Small Batch Chocolate Cupcakes

Ingredients

• 66g granulated sugar
• 60g King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 4 teaspoons (7g) King Arthur Triple Cocoa Blend, or your favorite unsweetened cocoa powder
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon table salt
• ⅛ teaspoon espresso powder optional
• 76g warm water
• 21g extra light olive oil
• 1 teaspoon King Arthur Pure Vanilla Extract
• 1 teaspoon white vinegar, apple cider vinegar, or lemon juice

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F with a rack positioned in the center. Place four baking cups in a standard muffin pan, or lightly grease the wells of the pan and dust with cocoa powder.
2. Sift the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, and espresso powder into a small bowl, then whisk briefly to combine.
3. In another small bowl, combine the water, oil, vanilla, and vinegar. Whisk to combine, then pour the wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients and whisk until smooth.
4. Divide the batter evenly among the four baking cups (about 60g of batter per cupcake).
5. Bake the cupcakes for about 18 minutes, until the cake springs back when lightly touched and a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the cupcakes comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs clinging to it.
6. Remove from the oven, run a knife carefully around the cupcakes if not using liners, and allow the cupcakes to cool in the pan for 2-3 minutes before turning them out onto a rack to cool completely before frosting, about 20 to 30 minutes.

Notes

13 February 2026: I made these today for the first time. They were excellent. I used both burgundy cocoa and double dark cocoa blend, both from King Arthur, in approximately equal amounts. I baked two in cupcake liners and two just directly in the wells of the pan (buttered and dusted with cocoa). I used my nonstick 12-cup pan and placed the two cupcakes in liners in the center of the pan, and the two without in the middle two wells in front of them (I think cupcakes in liners take slighly longer to bake, so I kept them a little closer to the back of the oven where it is typically warmer). They baked perfectly on rack 3 in 18 minutes. I did not rotate the pan. I then made chocolate cream cheese frosting, also with half burgundy cocoa and half double dark cocoa blend.

15 February 2026: I had to make them again! Because the cupcakes without liners came out perfectly last time, today I made all four just directly in the buttered and cocoa-dusted wells of the pan. I used the four middle cups of the muffin pan, but I think next time I will use the front four wells. They came out great, but there was a bit of doming due to the outer edges of the cupcakes baking a bit faster. I think moving them to the front of the oven next time should alleviate this. They baked up perfectly in just under 18 minutes this time, on rack 3.