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Home » Recipes

Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting (for our daughter's birthday!)

We somehow have a 14-year-old on our hands! I mean, I know 13 was technically "teenager" zone, but things really feel like they're getting serious now. And we weren't about to let this one slide by earlier this month without a proper celebration. So, since our girl was super embarrassed when we recently greeted her at the airport with a big “Welcome Home” sign (after she’d been away from us on an overseas school trip) we, naturally, greeted her when she got off the bus with a big mess of balloons to help ring in her big milestone day! :) (Just for the record, I think she secretly liked it.)

Our daughter turns 14

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And, since this is a girl after my own heart, she requested chocolate, chocolate, and ... more chocolate for her special birthday treat! We don't normally do much refined sugar—here on the blog, or in real life—but a birthday is most certainly the perfect time for an exception to the rule. Especially when it's homemade! So today I'm excited to share a super yummy and moist cupcake recipe, along with a decadent chocolate frosting recipe to top it off. We used dye-free sprinkles and raspberries to add a little color to this deliciousness.

Chocolate Cupcakes on 100 Days of Real Food

Sponsor Shoutout: Grassland Butter

Before we dive in though, I want to share another little recent adventure ... I had the opportunity to meet our newest sponsor, Grassland Dairy, when I shot some TV commercials with them in Philadelphia earlier this month. There's a first time for everything, right? It was so great to learn more about the passion and family history behind their dairy products and why they're so excited to be bringing a new choice in butter to real food fans like us... it's Non-GMO Project Verified, the most trusted third-party verifier for Non-GMO food and products!

100 Days of Real Food shooting a commercial with Grassland

What I learned is that when you buy Grassland Butter, you can feel confident that the butter is traceable to the farm, from seed to feed to cow to butter and finally to your table. Here's what their non-GMO certification means:

  • The absence of  GMO's from seed to feed to table for verified products
  • No fertilizers, pesticides, or herbicides used
  • Veterinary treatments include no hormones

Grassland Butter is made by The Wuethrich (pronounced "wee-trick") Family and has been a family-owned company for 115 years! Their ancestors immigrated from the Swiss Alps to Central Wisconsin, bringing dairy farming with them. (In fact, you may already know Grassland. They've been supplying your favorite restaurants with those little foil-wrapped butter packs for decades.) Their new Project-Verified Non-GMO butter line includes Grassland quarters and spreadables (unsalted and salted), in addition to Wuthrich European Style Butter (83% butterfat), which is great baking butter, and South Isle Grass Fed Butter, both of which are coming soon. Grassland Butter is just being introduced now in parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland, but plans to make it available nationally are coming next. Find Grassland Butter at a store near you.

Lisa on set with Grassland Butter

Now back to that tasty cupcake recipe ... this would be a great one to help ring in Valentine's day, which is coming up in less than a month!

For another sweet treat, make these homemade Chocolate Turtles!

chocolate cupcakes on 100 Days of Real Food

Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting

Adapted from Food & Wine Magazine and Bunny's Warm Oven
3 Reviews / 3.7 Average
Prep Time: 15 minutes mins
Cook Time: 15 minutes mins
Total Time: 30 minutes mins
Course: Treats
Cuisine: American
Method: Baked Goods, Freezer Friendly, Too Easy
Diet: Peanut/Tree Nut-Free, Vegetarian
Print Recipe
Servings: 24 cupcakes
Save Recipe Saved!

Ingredients
  

For the Chocolate Cupcakes

  • 1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
  • 1 cup white flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 ¾ cups sugar
  • 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate bar (cut into small chunks)
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter (cut into tablespoon-size pieces, I used Grassland)
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 2 eggs (lightly beaten)

For the Chocolate Frosting

  • ⅓ cup butter (I used Grassland)
  • ½ cup unsweetened cocoa (I used the Hershey's "Special Dark" variety)
  • ⅓ cup milk
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 ½ cups powdered sugar

Instructions
 

For the Chocolate Cupcakes

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin pan with liners. 
  • In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
  • In a small saucepan, bring the water and the sugar to a boil. Stir until the sugar dissolves, and transfer to a large bowl. Add the chocolate and butter pieces, along with the vanilla, and let it sit until everything melts and cools slightly.
  • Beat the eggs into the chocolate mixture at medium speed until well combined. Slowly beat in the dry ingredients until smooth. 
  • Fill up the cupcake liners ⅔ of the way with batter. Bake until no longer jiggly in the center and a toothpick comes out clean, about 17 to 20 minutes.

