These Christmas Chocolate Cupcakes are an easy one-bowl dessert that will be ready to bake in just 20 minutes! They're incredibly moist and tender, full of chocolate flavor, and topped with a simple vanilla buttercream rosette. Finish with holly sprinkles for a festive design that's at the top of our Christmas cupcake ideas!
Looking for easy Christmas cupcake ideas? If you've been around for a while, you may have noticed that our favorite way to decorate desserts is with easy, party-worthy, anyone-can-do-this designs. These Christmas Chocolate Cupcakes are exactly that! They're the perfect thing to take to a Christmas party or dinner party this holiday season, even a classy one.
If you're looking for more inspiration, check out our other dessert recipes. For the best Christmas desserts, I highly recommend this Christmas Bundt Cake with its fabulous cinnamon-orange flavor and simple, elegant holly design. Or for a more casual option, try these soft, giant, outrageously delicious Crumbl Christmas Cookies copycat recipe!
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Why this recipe is great
- So EASY. The batter comes together super fast with basic pantry ingredients. The frosting design is also very simple to do, even for beginners.
- Use hand beaters or a stand mixer - whatever you have.
- They're delicious! Super moist, dark chocolate flavor, and creamy, not-too-sweet buttercream frosting on top.
- Elegant Christmas cupcakes design that makes it look like you spent hours decorating them... but you most definitely did not. Christmas trees, Santa hats, and candy canes were good Christmas cupcake ideas for awhile, but now Holly cupcakes are ready to shine 😉
Ingredients for Christmas chocolate cupcakes
A full list of ingredients for Christmas Chocolate Cupcakes is in the recipe card below, but here are a few noteworthy tips:
- Flour: For tender, fluffy cupcakes make sure to measure your flour correctly. Fluff it up with a fork before measuring, or use the spoon and level method. Don't pack it in.
- Espresso powder: Don't skip this! It adds extra depth of flavor and compliments the chocolate perfectly.
- Cocoa powder: We use regular unsweetened cocoa powder, but you can substitute with dark or dutch process too.
- Boiling water: This is the key to a really moist cupcake. Make sure the water is truly hot before pouring it in.
A full list of the ingredients for vanilla buttercream is in the recipe card below, but here are a few noteworthy tips:
- Butter: Make sure your butter is soft, but not too soft. Butter is perfectly soft when you can gently press it and it leaves the impression of your finger, but it doesn't smash. If your finger goes right through it the butter is too soft.
- Cream cheese: This ingredient is what makes this buttercream the best! It rounds out the flavor, cuts the sharp sugar taste, and keeps it ultra-creamy.
- Vanilla extract: This is where all the flavor comes from, so don't skip it. You can substitute with vanilla bean paste, but the flecks of vanilla will show up in the rosettes.
Helpful kitchen tools
How to make Christmas chocolate cupcakes
First, whisk together the dry ingredients in a large bowl or bowl of a stand or electric mixer.
Next, add the milk, oil, egg, vanilla into the flour mixture and combine on medium-low speed until well combined.
Carefully add the boiling water, then mix carefully until well combined. The batter will be smooth and very thin.
Fill your muffin cups with about 3 tablespoons of batter, or almost halfway full. You should get 18-19 cupcakes. Bake at 350°F for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Then cool on a wire rack.
To make the vanilla frosting, beat the butter and cream cheese on high for 5 minutes in a medium bowl. Add the powdered sugar, vanilla, and 1 tablespoon of cream. Beat for 5 more minutes. Add more cream if needed until the frosting is light and fluffy, but stiff enough to hold its shape.
To pipe the rosette, fit a large piping bag (affiliate) with a 1B tip (affiliate) or 1M tip (affiliate) and fill the bag with buttercream. Starting directly over the center of the cupcake, squeeze to form a star. Without releasing, move your hand in a circular motion, squeezing evenly until you reach the edge of the cupcake. Release pressure and pull away to form the end.
For a video of this technique, check out this Rosette Cupcake Tutorial starting at the 4:00 minute mark.
If the end of the rosette is ragged, use a toothpick to smooth it out slightly. Then use your hands or tweezers to carefully apply your holly sprinkles (affiliate) or other Christmas sprinkles (affiliate) on the end of the rosette. Cutest Christmas cupcakes ever, right?
More Christmas cupcake ideas
As with all Christmas cupcake ideas, there are plenty of ways to customize your end result. Try some of these ideas:
- Add a sprinkle of sanding sugar or sparkling sugar for extra sparkle.
- Make some holly cupcakes, and others with a Christmas sprinkles mix for variety.
- Use a colored foil-liner. Gold and silver are more elegant, while red or green will feel more casual.
- Dye the buttercream frosting to add another pop of color. This will take away the elegant effect, but would still make for really fun Christmas cupcake ideas.
For a crowd
You can definitely double or triple this Christmas cupcake recipe to serve large groups. I suggest baking no more than 2 muffin pans at a time. Also, this would be the perfect time to make the cupcakes ahead and refrigerate or freeze them, then just decorate. See my make ahead tips below.
FAQs
My favorite frosting to decorate these Christmas Chocolate Cupcakes is a simple vanilla buttercream. It's easy to make, uses standard ingredients, and has a great consistency for piping. We add a bit of cream cheese to our buttercream to deepen the flavor and cut the sweetness a bit.
You can bake these cupcakes, cool completely on a cooling rack, then store unfrosted in an airtight container in the fridge for 1-2 days before serving. If storing longer than 2 days, freeze the cupcakes for up to 3 months (the freezer keeps cupcakes really moist!). Make sure to thaw them completely before frosting and adding sprinkles.
