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Best easy moist gluten-free chocolate cupcakes with chocolate buttercream frosting swirl opened.
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4.88 from 8 votes

Gluten-Free Chocolate Cupcakes

Easy and moist gluten-free chocolate cupcakes topped with a delicious swirl of chocolate buttercream frosting.
Prep Time25 minutes
Cook Time25 minutes
Chill Time50 minutes
Total Time1 hour 40 minutes
Course: Dessert, Snack
Cuisine: Fusion
Diet: Gluten Free, Low Salt, Vegetarian
Servings: 12 cupcakes
Calories: 376kcal
Author: Kachina

Ingredients

Chocolate Cupcakes:

  • 1 egg (large)
  • 55 g oil
  • 130 ml milk (semi-skimmed or whole)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 160 g caster sugar (granulated sugar)
  • 140 g plain / all-purpose gluten-free flour (blend)
  • ¼ teaspoon xanthan gum (optional and only if not already included in flour blend)
  • 3 teaspoon baking powder
  • 40 g cocoa powder (unsweetened)
  • 100 ml hot coffee (or 2tsp instant coffee dissolved in 100ml hot water)

Chocolate Buttercream:

  • 175 g unsalted butter
  • 350 g icing sugar
  • 35 g cocoa powder (unsweetened)
  • 3 tablespoon milk (semi-skimmed or whole)
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Chocolate Cupcakes:

  • In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs, oil, milk and vanilla together until fully combined.
  • In a separate bowl, sieve in the cocoa powder, flour, xanthan gum (if using) and baking powder, then add in the sugar and whisk them together.
  • Gradually pour the wet ingredients into the dry, beating thoroughly as you pour until fully combined.
  • Slowly add in the hot coffee, beating your mixture until the liquid has fully combined. Keep beating for an extra 5mins.
  • Allow the cupcake batter to stand for 30mins while you pre-heat the oven to 170°C / 150°C (fan) / Gas 3 ½ / 340°F.
  • Give the mixture a good stir and then divide the mixture evenly between the cupcake cases in the muffin tin and bake for 25-30mins until risen and springy to the touch. Allow the cupcakes to cool on a wire rack while you make the buttercream.

Chocolate Buttercream:

  • Beat the butter (either by hand, using an electric mixer or stand mixer) until pale, light and fluffy. This could take several minutes.
  • Sieve half of the icing sugar into the butter and beat until combined, then repeat this with the remaining half of icing sugar and all of the cocoa powder.
  • Add in the milk, salt and vanilla extract, mixing until smooth.
  • Once your cupcakes have fully cooled, add your buttercream to a piping bag fitted with a large star nozzle and pipe large swirls onto each cupcake. Alternatively, spread your buttercream generously on top of your cupcakes with a knife.

Notes

  • You can swap the plain gluten-free flour blend in this recipe for the same amount of self-raising gluten-free flour blend and reduce the baking powder by 1 ½ tsp. Scale this up as needed for a larger batch size.

Nutrition

Calories: 376kcal | Carbohydrates: 55g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 46mg | Sodium: 123mg | Potassium: 130mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 43g | Vitamin A: 408IU | Calcium: 96mg | Iron: 1mg