Chocolate Cupcakes Without a Mixer
This simple recipe for Chocolate Cupcakes without a mixer is an easy one bowl chocolate cupcakes recipe! These moist and fudgy chocolate cupcakes are finished with chocolate ganache frosting and a rainbow sprinkles for a simple dessert that's perfect for any celebration.
If you’re looking for more cupcake recipes, be sure to check out some of my other favorites like Simple Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes, Brown Sugar Carrot Cupcakes With Cream Cheese Frosting or Simple Vanilla Cupcakes.
A Quick Look At The Recipe
- Recipe Name: Chocolate Cupcakes Without a Mixer
- Ready In: 2 hours 35 minutes
- Makes: 12 cupcakes
- Main Ingredients: extra virgin olive oil, cane sugar, Dutch cocoa, dark chocolate
- Flavor Profile: rich chocolate in every bite
- Dietary Info: no seed oils
- Difficulty: Easy!
- Why You’ll Love It: rich and fudgy easy chocolate cupcakes, no mixer needed!
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Easy: No mixer, minimal dishes, maximum flavor! This perfect chocolate cupcake recipe is quick and easy!
- Chocolate Cupcakes No Mixer Needed: Want chocolate cupcakes, but don’t want the hassle of getting out the stand mixer, cleaning it, or even using a hand mixer? These chocolate cupcakes without a mixer just require two mixing bowls, a whisk, and a spatula! That’s it!
- Moist & Fluffy: These moist chocolate cupcakes are made with olive oil, which makes these cupcakes incredibly moist and fluffy. I prefer using oil in cakes over butter most of the time as I find it makes a moister cake. I use olive oil in this recipe, but you could also use avocado oil, canola oil, or sunflower oil.
- Rich & Chocolatey: I top these Chocolate Cupcakes with a rich and decadent chocolate ganache frosting. I love this frosting recipe opposed to chocolate buttercream frosting as it is rich and chocolatey but with just two ingredients. Making a ganache frosting makes it quick, easy, and mess-free (no clouds of powdered sugar moving through your kitchen!) and no mixer needed.
- Flexible: You can top these with any kind of toppings you like, sprinkles, strawberries, nuts, caramel sauce. These are the best chocolate cupcakes to add your favorite toppings to!
I love quick and easy recipes that deliver maximum flavor, and this recipe checks all the boxes. These olive oil chocolate cupcakes come together in one bowl, no mixer needed! Quick to make and easy to clean up! Plus, they are moist, rich and fudgy!
If you are looking for more quick and easy chocolate desserts, you'll probably love Strawberry Chocolate Bars, Chocolate Covered Raisin Clusters, Big Chocolate Cookie, Sourdough Chocolate Chip Brownies, or Bone Broth Chocolate Milkshake.
Ingredients
- EVOO: I use organic extra virgin olive oil in this recipe for a healthier chocolate cupcake. You can also use canola oil if you prefer or want a more true chocolate flavor without the hearty flavor of olive oil.
- Heavy Whipping Cream: I use organic heavy whipping cream in the cake for extra moisture as well as in the ganache frosting.
- Cake Flour: I use Homemade Organic Cake Flour for a light and tender crumb.
- Cocoa Powder: I use organic Dutch cocoa powder for a rich chocolate flavor.
- Baking Powder: Make sure to use baking powder. If you want more info on leavenings and which ones to use when, read my post the Difference Between Baking Soda and Baking Powder.
- Dark Chocolate: I use dark chocolate for the Homemade Chocolate Ganache frosting. You can use chocolate chips (as long as they do not have stabilizers) or a chopped up chocolate bar, either works.
*For a full list of ingredients and measurements, visit the recipe card below.
Baker's Tips
- Always weigh ingredients for the best results.
- If you want to use a stand mixer or hand mixer for these, you totally can!
- Feel free to use another kind of oil if you prefer. Canola oil will give you the most neutral flavor, but I love using olive oil to avoid seed oils.
- You can whip up the chocolate ganache frosting with a hand mixer if you want it extra fluffy.
- Make sure to store these olive oil chocolate cupcakes in the fridge because of the chocolate ganache frosting.
How to Make Chocolate Cupcakes Without a Mixer
- To make the frosting: In a heatproof bowl, add the chocolate and cream.
- Using a double boiler, melt, while stirring, until combined. Remove from heat. Alternatively, you can microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring between each one to prevent burning, until the chocolate and cream are completely combined. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it set for 2 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 2 cupcake pans with liners. To make the batter: In a large bowl, add the olive oil, heavy whipping cream, eggs, cane sugar, and vanilla extract.
- Whisk to combine completely.
- Next add the cake flour, cocoa, baking powder, and fine sea salt in that order.
- Fold together with a spatula until you have a smooth chocolate batter.
- Fill cupcake liners three-quarters full.
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool completely in the pans.
