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These Hot Chocolate Cupcakes start with a moist homemade chocolate cake and are topped with a fluffy marshmallow frosting. Each bite tastes like your favorite mug of hot cocoa turned into the coziest dessert!!
I love cupcakes – they’re the perfect little treat that requires no knives and spatulas to serve and the flavor combinations are endless! These cupcakes are a fun, unexpected twist on a classic chocolate cupcake that everyone seems to LOVE. Let’s get baking!!!
Ingredients Needed
- Standard Dry Ingredients – All-purpose flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and baking powder
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- Hot Chocolate Mix – Use whatever brand is your favorite, but skip the variety with the marshmallows. You need both this AND the unsweetened cocoa powder (do not substitute one for the other).
- Eggs – Use “large” eggs.
- Vegetable Oil
- Buttermilk – You can use store-bought buttermilk or make your own.
- Water – You can use hot water or hot coffee. Hot coffee actually helps enhance the flavor of the chocolate without giving it a coffee taste!
- Frosting Ingredients – Butter, powdered sugar, marshmallow creme (aka marshmallow fluff), vanilla extract and milk (if needed).
How to Make Hot Chocolate Cupcakes
Start by making the cake batter. If you’ve made my Best Ever Chocolate Cake, you’ll notice this recipe is very similar, but tweaked a bit to incorporate hot cocoa mix! It’s still super duper easy to mix up and results in the most moist, tender chocolate cupcakes.
You’ll start by combining the dry ingredients. You really don’t need a stand mixer for this recipe, but you certainly could use one if you’d like.
Then in a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk and vanilla. Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients and stir until combined. Lastly, pour in the hot water and use a whisk to mix until combined.
Fill the cupcake liners about 2/3 full. You should get about 28 cupcakes. If you only have enough muffin tins for 24 (these tins are my favorite!!), you can pour the remaining batter into a greased loaf pan! Bake for 15-17 minutes, or until a toothpick pressed into the center of the cupcakes comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs.
It’s important that you let the cupcakes cool completely before adding the frosting (or else your frosting will melt and slide off the cupcake!). Be sure to let the butter set on the counter to soften before making the frosting as well.
Add the butter to the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix until smooth, then add the powdered sugar, marshmallow fluff (aka marshmallow creme) and vanilla extract. Mix on low until combined then scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the speed to high and let it mix for about a minute.
Pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes (or simply use a butterknife!). Garnish the cupcakes with additional hot cocoa mix, sprinkles, mini marshmallows and/or whatever else you’d like!
Hot Chocolate Cupcakes with a Surprise Filling!!
My kids LOVE marshmallows, so any way to incorporate more marshmallows into this recipe was a win in my eyes! Here’s how to add a filling…
- Bake the cupcakes and let them cool completely.
- Use a cupcake corer to give yourself an opening for the filling.
- Sprinkle a few mini marshmallows (or add a tablespoon of marshmallow fluff) into the core.
- Top with the piece you removed from the cupcake.
- Frost & garnish as directed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Absolutely!! They make the cutest little bite-sized mini cupcakes. Simply fill the mini cupcake liners 2/3 full and bake for 8-11 minutes.
You can use a cake mix in place of the homemade cake….but I just LOVE the homemade cake recipe, so if you have the time and ingredients, you should totally give it a try!
Yes! Simply swap the flour for your favorite cup-for-cup all purpose gluten free flour. Be sure to check all your other ingredients to ensure they’re GF.
Chocolate cake with marshmallow frosting….sounds super sweet, right? Well this cake really isn’t super sweet so the combination of the chocolate cake and the sweet (but fluffy) frosting is such a match made in hot cocoa heaven!!
Peppermint Hot Chocolate Cupcakes
Add 1/2 – 1 teaspoon of peppermint extract to the cake batter and top the cupcakes with crushed candy canes! Use the straight end of a candy cane for a fun little “straw!” (See photo above!)
Other Recipes for Hot Chocolate Lovers!
- Hot Chocolate Cookies
- Crockpot Hot Chocolate
- Hot Chocolate Poke Cake
- Easy Hot Chocolate Brownies
- Hot Chocolate Snack Mix
Hot Chocolate Cupcakes
Equipment
- muffin pans
Ingredients
For the Hot Chocolate Cake
- 2 cups + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup hot cocoa mix
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup buttermilk*
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup hot water
For the Marshmallow Frosting
- 1 cup salted butter softened
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 13-ounce jar marshmallow fluff (marshmallow creme)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- milk if needed
- Mallow Bits (or mini marshmallows), hot cocoa mix, and/or melted chocolate for garnish optional
Instructions
Make the Cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 350℉ and add cupcake liners to the muffin pan.
- In a large mixing bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, hot cocoa mix, salt, baking powder and baking soda.2 cups + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, 1 1/2 cups sugar, 1/2 cup cocoa powder, 1/2 cup hot cocoa mix, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 2 teaspoons baking soda
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the oil, buttermilk, and eggs.1/2 cup vegetable oil, 1 cup buttermilk*, 2 eggs
- Pour the wet ingredients into the mixing bowl with the dry ingredients.
- Stir until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl at least once or twice.
- Slowly add the hot water and mix until combined.1 cup hot water
- Fill each cupcake liner about 2/3 full and bake for 15-17 minutes.
- Let cool completely before frosting.
Frost the Cupcakes
- In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the softened butter for a minute or until light and fluffy.
- Add powdered sugar, marshmallow fluff, and vanilla extract.
- Stir until combined then beat on high for 2 minutes, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl at least once. If the frosting is too thick, add 1 tablespoon of milk.
- Use a knife or a piping bag to top the cooled cupcakes with frosting and garnish marshmallows, a sprinkle of hot cocoa mix and/or melted chocolate.
What temp? 350 didn’t cook
350F is the correct temperature! ~Kelsey
Kelsey!! This is a wonderful recipe, and you were directions are so very thorough, EXCEPT I do not find an oven temperature anywhere in your recipe. I do see it up above in a question, to which you replied 350°.
I just thought you might like to know
Ahh thank you SO much for letting me know. I just added it to the recipe (350F is correct!). I’m so glad you enjoyed them!! ~Kelsey
Kelley, I love your recipes and have subscribed to your newsletter. I like to print off your recipes but when I do it makes 32 pages including pictures. I want just the recipe. What am I doing wrong? I apologize for my ignorance!
Hi Laura! If you go down to the “recipe card” (at the bottom of the post), it should have a button that says “Print.” Click that and it’ll print on 1-2 pages, depending on the length of the recipe (and if you choose to print it with or without nutritional, photo, etc.). Hope that helps! 🙂 ~Kelsey