These bite-size chocolate Easter cupcakes with cream cheese frosting are adorable, festive and super tasty.
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The long awaited Easter weekend is finally here and Phil and I are lucky enough to have both the Friday and Monday off. Much as I wish I could say Friday was spent frolicking at the park with Jack, or any number of other “quality time” activities… our daycare was open on the Friday, and well…
Sometimes you need to do your taxes without tiny hands clawing at your keyboard, you know? And sometimes you want to have lunch at a restaurant, just you and another adult, and not stress about the fact that you forgot the bib, the sippy cup, and everything else that might keep your table from looking like a war zone.
Anyway, not that I’m feeling guilty or anything.
Moving on!
Cupcakes are a fun and portable option for bringing dessert to a large gathering, but I’ve recently come around to the idea of the mini cupcake. Since I’m usually not the only one bringing dessert, I feel like it makes sense to bring something that is small enough to be sampled so nobody has to make any tough decisions.
For our annual Easter family gathering, I’m bringing these chocolate Easter cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. They are adorable, bite-size little nests with a single chocolate egg on top. So cute and festive. When I want a white frosting, I almost always go with cream cheese. I love the tangy, not-too-sweetness of cream cheese frosting, and it is also pretty universally loved.
The chocolate cupcakes are my usual go-to recipe (see Valentine’s Day Chocolate Cupcakes). They are moist, sturdy and deeply chocolatey. Perfect, really. This is one of those few recipes from which I doubt I will ever be tempted to stray. I mean, I’ve had a lot of chocolate cupcakes in my life, and these are the tops. For real.
Chocolate Easter Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
Chocolate cupcakes
- 2 oz (57 grams) semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
- 1/3 cup (29 grams) dutch-processed cocoa powder
- 3/4 cup hot coffee
- 3/4 cup (117 grams) bread flour
- 3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon table salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 6 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1/2 cup (114 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 8 oz package cream cheese
- 4 cups confectioner's sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 36 chocolate mini eggs for decoration
Instructions
Chocolate Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, and fill a mini cupcake pan with 24 liners.
- Combine the chopped chocolate and cocoa powder in a large bowl. Pour in the hot coffee and let sit for a couple of minutes to melt the chocolate. Whisk until smooth. Cool completely in the refrigerator (about 20 minutes).
- While the chocolate mixture is cooling, combine the flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda in a medium bowl.
- Remove the chocolate mixture from the fridge and whisk in the oil, eggs, vinegar and vanilla. Whisk in the flour mixture.
Fill the cupcake liners about 3/4 full. Place in the preheated oven and bake for 15-19 minutes.
Cool the cupcakes in the pan for 10 minutes and remove to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining batter. Frost with cream cheese frosting and top with a chocolate mini egg, if desired.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- Beat the butter and cream cheese together until smooth, about 3 minutes.
- Add the confectioner's sugar, one cup at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in the vanilla extract and beat, scraping down the sides of the bowl, for another 3 minutes or so.
Recipe Notes
Chocolate cupcakes adapted from Cooks Illustrated
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