This recipe for chocolate chip cupcakes is tender white cake studded with plenty of chocolate, topped with chocolate frosting and more chocolate chips. The perfect treat for any celebration!
You can never go wrong with cake for a special occasion – I typically make my famous chocolate coconut cake, berry chantilly cake, or these easy and elegant chocolate chip cupcakes.
So, I joined the baking club at my daughters’ school! Basically the bakers supply the treats for bake sales, and the proceeds of the sales go back to the school. And honestly? I joined the baking club primarily to motivate me to create more sweet treats to share with all of you. You’ve probably noticed that the majority of the recipes on this site are savory, but I feel like we need a few sweets now and then to mix things up. These chocolate chip cupcakes are the perfect way to get things started!
How do you make chocolate chip cupcakes?
Chocolate or vanilla? It’s an age old question. With these chocolate chip cupcakes, you get the best of both worlds! You’ve got a light and tender white cake that’s full of chocolate chips. The cupcakes are topped with a swirl of rich chocolate frosting and more chocolate chips. For this recipe, you’re going to want to use mini chocolate chips, they incorporate into the batter more evenly than regular sized chips.
This cake recipe is a little unique in that you don’t cream the butter at the beginning. Instead, cubes of butter are gradually mixed into the dry ingredients. It sounds kind of funny, but it really works to produce a light and tender cake!
I let the family sample these cupcakes before I sent them off to the bake sale, and they were a huge hit. Although I don’t think my kids would ever turn down a cupcake, so there’s that too!
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More sweet treats
Chocolate Chip Cupcakes
Ingredients
For the cupcakes
- 1¾ cups cake flour
- 1¼ cups all purpose flour
- 1¾ cups granulated sugar
- 2½ teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened and cut into ½-inch cubes
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup milk I use 1%
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup mini chocolate chips plus more for garnish
For the frosting
- 6 cups powdered sugar
- 1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder sifted
- 2 sticks of butter softened (1 cup)
- 1/3 cup heavy cream or milk
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla
Instructions
For the cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two 12-cup cupcake pan with paper liners.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the cake flour, all purpose flour, sugar, baking powder and salt, and mix together on low speed for 1 minute or until just combined.
- With the mixer on low speed, add the butter, a few cubes at a time, until all the butter has been added and the mixture resembles coarse sand.
- Add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl between additions. Slowly pour in the milk and vanilla and mix until combined.
- Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes, until batter is smooth, scraping the sides of bowl as needed. Gently fold in the chocolate chips with a spoon or spatula.
- Fill the liners 2/3 full and bake for 15-18 minutes until the centers are set and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
For the frosting
- Mix together the powdered sugar and cocoa powder in a medium bowl.
- Place the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until fluffy.
- Add 3 cups of the sugar mixture to the bowl and beat until smooth (use low speed so the sugar doesn't fly everywhere!). Add 1/2 of the cream and beat until combined.
- Repeat steps with the remaining sugar and cream.
- Add vanilla and beat for 1 minute more, or until frosting is smooth and fluffy.
- Using a piping bag fitted with a star tip, pipe a swirl of frosting on top of each cupcake. Sprinkle with mini chocolate chips.
Sarah M says
These look amazing! If we want to do vanilla frosting instead of chocolate, can we just omit the cocoa?
Sara says
Yes that’s fine!
Jedaiah Scott says
I love them and I am a baker myself and I never made chocolate chip cupcakes
Erin says
These were so gooood! I have never made any good cakes/cupcakes from scratch until I used this recipe. Thank you!
Susan says
These look amazing!! I don’t have any cake flour to hand is just using all purpose ok ?
Sara says
That should be fine!
Liz Peek says
We made these cupcakes and they were amazing! We don’t like frosting in our house so we eat them like muffins and wow! They were sweet and fluffy and fresh! Thank you for sharing this recipe, it is now one of my favorites
Jacque Hooper says
These look like they came straight from the bakery window! Award winning dessert, indeed!
Caitlyn Erhardt says
YUM! Cupcakes are one of my favorite desserts of all time and these look perfect!
Chichi says
These Chocolate Chip cup cakes look perfect. How did you get the chips to stay put and not sink. They are pretty inside.
Pree says
Hey I noticed there was no reply to your question. I usually add some flour to the chocolate chips before folding them in the batter. Helps them not sink
Lindsey Pine says
This is my idea of the perfect cupcake flavor!!
ali randall says
My kids are gonna demand I make this recipe. It;s the best of both worlds. Perfect for vanilla lovers and chocolate alike.
Frances says
Do u use unsalted butter for the frosting too?
Sara says
Yes unsalted butter works!
Katey Trudel says
I am making mini cupcakes. How much do you think I should reduce the baking time for smaller cupcakes? Thank you!
Sara says
They’ll probably take 7-10 minutes, start checking at the 7 minute mark!
Valentina | The Baking Fairy says
These are absolutely gorgeous, and what a classic combo! Can’t go wrong with chocolate and vanilla together!
Greg says
Amazing cupcakes\! Vanilla AND chocolate. It’s the best of both worlds!