Chocolate Brownie Cupcakes

Embrace the magic of a moist chocolate cake enhanced by the richness of brownies. My friend, meet the Chocolate Brownie Cupcake, which is essentially a chocoholic’s nirvana.

When baking anything chocolate, there are generally two major issues that emerge. My Chocolate Brownie Cupcakes do a great job of addressing both of these concerns.

1. The cakes are dry.
2. The cakes are not all that chocolatey tasting.

Allow me to help you with both of these issues. And let me make this easy for you.

---

---

For today’s recipe, we are using not one, but TWO mixes. Yup. I love a good mix, and it this one I used two of my favorites. And the results are spectacular. It is a chocolate brownie cupcake, after all.

This is a “recipe hack” to top all recipe hacks. We are combining mixes and then we are using a specific addition of wet ingredients. I wish I could take credit for this madness, but I can’t. The original recipe came from Amanda on I Am Baker, whom I adore. I did make a couple of ingredient changes to her recipe, but the measurements stayed the same.

I also found that this recipe yielded a LOT more than she indicated in her post, so unless your family is the size of the Brady Bunch, you will have plenty to share with neighbors and coworkers.

---

---

Chocolate Brownie Cupcakes Ingredient List:

This chocolate cupcake recipe is mixed using Southern pantry staples you probably already have in your baking stash. You only need 6 ingredients, so easy peasy.

• Box of Chocolate Cake Mix (15.25 ounces) – I specifically like the Betty Crocker Super Moist Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix. I used it in my Seriously Moist Chocolate Cake recipe as well.
• Box of Brownie Mix (18.3 ounces) – Personally, I think the Ghiradelli Brownie mix is the best, but I have used the Aldi store brand as well with great success.
• Large eggs – Eggs should be room temperature
• Buttermilk – I’m a southern gal so I use buttermilk in all my baking. Anytime a recipe calls for water, I sub in buttermilk in the same measurement. Also have it room temperature
• Grapeseed Oil – I recommend grapeseed oil in baking. It’s flavorless so it will not compete with the chocolate.
• Clear Vanilla – This ingredient is on the controversial list. Purists don’t like it because it’s too “artificial” for them. But I learned how delicious it’s addition in baked goods can be baking Milkbar recipes, so I used it in this one, too. You can use regular vanilla, but girl, the clear is so darn good.
• Black Cocoa – ** optional ingredient** I did not include this one in the list of 6 ingredients, because it is optional. But frankly, I always add 1/8 of a cup of this black gold to my chocolate recipes for that something special.

---

---

Tips for the best results:

My chocolate brownie cupcakes taste like a bakery confection, but a child could make them. Which is about the level of difficulty I can handle these days. This is the perfect indulgent treat to mix up with your nonbaker friend or a younger child. Just follow these three simple steps and you’re pretty much guaranteed an amazing cupcake.

• Make sure the ingredients are room temperature and measured correctly. I can’t stress this part enough. It seems so simple, and it is. But people neglect to take out the refrigerated ingredients ahead of time, and mixing cold ingredients is not going to yield the best results. And please be careful measuring. Make sure your box mix is the correct amount of ounces, because otherwise, you will be short on dry ingredients and the cakes won’t bake properly.

• Use the Buttermilk. Buttermilk is so good in baked goods. I use it in every single cake or muffin I make. The slightly acidic nature gives a light texture and good rise. So use it if you can.

• Mix the ingredients correctly. Follow the mixing instructions on the cake mix. Essentially they are all the same because of the way a cake mix functions. You need 2 minutes on medium high speed with a stand mixer and high speed with a hand mixer. Don’t ask me why. The chemists who designed the mixes made them to work best following that instruction. Set a timer if you need to. I always do.

• Don’t over bake the cakes! The biggest complaint people have about chocolate cakes is that they are dry. This is generally because people tend to over bake the cakes. Set the timer, and follow the baking times. Check the cakes by using the spring back method which I believe is more accurate than the skewer. Gently touch the top of your cake and if it “springs back” it’s done.

Also checking to see if the sides have pulled away from your pan is very important. The bottom line is you will need these methods to check for doneness because visually, you won’t be able to tell.

---

---

How many chocolate brownie cupcakes will this make?

The original recipe I followed says this will bake 24 cupcakes. I wondered about that as I looked at the amount of batter in my bowl. Well it baked 24 beautiful cupcakes, but it also baked a 6″ cake!

I made the 6″ mini cake into a lovely mini layer cake. You could bake another dozen cupcakes and have 36 altogether if you prefer. So keep in mind this is a massive recipe, and be sure you have enough people around to eat these. Chocolate cakes can go stale pretty fast, so this isn’t something you want hanging around the kitchen for a couple of weeks. And they are too good to waste.

Or if things keep going the way they are going, you may want to drown your feelings in all the cake you can get. Remember that cake called Death by Chocolate? This could be your pathway there. But whatta way to go, my friends.

---

---

Print

---