Mocha Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting

We made it to the weekend!! And a long weekend at that!

I'm not the only one celebrating. The sun is shining so bright, I can hardly believe it is February in Toronto. I actually had to take my jacket off when going for a walk this morning, it was so warm. And I'm going to celebrate this long weekend and warm weather wit one of my favorite things: cupcakes!

Okay, to be fair, turning on the oven on a very hot day is probably not the best thing in the world to do, but I felt like I needed something sweet to get me through all of the marking, test making and other various teacher activities that will take up all of my time this long weekend. As a chocolate lover, I needed to make the best chocolate cupcakes that I could.

So instead of walking down to my nearest Starbucks and ordering mocha after mocha, I decided to make easy mocha cupcakes. These Mocha Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting are way more fun, and far less expensive. Basically a chocolate cake in a perfect cupcake form.

Mocha Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting Ingredients

You don't need much to make these homemade chocolate cupcakes, other pantry essentials. All you need is:

• salted butter
• granulated sugar
• eggs
• all-purpose flour
• natural unsweetened cocoa powder
• salt
• baking powder
• baking soda
• strong brewed hot coffee
• whole milk
• powdered sugar (also called confectioners' sugar)
• unsalted butter
• coconut milk
• vanilla extract

Tips & Tricks

Don't have a piping bag? Instead of a decorating bag, you can always use a plastic bag, such as a medium ziplock bag, and cut a corner out. Then either pipe it from there, or add a piping tip inside it if you wanted a nice frosting swirl when piping.

Storage: To store these cupcakes, place them in a large airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days. For best results, it is not recommended to put them in the fridge, as that tends to dry them out.

For coffee lovers: Add in some more coffee for an extra oomph. Mix in a teaspoon of instant coffee or instant espresso powder to the cupcake batter for more of a coffee flavor. You can even switch up the frosting recipe to make it into a coffee buttercream frosting, or a mocha buttercream frosting. Heck, if you need even more of a caffeine boost, maybe try our hand at espresso buttercream frosting. I don't know what it is, but I have found that coffee really enhances the chocolate flavor in cakes.

Simplify this recipe. ​Short on time? There is no shame in making the cupcake base out of cake mix. Not only will it give you some easy chocolate cupcakes in no time, you can jazz it up with some extra mix-ins! The possibilities are endless.

More Easy Cupcake Recipes

Like this chocolate mocha cupcakes recipe? Then you will love these recipes:

• Small Batch White Cupcakes
• Chocolate Cupcakes with Cookies and Cream Frosting
• Funfetti Cupcakes

If you try this Mocha Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting recipe, let me know! Rate it, leave a comment and tag me with #atasteofmadness on Instagram and other social media! I always love seeing what you are creating!

Mocha Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting

Super moist cupcakes made with coffee to give you a nice pick me up.

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Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes minutes

Servings: 12

Ingredients

Cupcakes

• ½ cup salted butter, softened
• 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour
• ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ cup brewed coffee, strong
• ½ cup milk of choice

Frosting

• 2 ¾ cup powdered sugar
• 6 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
• 6 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 5 tablespoon coconut milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two muffin pans with paper liners and set aside.

Cupcakes

• In a medium bowl, cream together the ½ cup butter and white sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs one at a time and beat together until fully combined.
• In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder and baking soda. 
• In a small bowl, mix together the coffee and the milk.
• Alternate between mixing in the dry ingredients and the milk mixture into the wet ingredients until fully incorporated.
• Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin pans so that each cup is ¾ full. Place in the preheated oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Frosting

• In a medium bowl, mix together the frosting ingredients until smooth. Pipe the frosting on top of cooled cupcakes.