These simple, butterless chocolate cupcakes are made with coconut oil and topped with a rich chocolate frosting.
Editor's Note: This recipe was originally published in 2019. It was updated in 2025 to include gram measurements and additional step by step photos.
Best chocolate cupcakes ever, meet the internet. Internet, meet the best chocolate cupcakes ever. (High praise for a butterless chocolate cupcake recipe? Yes. Well-deserved? Also yes).
We're working with coconut oil instead of butter today for a light, moist, and airy chocolate cupcake. But I promise you won't even miss the butter! These cupcakes are topped with a coconut oil version of our favorite chocolate fudge frosting.
Ingredients
Find a full ingredients list with exact quantities in the recipe card below.
Before you jump in, there are a few things we want to highlight:
- Coconut oil replaces butter for a mild, delicate flavor that still lets the chocolate shine through. You'll use melted coconut oil here!
- Use high quality cocoa (we love Ghirardelli and King Arthur Baking) and vanilla (Nielsen Massey vanilla extracts are an investment, but are hands down the best we've tried) if you can. We've tested hundreds of chocolate cakes: These ingredients consistently make the biggest flavor difference.
- Hot (nearly boiling!) water is added at the end of mixing to start the cooking process and "bloom" the cocoa, which enhances the chocolate flavor and keeps the cake moist. We heat our water in an electric kettle to keep things simple (you can also swap the water for hot coffee if you like).
Use a kitchen scale
For best results, use a kitchen scale and follow the gram measurements in the recipe card below. (No kitchen scale? Measure ingredients like flour with the scoop and level method for best results!)
PS - Don't need a full batch? Try our small batch chocolate cupcakes!
Step by step instructions
Make the batter
Whisk sugar, eggs, and melted coconut oil together in a large bowl. Add the flour, salt, and cocoa powder, and stir until the batter just starts to come together.
In a separate measuring cup, stir together milk, apple cider vinegar, and baking soda. The mixture will foam up as the soda and vinegar react, so work quickly here! Carefully whisk the milk mixture into the batter until it's smooth.
Pro tip: It helps to switch to a wire whisk part-way through adding the milk mixture in order to work out any lumps.
Finally, whisk your hot water into the batter. This important step helps "bloom" the cocoa for deeper, more complex flavor, and it also starts the cooking process to help the cupcakes cook evenly once they hit the oven.
Whisk vigorously to work out any lumps! You'll be left with a very thin, pourable batter (don't worry if it looks a lot thinner than you're used to!)
Bake
Use a measuring cup for easy pouring, and fill your cupcake liners about ⅔ of the way full. Bake in a preheated oven until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
Make the frosting
The chocolate frosting here is based on our favorite chocolate fudge frosting. It's made without butter (just a bit of melted coconut oil - like the cupcakes themselves!) and it solidifies a bit as it sits, which gives it a rich, fudge-like texture - almost like an ultra-thick chocolate ganache.
Switch up the frosting if you like! These cupcakes are great with chocolate or vanilla buttercream, cream cheese or peanut butter frosting, or a drizzle of chocolate ganache (and don't forget to check out cupcake decorating ideas article for plenty of inspo!)
FAQs
Yes - these cupcakes freeze SO well. You can see a full breakdown (complete with a video!) of how we store extra cake in our article on how to freeze cupcakes, but in a nutshell:
Let cupcakes cool COMPLETELY before you freeze them. Freeze cupcakes without frosting for best results.
If you're freezing for a long time, wrap the cupcakes tightly in plastic wrap to prevent freezer burn. (If you're freezing for just a few weeks, you can use a reusable option like a Stasher Bag instead of plastic! Unfortunately, we haven't found a great way to preserve frozen cupcakes over long periods without this extra layer of protection - but we're working on it as we continue to reduce our kitchen waste!)
Bring previously frozen cupcakes back to room temperature on the counter, then frost and enjoy!
Swap the coconut oil for melted butter - à la our go-to chocolate sheet cake - or a neutral oil (like vegetable oil or canola oil).
🎥 Step by step video
📖 Recipe
Coconut Oil Chocolate Cupcakes
- Prep Time: 30 min
- Cook Time: 20 min
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 16-20 cupcakes 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Description
These easy, butterless chocolate cupcakes are made with coconut oil and topped with a delicious chocolate frosting.
Ingredients
For the cupcakes:
- 113 grams liquid coconut oil (about ⅔ cup - see recipe notes)
- 400 grams sugar (2 cups)
- 2 eggs
- 2 grams kosher salt (½ teaspoon)
- 280 grams all purpose flour (about 2 ¼ cups when measured correctly by scooping and leveling)
- 65 grams cocoa powder (¾ cup)
- 28 grams apple cider vinegar (2 Tablespoons)
- 230 grams milk (1 cup)
- 8 grams baking soda (2 teaspoons)
- 8 grams vanilla extract (2 teaspoons)
- 230 grams very hot water (1 cup - see recipe notes)
For the frosting:
- 350 grams powdered sugar (3 ½ cups)
- 65 grams cocoa powder (¾ cup)
- 53 grams liquid coconut oil (½ cup - see recipe notes)
- pinch of kosher salt
- 75 grams very hot water (⅓ cup; you may not need it all)
Instructions
For the cupcakes:
- Heat the oven to 375° Fahrenheit.
