Easy Chocolate Pudding Cupcakes are crazy easy to make, chocolate to the max, and the frosting will make you weak in the knees!
You guys, this recipe is the bee’s knees! I first had these cupcakes years ago when I work for Verizon. My super awesome, super funny supervisor Amy brought in these chocolate cupcakes and OMG they were SO good! I thought they were just going to be regular old chocolate cupcakes, but boy was I wrong. These cupcakes are Amy-zing! (You see what I did there?!)
I like to top these cupcakes with Amy’s labor frosting or a chocolate cream cheese frosting. What’s labor frosting you ask? It’s frosting so good it’ll make you go into labor. It’s wicked easy to make too. I have yet to meet anyone that doesn’t absolutely love these cupcakes. And if they don’t they’re weird and you don’t need to be friends with them anyway.
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These cupcakes are delicious made in a standard muffin tin or as minis. While I generally take a semi-homemade approach to these cupcakes, you could absolutely start with your favorite from scratch chocolate cake batter instead of a box mix. Totally up to you. The recipe below has both options, same with standard and mini size cupcakes. I’m all about choices people. AND for all those that can’t get enough chocolate in their lives, this month we’re whipping up the best chocolate desserts around to satisfy your cravings!
- Raspberry Chocolate Tart
- Chocolate Pound Cake
- Chocolate Mousse Truffle Shots
- Chocolate Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes
- Easy Ritz Cracker Toffee
- Easy Chocolate Pudding Cupcakes
- Red Velvet Bundt Cakes with Kahlua Ganache
- No Bake Chocolate Dessert Lasagna
- Chocolate Caramel Cheesecake Bites
- Flourless Black Bean Brownies
- Chocolate Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries
- Chocolate Nutella Fudge
- Triple Chocolate Cupcakes
- Best Chocolate Fudge Recipe Ever
Hungry for More?
Easy Chocolate Pudding Cupcakes
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- 1 ⅓ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 3.9 ounces instant chocolate pudding mix 1 package
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup milk
- 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
Labor Frosting
- 1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups chocolate-hazelnut spread I LOVE Reese's spread for this!
- 3 cups Cool Whip whipped topping 1 tub
Instructions
Cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two muffin tins with cupcake liners.
- In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pudding mix until combined.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter and sugar for 1-2 minutes or until pale and evenly combined. Add the eggs and vanilla, mix until smooth.
- Add half of the cocoa mixture to the butter mixture and mix. Pour in the milk and mix until incorporated. Add the other half of the cocoa mixture and beat until combined and smooth, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the chocolate chips to the batter and mix by hand until incorporated.
- Fill each cup about 2/3 full with batter. (I like to use a cookie scoop to portion the batter.)
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Carefully remove cupcakes from the oven. Let cool in the muffin tin for about 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Labor Frosting
- In a medium mixing bowl, beat together butter, vanilla, and chocolate-hazelnut spread.
- Sift in the powdered sugar. Mix until combined and smooth. Then fold in the whipped topping.
- Top the cupcakes with sprinkles if desired. Serve immediately or store in the refrigerator in an air tight container.
- Transfer the frosting to a piping bag and frost the cooled cupcakes.
Notes
Nutrition
All nutritional information is based on third party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe and nutritional value will vary depending on the brands you use, measuring methods and portion sizes per household.
Deb @ Cooking on the Front Burner says
These look fantastic Julie!
Julie says
Thank you Deb! We’re pretty fond of them. 😉
Elizabeth says
These chocolate cupcakes look decadent and very heavenly. Thanks for sharing the recipe, Julie! Can’t wait to whip it at home. 🙂
Riley Marcus says
Since I like my cupcakes a bit bitter, I added a bit more cocoa than recommended. The cupcakes came out perfectly!
Chelsea says
Hi! I was going to use the devil food box mix. Do I use 1 or 2 boxes for 24 cupcakes and do I omit the milk?
Thanks! Can’t wait to try, making them for a kid’s birthday party. 🙂
Julie says
Hi Chelsea! You’ll want to use 1 box of cake mix and follow the “recipe notes” directions. Milk should be omitted along with some of the other cupcake ingredients.
I also update the recipe card since everything got smushed together when I changed things over, so it should all be easier to read now.
Craig Allen says
Julie – These are awesome, and my daughter and I love making them, but our icing is very runny, any suggestions? Thanks in adavnce for your help!
Julie Espy says
Hi Craig! First, let’s make sure the butter isn’t melted, room temperature is best. Also, different nut/chocolate spreads can have different consistencies – which is so not helpful. 😉 My go to if the icing isn’t thick enough is to mix in some more powdered sugar until it’s the right consistency (about 1/2 cup or so at a time). During the super hot summer months here all my frostings tend to be more liquidy and adding the extra sugar helps bring things back together. I hope this helps!
Shannon says
You’re directions call for salt in the dry ingredients mixture but you ingredient list and measurements doesn’t include salt… if salt is to be included what is the measurement? Thanks!!!
Julie Espy says
Sorry about that Shannon! Thank you for letting me know. It’s 1/4 teaspoon salt. I’ve updated the recipe card to reflect this. 🙂
Mrs perry says
Anyway to make a small batch recipe of this? I’m not good at spotting the measurements myself. I guess this makes 24 cupcakes? I would like to only make 12.
Julie Espy says
Hi Mrs. Perry. You can divide the recipe measurements in half if you’d like 12 cupcakes. This recipe does make 24 as listed in the recipe card. 🙂 If you don’t want to do the math in your head, hover your mouse on the “24” part of the servings and a bar will pop up that lets you drag the pointer down until the serving is at 12 and the amounts will auto adjust for you. Hope this helps!
Maggie says
Delicious!! Guests loved them
Trine says
My butter is definitely room temp but with just 3 Tablespoons of butter to 1 1/2 cups sugar, it’s not getting fluffy. What am I doing wrong?
Julie Espy says
Hi Trine. I don’t think you’re doing anything wrong. The butter and sugar should be evenly combined and pale. If you have that, you’re on the right track. Sorry for any confusion!
Megan Moyer says
When I mixed it all together it is more of a brownie consistancy and not cake ?
Julie Espy says
That’s correct. The pudding in the batter makes it tighter and not as loose as a standard cake batter. You’re doing it right. 🙂
It's me says
Can this be made in to a 13×9
Julie Espy says
You can! Grease and flour your baking pan and then pour in all the cake batter. Bake for 20-25 minutes, but start checking the cake doneness around the 15-minute mark. The edges should pull away from the pan a bit and a toothpick inserted in the center will come out clean. Cool completely and then frost the cake. 🙂
Janet says
We have a nut allergy in my house so is there anything I can substitute for the icing? Or would omitting it be just fine?
Julie Espy says
Hi Janet. You could try swapping out for canned chocolate frosting, but it won’t be the same. If you try this, I’d love to know how it goes. I haven’t experimented with it myself.
Option B is to swap out for chocolate buttercream frosting or cream cheese frosting. Both would be delicious for this cupcake.
Victoria says
I just made these this morning, and they’re okay… but I wouldn’t give the recipe 5 stars. Going purely on taste, texture. I wish it would have been said in the intro or somewhere that they would be more like a brownie consistency, I was hoping for extra moist but with still some fluff factor.
Danielle says
Can you freeze these cupcakes?
Thanks 🙂