4 cup full of batter.
Bake for about 14 minutes, rotating pans halfway through baking. Remove cupcakes from pans and allow to cool on a wire rack. Cool completely.
For the frosting combine the butter and powdered sugar and mix on low, then increase the speed for 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy. Add in your heavy cream, vanilla extract, and instant espresso powder. Beat on medium-high for 8 minutes.
With a pastry bag and tip attached, pipe the frosting on each cupcake. Decorate with sprinkles. Store at room temperature for up to 2 days. Refrigerate for up to 3 days, just bring back to room temperature before serving.

Be sure to measure your flour accurately. For a full tutorial on how and why, read this post.
Be sure to use natural unsweetened cocoa powder not dutch process. They are not the same. You can read about the differences here.
When baking these, it’s best to rotate the pans halfway through their baking time. Every oven can have hot spots so they may not bake evenly. Give them a turn in the oven, so they all bake up pretty.
Once they are baked, be sure to take them out of the pans and cool on a cooling rack. Leaving them in your pans means they will continue to bake and could end up dry.