For the Chocolate Frosting

  • Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Whisk in the cocoa until smooth and then scrape into a medium bowl.
  • Beat in the milk, vanilla, and powdered sugar until you've reached the desired consistency. Once cupcakes have cooled, use a spatula to spread on top, garnish with any other desired toppings, and serve.

Notes

We recommend organic ingredients when feasible.
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition Facts
Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting
Amount Per Serving
Calories 182 Calories from Fat 54
% Daily Value*
Fat 6g9%
Saturated Fat 4g25%
Cholesterol 28mg9%
Sodium 220mg10%
Potassium 94mg3%
Carbohydrates 31g10%
Fiber 1g4%
Sugar 22g24%
Protein 2g4%
Vitamin A 190IU4%
Calcium 27mg3%
Iron 0.8mg4%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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451 shares

About Lisa Leake

Lisa is a wife, mother, foodie, blogger, and #1 New York Times Best-selling author who is on a mission to cut out processed food.

Comments

  1. Courtney Toller says

    August 05, 2020 at 5:44 pm

    I’d like to make these as a cake instead of cupcakes. 9x13 pan would be ok right? Would the baking time be more or less than what the recipe says? Please let me know. Thanks!

    Reply
    • 100 Days Admin says

      August 06, 2020 at 1:21 pm

      Cooking time would be similar (if you break it up into two standard cake pans). - Nicole

      Reply
  2. Bridget says

    August 07, 2019 at 12:54 am

    5 stars
    These are so amazing. I can't get over how delicious they are! Thank you!

    Reply
  3. La tanya Johnson says

    July 21, 2019 at 5:01 pm

    Any flour that can be used instead of whole wheat if there is an allergy

    Reply
    • 100 Days Admin says

      July 23, 2019 at 1:51 pm

      You could use something like coconut flour but may have to use a little less. - Nicole

      Reply
  4. Jenese Sieben says

    May 26, 2019 at 5:40 pm

    1 star
    I’ve made this recipe twice now and both times it tastes like baking soda. I was careful measuring it the second time with the same results. Are the measurements for baking powder and baking soda in the recipe correct?

    Reply
    • 100 Days Admin says

      February 04, 2020 at 10:30 am

      Yes, they are correct. - Nicole

      Reply
  5. Brittney says

    March 23, 2019 at 11:57 am

    Would this recipe turn out ok in cake form? I assume I would just need to bake it longer?

    Reply
    • Lisa Leake says

      July 19, 2019 at 5:34 pm

      Yes, a cake would be fine. Cooking time would be similar (if you break it up into two standard cake pans).

      Reply
  6. Karen says

    January 26, 2019 at 2:13 pm

    If I wanted to do a vanilla cupcake with the chocolate icing I'm guessing I could just omit the chocolate bar. Do you think the consistency would still be ok for the cupcake?? Thanks

    Reply
    • Lisa Leake says

      July 19, 2019 at 5:35 pm

      You might end up with a dryer outcome. I would opt for a vanilla cake recipe instead honestly!

      Reply
  7. 2pots2cook says

    January 26, 2019 at 11:43 am

    5 stars
    Although a bit late, hug your princess for me :-)

    Reply
  8. Christina says

    January 22, 2019 at 12:43 pm

    The cupcakes look fantastic and more importantly, Happy Birthday to your sweet daughter.

    Reply
  9. Preeya says

    January 22, 2019 at 12:10 pm

    Could you use regular whole wheat flour in these or is whole wheat pastry flour necessary? I've never used pastry flour.

    Reply
    • 100 Days Admin says

      January 23, 2019 at 9:42 am

      I would recommend staying with the pastry flour, as it may give you a different consistency since pastry flour has more of a white flour texture. BUT, if you don't have pastry flour, you can still use regular whole wheat flour.

      Reply

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Meet Lisa! Lisa is a best-selling cookbook author, wife, mother, and passionate home cook. Lisa began blogging in 2010 and has created a community of millions of people who share her love of healthy living, real food ingredients, and family recipes.

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