I don't recommend frosting and adding sprinkles in advance, because the sprinkles may bleed into the frosting. Not a great thing!
I always recommend frosting and decorating cupcakes with fresh buttercream before serving, because that is when it will have the best texture. Plus, it is usually difficult to freeze them in such a way that the frosting won't be squished or dented, and the sprinkles may bleed into the frosting when defrosting.
That being said, you can freeze leftover decorated cupcakes for 2-3 months if needed. Thaw them at room temperature before eating. Just know that they may not be elegant Christmas cupcakes anymore 😉
Tips and tricks
- Use foil-lined, wax-lined, or all foil liners to avoid grease stains. Paper liners just don't hold up. We used the generic Walmart brand in these photos, but these cupcake liners (affiliate) would also work great.
- Don't overfill the liners, or the cupcakes will have rounded tops that are much harder to decorate. For flat cupcake tops, fill the liners with about 3 tablespoons of batter.
- Practice piping the rosettes on wax paper first. Simply pipe the rose, then scrape up the buttercream and reuse it.
- Add the sprinkles quickly, before the buttercream dries on the edge. I suggest frosting a few at a time, adding sprinkles, then moving on to the next few.
- Keep the buttercream cool. If it starts to lose its shape, it is probably too warm. Pop the icing bag into the fridge for several minutes until it is cool (but not cold), then keep frosting.
Materials you need
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Recipe
Easy Christmas Chocolate Cupcakes (w/ Holly Sprinkles)
Equipment
- Silver cupcake liners
- 1B or 1M piping tip
- Large piping bag
Ingredients
Chocolate Cupcakes
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon espresso powder or 1 teaspoon instant coffee
- ½ cup milk
- ¼ cup canola oil
- 1 egg
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- ½ cup boiling water
Vanilla Frosting
- ¾ cup (or 12 tbsp) butter softened
- 2 oz cream cheese softened
- 3.5 cups powdered sugar sifted
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 1-2 tablespoon heavy cream or more as needed
Other
- Holly and berry sprinkles (affiliate) These are often sold at arts & crafts stores
- Varied Christmas sprinkles set (affiliate) This is a similar set to what we used
Instructions
Chocolate Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line two cupcake pans with liners (you will need 18-19 total). Spray lightly with baking spray.
- In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and espresso powder.1 cup all-purpose flour, 1 cup granulated sugar, ½ cup cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, ½ teaspoon espresso powder
- Add the milk, oil, egg, and vanilla. Mix with hand beaters or the stand mixer on medium-low until well combined.½ cup milk, ¼ cup canola oil, 1 egg, ½ teaspoon vanilla
- Add the boiling water to the batter (I use the microwave to heat mine until boiling). Mix carefully until well combined. The batter should be smooth and thin.½ cup boiling water
- Divide the batter into the prepared muffin tins, about 3 tablespoons of batter in each liner. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean.
- Allow the cupcakes to cool in the tin for 10-15 minutes. Then remove and finish cooling on a wire rack.
Frosting
- In a large bowl with hand beaters or in a stand mixer, beat the butter and cream cheese on high for 5 minutes, scraping occasionally.¾ cup (or 12 tbsp) butter, 2 oz cream cheese
- Reduce the speed to low and add the powdered sugar, vanilla, and 1 tbsp of cream. Beat on medium-high for 5 minutes, scraping occasionally.3.5 cups powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon vanilla, 1-2 tablespoon heavy cream
- Check the texture. You are looking for light, fluffy buttercream that can still hold it's shape. Add additional cream half a tablespoon at a time to loosen the frosting if needed. If it's too thin, add additional powdered sugar to thicken.1-2 tablespoon heavy cream
- Reduce the speed to low for 1-2 minutes or stir gently with a rubber spatula, pressing the frosting along the sides of the bowl to remove large air bubbles.
Decorate
- Once the cupcakes are cool, place the vanilla buttercream in a large piping bag fitted with a 1M or 1B piping tip.
- To pipe a rosette, hold your piping bag straight above the center of the cupcake, barely off the surface. Squeeze with even, medium pressure to form a star in the middle. Without releasing, move your hand in a circular motion to start forming the rosette. Continue with even pressure all the way to the edge of the cupcake. Release the pressure and pull away to finish the rosette. Note: See the post for a how-to video link.
- If the end of the rosette is ragged, use a toothpick to smooth it out slightly. Then use your hands or tweezers to carefully apply your sprinkles of choice on the end of the rosette.Holly and berry sprinkles, Varied Christmas sprinkles set
Notes
- Use foil-lined, wax-lined, or all foil liners to avoid grease stains. Paper liners just don't hold up. We used the generic Walmart brand in these photos, but these cupcake liners (affiliate) would also work great.
- Don't overfill the liners, or the cupcakes will have rounded tops that are much harder to decorate. For flat cupcake tops, fill the liners with about 3 tablespoons of batter.
- Practice piping the rosettes on wax paper first. Simply pipe the rose, then scrape up the buttercream and reuse it.
- Add the sprinkles quickly, before the buttercream hardens on the edge. I suggest frosting a few at a time, adding sprinkles, then moving on to the next few.
- Keep the buttercream cool. If it starts to lose its shape, it is probably too warm. Pop the icing bag into the fridge for several minutes until it is cool (but not cold), then keep frosting.
Add Your Own Notes
Nutrition
All nutrition information is provided by a third party and is an estimate only. Use your own nutritional calculator for more specific measurements.
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