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Crazy Chocolate Cupcakes

Thanks for sharing!

Crazy cupcakes are super simple to make, if you have a whisk and a mixing bowl you can do it. There are no eggs and no butter, just pantry staples. The cupcakes are also soft, full of chocolate flavor and devilishly good.

unwrapped devilishly good chocolate cupcake with chocolate frosting piped on top.

Soft and scrumptious chocolate cupcakes that are easy to make and have a rich chocolate flavor. These devilishly good chocolate cupcakes are going to become an instant favorite in your family like they did in ours.

The hardest part will be deciding which frosting to top them with!

Truthfully, this recipe is hardly new to the blog.  In fact, it is just a slight spin on an old favorite, the chocolate depression cake.

dry ingredients for chocolate cupcakes.

I have used that recipe as the base for so many different chocolate cake recipes here, so you would think I might grown tired of it.  You would think wrong!

The thing is, when you have something that is perfect already there is no need to keep looking for something else. This chocolate cake is THE chocolate cake for our family.

devilishly good chocolate cupcakes batter in mixing bowl with whisk.

Of course it doesn’t hurt that it is so darned easy to make.  Literally a couple of bowls and a whisk is all you need.  Well, and a pan. And some ingredients…

Ok. So you do need a few things, but honestly it is really easy. You can whip one up at a moment’s notice because you don’t have to let any butter soften.  There aren’t any eggs to beat either.

devilishly good chocolate cupcake batter in papers.

That is one of the best parts about this cake, it is just pantry staples that I absolutely always have on hand. No heavy equipment or complicated steps are required either.

But the absolute best part about this cake is how good it turns out absolutely every single time. I mean every time!

Some chocolate cakes are dry and bland, not this one! It is moist, flavorful, soft and delicious. (Just the way a chocolate cake should be!)

Freshly baked chocolate cupcakes in tin, ready to cool.

So whip up the batter and Little Dude will be happy to put some cupcake liners in your cupcake pans. It is one of his favorite jobs!

Then just use a large cookie scoop or ice cream scoop to get the perfect amount of batter into each well.  It makes the process so easy!

These beauties all turned into some fun fall cupcakes. Some got topped with crusting buttercream dyed orange with green buttercream tendrils and pretzel rod stems to make cute little pumpkins.

Chocolate cupcakes topped with orange buttercream piped on top decorated like pumpkins.

The little pumpkins got delivered to a bake sale at work to raise money for the local United Way.  I wasn’t in the office much that day, so I am not sure how quickly they went.

But the bake sale was a success, so I’d like to think it is because the cupcakes were so good! 😉

The rest got turned into other fun fall treats that I will share with you more in a day or two.  I will also be sharing the delicious fudge frosting I put on them. YUMMMMMMM!

Do you have any recipes that you can’t quit like this? I’d love to hear all about the recipes that you just love so much that you keep going back to them every time you need something similar.

inside of chocolate cupcake.

Here are some more recipes using this same chocolate cake base:

Great frosting recipes to top your cupcakes:

Love this recipe? Give it a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review in the recipe card below!

Yield: 24 Cupcakes

Crazy Chocolate Cupcakes

unwrapped devilishly good chocolate cupcake with chocolate frosting piped on top.

Soft and scrumptious chocolate cupcakes that are easy to make and have a rich chocolate flavor. These chocolate depression cupcakes are going to become an instant favorite in your family like they did in ours. The hardest part will be deciding which frosting to top them with!

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup cocoa powder
  • 3 cups all purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups hot water
  • 3/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 Tablespoons white vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon coffee extract (optional)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F and place cupcake liners in 24 cupcake wells.
  2. In a large bowl, mix together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking soda.
  3. In a separate bowl, mix together the wet ingredients.
  4. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
  5. Scoop into cupcake liners, they should be about 2/3 full. I use a large cookie scoop to make this part really easy!
  6. Bake for about 35-40 minutes or until the tops spring back when lightly touched with a finger.

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Nutrition Information:

Yield:

24

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 189Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 194mgCarbohydrates: 30gFiber: 1gSugar: 17gProtein: 2g

All nutritional information is estimated and will depend on the exact ingredients you use.

Did you make this recipe?

I'd love to see it! Share a picture on Instagram or Pinterest and tag me @carleecooks to let me know how it went!

Soft and scrumptious chocolate cupcakes that are easy to make and have a rich chocolate flavor. These chocolate depression cupcakes are going to become an instant favorite in your family like they did in ours. The hardest part will be deciding which frosting to top them with!

Thanks for sharing!

Carlee

Friday 23rd of November 2018

They are really moist and I love how easy this recipe is to make. I feel like a broken record going back to it so many times, but I just love it so much!

Big Rigs 'n Lil' Cookies

Sunday 18th of November 2018

Seriously... You are making me rearrange my plans of not baking tomorrow!

Carlee

Friday 23rd of November 2018

Sorry! (Not sorry!)

Anonymous

Thursday 15th of November 2018

Those cupcakes look and sound scrumptious! I am in love with the way you dressed them as pumpkins. ;-D Thank you so much for sharing with us at the Whimsical Wednesdays Link Party! Have a wonderful week!

Carlee

Friday 23rd of November 2018

I love simple cupcake decorations like that! Thank you!

Debbie

Tuesday 13th of November 2018

Hi Carlee, Chocolate cake is my favourite, but it has to be proper chocolatey. This is a totally different recipe than I ever tried, so will have to give it a go... I love your little pumpkins!

xx

Carlee

Friday 23rd of November 2018

This is my favorite way to make chocolate cake! Thank you!

Amy

Monday 5th of November 2018

Isn't it funny how there are some recipes that we just end up going back to no matter what? I have found that there are some recipes that I do get away from for years and then when I am reminded of that recipe again, I go back to it and make it all of the time again. These cupcakes look fabulous.

Carlee

Thursday 8th of November 2018

When they're this good, it's hard to try another recipe!

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