- Stir up the frosting with a spatula to mix it up. Using a butter knife, add frosting on top of each cupcake. Top with desired toppings.
Topping Ideas
- Rainbow Sprinkles
- Chocolate Sprinkles
- Strawberries, blueberries, blackberries or raspberries
- Chocolate Chips
- Chopped Nuts (peanuts, pecans, cashews, almonds, or walnuts)
- Homemade True Caramel Sauce
- Brown Butter Butterscotch Sauce
- Homemade Caramel Sauce with Bone Broth
Chocolate Cupcakes Without a Mixer FAQ's
Absolutely! If you want the ease of using your stand mixer or hand mixer, you can make this recipe with either one.
I use extra virgin olive oil in place of butter as it makes the batter incredibly easy to mix up without a mixer. Oil based cakes are much more forgiving as you can easily whisk together ingredients without worry of butter clumping if you don't have a mixer. I use olive oil as I love the flavor, but canola oil, sunflower oil or even avocado oil works too.
Yes, if you don't have olive oil or don't want to use it, you can use avocado oil, canola oil, vegetable oil, or sunflower oil. I haven't tested this with coconut oil, it may work, but you would need to melt it if you're going to try that.
If you don’t have a whisk, just use a fork to mix up the oil, cream, and eggs. Use the fork for break the yolks and just scramble it like you would scrambled eggs until it’s combined. Then you can use a spatula for the rest!
You can, but you won't get the best texture. Cake flour makes these cupcakes incredibly tender and light, all purpose flour can make them more dense and dry out easier.
Over baking will make your cupcakes dry. This can also happen if you measured using cups (not by weight) as this is not as accurate, so you most likely measured the cake flour incorrectly.
If your chocolate ganache is too runny, then it hasn't set up long enough. You can pop it in the fridge to speed up the setting process. Just don't leave it in the fridge too long as it will become very firm and it will be much stiffer, versus silky smooth. If it's too firm, you left it in the fridge too long. You can whip it up with a whisk or hand mixer to fluff it up for a creamier, silky texture if this is the case.
Yes! You can use Caramel Buttercream Frosting, Vanilla Bean Buttercream Frosting, Honey Buttercream Frosting or even Strawberry Buttercream with Fresh or Freeze Dried Strawberries.
Yes, you can make these ahead of time. If you want to just make the frosting and batter ahead of time, they can both stay in the fridge (covered) overnight. Then you can bake off cupcakes and frost the following day. If you make the cupcakes ahead of time, be sure to store them in an airtight container in the fridge.
Because chocolate ganache has cream in it, the cupcakes need to be stored in the fridge. These should be stored in an airtight container in the fridge to help keep them moist. They’ll last for about 3 days.
More Chocolate Cake Recipes
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Chocolate Cupcakes Without a Mixer
Equipment
- Digital Food Scale
- Heatproof Mixing Bowl
- Whisk
- Spatula
- Cupcake Pans
Ingredients
Frosting
- 226 grams dark chocolate chips
- 226 grams heavy whipping cream
Batter
- ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ¾ cup heavy whipping cream
- 3 large eggs
- 326 grams cane sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 308 grams cake flour
- 75 grams Dutch cocoa powder (sifted)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
Toppings
- Natural rainbow sprinkles
- Natural chocolate sprinkles
- Fresh strawberries
Instructions
- To make the frosting: In a heatproof bowl, add the chocolate and cream. Using a double boiler, melt, while stirring, until combined. Remove from heat. Alternatively, you can microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring between each one to prevent burning, until the chocolate and cream are completely combined.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it set for 2 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 2 cupcake pans with liners.
- To make the batter: In a large bowl, add the olive oil, heavy whipping cream, eggs, cane sugar, and vanilla extract, and whisk to combine.
- Next add the dry ingredients: cake flour, cocoa, baking powder, and fine sea salt in that order. Fold together with a spatula until you have a smooth batter.
- Fill cupcake liners three-quarters full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool completely in the pans.
- Stir up the frosting with a spatula to mix it up. Using a butter knife, add frosting on top of each cupcake. Top with desired toppings.
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Notes
- Always weigh ingredients for the best results.
- If you want to use a stand mixer or hand mixer for these, you totally can!
- Feel free to use another kind of oil if you prefer. Canola oil will give you the most neutral flavor, but I love using olive oil to avoid seed oils.
- You can whip up the chocolate ganache frosting with a hand mixer if you want it extra fluffy.
- Make sure to store these olive oil chocolate cupcakes in the fridge because of the chocolate ganache frosting.
- High Altitude – Bake at 350°F for 18 to 23 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Nutrition
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Love chocolate and olive oil together!
Delicious cupcakes! Rich decadent chocolate that is enhanced with olive oil and not too sweet. Love the heathy alternative. Cupcakes held together unlike traditional crumbly cupcakes. Family hit! Rainbow sprinkles are a fun addition!