What's better than a super easy to make gluten free chocolate cupcake recipe? This recipe will fool even the harshest of judges into not believing that they are truly gluten free! We pair a rich, chocolatey cupcake with fudge-y chocolate buttercream frosting for the ultimate gluten free chocolate cupcake treat.
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Why this is the Best Gluten Free Chocolate Cupcake Recipe
- Simple Ingredients - you likely have all of the ingredients in your home!
- Easy Recipe - the recipe is so easy to follow and you actually only need one bowl to make these cupcakes.
- Moist - the cupcakes are super moist from using vegetable oil in the recipe.
- No fancy tools - a whisk and bowl is all we need! No electric hand or stand mixer.
Ingredients
Here are a few important notes about some of the ingredients. You will find the full ingredient list in the recipe card below. I have included options for substitutions in this section as well.
- Gluten Free Flour - The key to this recipe! I recommend using Bob's Red Mill 1:1 Gluten Free Flour.
- Egg - you can even make these cupcakes egg free by substituting ¼ cup of unsweetened applesauce for each egg needed. Ensure your egg is room temperature by taking it out of the fridge 1 hour before you begin.
- Cocoa Powder - I recommend using unsweetened cocoa powder.
- Buttermilk - provides a slight tang to your cupcake. See note below about making homemade buttermilk. I promise it's easy!
- Hot Water - This is so important for the recipe. It helps activate the cocoa powder to make the chocolate flavor extremely rich and delicious.
Instructions for this Gluten Free Chocolate Cupcakes Recipe
You'll find full instructions below in the recipe card, but here are the basic steps of this easy chocolate cupcake recipe.
Step 1. Mix together dry ingredients. Flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
Step 2. Mix together wet ingredients. Milk, egg, vanilla, water, and oil. If you want to use just one bowl, simply add the wet ingredients into the dry and skip this step!
Step 3. Combine the wet and the dry ingredients. Mix well, but do not over-mix. You'll end up with dense cupcakes or they mix sink if you over-mix.
Step 4. Pour into cupcake liners and bake. Fill approximately ⅔rds full!
Baking Tips & Tricks
Make homemade buttermilk - It's incredibly easy to make homemade buttermilk. I've provided full instructions in the recipe card below; but essentially you combine whole milk with white vinegar and voila --buttermilk. It adds a beautiful tang to the cupcake flavor and helps balance out the rich chocolate flavor.
Measure flour properly - Do NOT use your measuring cup to scoop flour. Instead, I like to use a spoon and scoop flour into my measuring cup and then use a knife to level it off. Using the measuring cup to scoop flour packs down the flour and you’ll end up with more flour than the recipe calls for and your cookies will be dry. The opposite of what we want in a good cupcake recipe. Here’s the demo of how to properly scoop your flour.
Ensure all of your ingredients are room temperature. In order to allow your ingredients to incorporate together well, this is imperative. Remove your butter and eggs from the fridge about 1 hour before making this recipe.
Recipe FAQ
Yes, absolutely. Allow cupcakes to cool and then place them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. Alternatively you can freeze un frosted cupcakes for up to 1 month wrapped well in plastic wrap.
Yes, absolutely. Simply substitute each egg required with ¼ cup unsweetened applesauce. Use non-dairy milk instead of regular milk.
Yes! Double the recipe to make three 6'' cake layers or two 8'' cake layers. Bake for 30-35 minutes.
Other Cupcake Recipes to Try
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Gluten Free Chocolate Cupcakes Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup Gluten Free Flour I recommend Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free 1:1 Baking Flour
- 1 cup Granulated Sugar
- ⅓ cup Cocoa Powder
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- ¼ teaspoon Baking Powder
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- ½ cup Buttermilk at room temperature *see note
- ½ cup Hot Water
- ¼ cup Vegetable Oil
- 1 Large egg at room temperature
- ½ teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Fill cupcake tray with cupcake liners. Set aside.
- Into the bowl of an electric mixer with the whisk attachment, combine sifted gluten free flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Stir to combine.
- In a separate mixing bowl, combine egg, buttermilk, oil, hot water, and vanilla. Turn your mixer to low speed and add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Mix until just combined - about 30 seconds to 1 minute.
- Distribute batter evenly between cupcake liners. They should be about ⅔rds full.Bake for 16-18 minutes.
- Remove from cupcake tray after 5 minutes. Cool completely on cooling racks before icing.
Chocolate Frosting
- Find my super easy chocolate frosting recipe here
Steve says
You can’t tell these are gluten free at all.
Ashley says
Oh my goodness, soooooo delicious! My husband is newly gluten free and I'm not, so it can sometimes be a little disappointing for me to HAVE to eat gluten free things in order not to be making different recipes for everything because it's just different, especially with desserts. These are so good in general, let alone the fact you would never know they're gluten free, they're so good in comparison to a glutenous cupcake too! Nice and moist, and a delicious chocolate flavor! The icing goes perfectly with this cupcake too, so good!
Blair Braz says
I'm so glad you enjoyed them!! My goal was to make cupcakes that you can't tell are GF!!
Morgan says
These are absolutely amazing, and you’d never know they were gluten free! And bonus that they’re used with a readily available 1:1 GF flour!
Blair Braz says
I'm so glad you enjoyed them! Thanks for leaving a review.