- Line a standard muffin pan with cupcake liners.
- In a large bowl (or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk or paddle attachment), stir together liquid coconut oil, sugar, and eggs.
- Add salt, flour, and cocoa powder to egg mixture and stir until not quite combined. The batter should be very thick and even slightly crumbly here.
- In a separate bowl or measuring cup, stir together milk, baking soda, and apple cider vinegar. The mixture will start to foam and increase in volume as the baking soda reacts with the vinegar, so plan to work quickly here!
- Add the milk mixture to the batter a bit at a time, whisking frequently to work out any lumps.
- Add vanilla extract to batter and stir to combine.
- Add hot water to batter a little at a time, whisking frequently between each addition to work out any lumps. If you’re mixing the batter by hand, I recommend switching to a whisk here to help work the lumps out more easily. If you’re using a stand mixer, scrape down the sides of the bowl in between each hot water addition to make sure you work out all the lumps. Note: This batter is VERY thin - don’t worry if it looks a lot runnier than other cake recipes!
- Pour or scoop the cupcake batter into your liners, filling each liner about ⅔ of the way full.
- Bake at 375° F for 14-18 minutes, until a cake tester or toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
- Remove cooked cupcakes to a wire rack and let them cool completely before frosting, usually at least 30 minutes.
For the frosting:
- In a large bowl, mix liquid coconut oil, cocoa powder, and powdered sugar together with a pinch of salt. The coconut oil will clump up a bit and form a crumbly mixture - this is what we want!
- Add hot water to powdered sugar mixture a Tablespoon at a time, stirring well between each addition. The frosting will slowly start to come together, and will look almost like a thick pudding or fudge. You likely won't need all of the hot water here!
- When you’ve reached your desired frosting consistency, use the back of a spoon or a small knife to frost each cupcake. I like to place a dollop of frosting on the cupcake and then use the back of a spoon to swirl it in a circle (see photos in the post above!) This frosting will begin to seize up as the coconut oil cools, so plan to work quickly. If the frosting becomes too hard to spread easily, add an extra splash of hot water or zap it for five seconds in the microwave to bring it back to a spreadable consistency.
- Top cupcakes with sprinkles or serve as-is! Serve immediately or let the frosting cool on the counter for an hour or more - as it cools, the frosting becomes thicker and fudge-like.
- Store cupcakes in an airtight container on the counter for 3-4 days.
Notes
How to melt coconut oil into its liquid form: Coconut oil is generally solid at room temperature, but we want to melt it into a liquid form for this recipe in order to incorporate it more easily into our chocolate cupcake batter. (We've used virgin unrefined coconut oils from 365/Whole Foods, Nutiva, and Carrington Farms and like them all). To melt coconut oil, scoop about 1 cup of coconut oil (in its solid, room-temperature form) into a microwave-safe glass measuring cup, and then microwave for 30-40 seconds until it’s melted down. Give the coconut oil a stir and then check the measurement - you may need to add another spoonful of room temperature coconut oil to bring the liquid up to the correct amount. Melt too much oil? Pour any excess right back into the container. Equipment: We use this measuring cup in the post photos and this one in the video!
Why the hot water? Adding hot water to the batter ensures all ingredients are mixed evenly, helps any clumps release and lets sugar dissolve as much as possible before baking. I find it also enhances the flavor of the cocoa (sometimes called “blooming”). Hot water also helps any colder ingredients come down in temperature, and helps the cupcakes retain moisture as they bake. You can substitute hot coffee for the hot water if you like. Some recipes call for the hot water in a cake recipe to be boiling, but I’ve found that as long as it’s quite hot (175 degrees F or so) it’ll do the trick just fine, and it’s easier to just heat some water in my electric tea kettle than it is to boil a whole pot of water.
Substitutions: The coconut flavor in these cupcakes isn’t overwhelming, but it definitely isn't invisible. If you don’t like the taste of coconut, you can substitute vegetable oil, canola oil, or melted butter for the coconut oil in the cupcake batter. You can substitute melted butter for the coconut oil in the frosting if you prefer.
The chocolate fudge frosting in this recipe will start to seize up as the coconut oil cools, so work quickly to frost your cupcakes. The frosting will be quite thick and will resemble warm fudge - it won’t look or feel like the traditional buttercream or whipped frostings we’re often used to. If the frosting is too thin (this often happens when too much hot water is added) add extra powdered sugar or let it cool on the counter for a few minutes to thicken it up. If frosting is too thick, stir in an extra splash of hot water or zap it in the microwave in 5-second intervals to loosen it. I love that this frosting develops a rich, fudge-like texture as it cools (it’s one of my most-requested frostings from friends and family!) but you could also absolutely use a more traditional buttercream here if you prefer.
If you use silicone cupcake liners: When our testers used silicone cupcake liners (like these!) we found that we needed to extend the bake time by 2-3 minutes. If you’re using mini silicone liners, you can bake as directed.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cupcake
- Calories: 289
- Sugar: 28.5 g
- Sodium: 349.9 mg
- Fat: 15.5 g
- Carbohydrates: 38 g
- Protein: 3.2 g
- Cholesterol: 20.9 mg
Michael Balsam
I made the frosting and it was amazing. Came out great. Thank you!
Rhonda @ Life As A Strawberry
One of our favorite frostings - glad you loved it!