These easy chocolate caramel cupcakes are made with dark chocolate cocoa, coffee and sweet caramels. The combination of chocolate and caramel flavors will delight your family and friends!
Chocolate Caramel Cupcakes
Okay so let’s just get this out there right now… chocolate and caramel… It’s what’s in every amazing dessert or candy. You can’t go wrong with creating a dessert made with these flavors. And yes, today was the day for me to use up some caramels I had leftover. And what better way to use them than in chocolate caramel cupcakes? If you don’t have caramels around the house, then here is a very easy homemade caramel sauce recipe you can make from scratch and store for these or other desserts!
These chocolate caramel cupcakes are super easy to make. My chocolate cupcake recipe has been modified so many times, I’ve lost track. But every time I play with the recipe, I discover some new trick or delightful flavor to add in. I wondered what would happen if I substituted some regular sugar for brown sugar, and then I added a caramel into the chocolate cupcake batter. Well, pure Heaven happened, that’s what! You know you’re a cupcake nerd when you jump up and down as you are biting into cupcakes you just frosted. Yeah, I know… silly. But it’s the small things in life.
And yes, this is a homemade chocolate cupcake recipe. I know you may be tempted to go to the store and just buy a box of chocolate cake batter to make your cupcakes, but whoa whoa… This chocolate cupcake recipe is soooo easy and you probably have a bunch of the ingredients already. And if you don’t, then, for shame 😉 I keep these ingredients handy because well, chocolate cupcakes are a standard. You can bake them for birthdays, baby showers, holiday treats, parties of any sort. And truthfully, I would rather bake up my own chocolate cupcakes and know what’s in them. When you bake from scratch, you get to use fresh and organic ingredients, AND you get to upgrade to the finer chocolates. It really does make a difference. If you don’t believe me, bake these once and compare them to the boxed stuff.
Oh, look at that caramel dripping down the butter cream frosting. And yes, those are roasted chopped butter pecans mixed in and garnishing the cupcake! THAT frosting on top of the caramel stuffed chocolate cupcake is why I was jumping up and down after taking a bite. Yep, that good!
Here’s the recipe for the chocolate caramel cupcakes with caramel butter pecan frosting:
| Prep Time | 20 minutes |
| Cook Time | 15 minutes |
| Servings |
cupcakes
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- 1 1/2 cups Sugar
- 1/2 cup Brown Sugar
- 2 cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1/2 cup Trader Joes Unsweetened Chocolate Cocoa Or use Hershey's Unsweetened Cocoa
- 1/4 cup Hersheys Dark Chocolate Cocoa Powder
- 1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
- 1 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
- 1 tsp Salt
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 2 Eggs
- 1/2 cup Milk
- 1/4 cup Vegetable Oil
- 1/2 cup Hot Coffee
- 24 Caramels to insert into cupcakes
- 1 cup Butter for frosting We use Kerrygold Salted Butter
- 4 cups Confectioners' sugar for frosting
- 8 Caramels To melt for frosting
- 1-2 Tbsp Milk or Water for frosting
Ingredients
Chocolate Caramel Cupcakes
Caramel Frosting
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- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cupcake pan with cupcake liners. Spray with non-stick spray.
- Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Stir slowly to combine.
- To the dry ingredients, add 2 eggs, 1/2 cup milk, 1/4 cup vegetable oil, 2 tsp vanilla, and mix well, scraping down the sides of the bowl. Add the 1/2 cup hot coffee (being careful not to splash!) Combine with a mixer or a whisk. Once combined, use an ice cream scooper to scoop batter into each cupcake liner. Fill only 3/4 full.
- Place a caramel into the center of the batter of each cupcake. The caramel will melt into the batter as the cupcakes bake.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes, checking with a toothpick or sharp knife (if it comes out clean, then the cupcakes are done). Remove from oven and allow to cool before frosting.
- To make the buttercream frosting, beat the cup of butter for two minutes until softened and lighter in color. Slowly add the 4 cups of confectioner's sugar. Melt the 8 caramels in a small sauce pan and add about 1 tbsp milk and mix until creamy. (You can also use prepared caramel sauce). Add only half of the caramel sauce to the buttercream (save the other half to decorate the top of the cupcakes). Mix on medium speed until blended. Add more powdered sugar to reach desired consistency.
- For the pecan topping, melt 2 Tbsp butter in a sauce pan. Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper. Mix the pecans with the melted butter in a bowl. Then spread the pecan out on the parchment paper. Bake at 350 degrees until just warmed. Watch the pecans every two minutes. Once heated, remove from oven and allow to cool. Chop the pecans in a food processor.
- Save about 2 tbsp of the chopped pecans (for topping) and add the rest to the buttercream frosting. Blend them in with the mixer for just a few seconds, until combined.
- Load a piping bag or fill a ziplock bag with the caramel buttercream frosting. Cut the tip of the bag. Pipe frosting onto each cupcake. Garnish with caramel sauce and then sprinkle the rest of the chopped pecans on top. Enjoy!
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