Moist, One Bowl Gluten-Free Chocolate Cupcakes
yields: 12 cupcakes
These extra moist gluten-free chocolate cupcakes are so easy, made in just one bowl! They have a light and fluffy crumb that is just like a regular cupcake - you'd never know they are gluten-free. With a rich chocolate crumb and smooth chocolate buttercream swirled on top, you will be amazed at the rich flavor. Bake it as a sheet cake, layer cake, or cupcakes!
Ingredients
Gluten-Free Chocolate Cupcakes
- Scant ⅓ cup milk, ⅓ cup minus ½ tablespoon (any kind, dairy or non-dairy works), or use ⅓ cup buttercream and skip the vinegar
- ½ tablespoon white vinegar
- 55 g (⅓ cup) sweet rice flour, also called mochiko; do not substitute white or brown rice flour
- 33 g (¼ cup + 1 tablespoon) gluten-free oat flour
- 28 g (3 tablespoons) millet flour
- 43 g (¼ cup + 2 tablespoons) unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa powder
- 168 g (¾ cup + 1 tablespoon) granulated sugar
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 large egg, room temperature (see vegan option below)
- 1½ tablespoons neutral vegetable oil, sunflower, safflower, or canola oil
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon chocolate extract, or ¼ teaspoon more vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup hot water
Chocolate Buttercream
- 1 cup (8 oz) unsalted butter, just about room temperature 60-70°F
- 3 cups (360 g) powdered sugar, sifted
- ½ cup (54 g) unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa powder, sifted
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon chocolate extract, or ½ teaspoon more vanilla extract
- 2-3 tablespoons milk or heavy cream, dairy or non-dairy
- Optional: Sprinkles
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a standard muffin tin with 11-12 liners.
- If not using buttermilk, combine the milk and vinegar in a small cup and let sit while you measure the flour, at least 5 minutes.
- In a large bowl, sift together the sweet rice flour, oat flour, millet flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk in the sugar.
- In the measuring cup, whisk the milk and vinegar mixture with the egg, oil, vanilla extract, and chocolate extract until smooth. Pour this mixture into the dry ingredients and stir lightly.
- Pour the hot water into the dry ingredients and mix until completely smooth, scraping up the sides and bottom to completely incorporate.
- Divide the batter evenly among the prepared cupcake liners, filling them just over halfway, or with about ¼ cup of batter using an ice cream scoop. See notes about the number of cupcakes.
- Bake for about 20-24 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of one comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs and the center bounces back when poked. In my experience, it's best to err on the side of an extra minute or two - this cake is very moist and won't over-bake very easily.
- Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer the cupcakes to a wire rack to cool complately.
- While the cupcakes cool, prepare the frosting. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter over medium speed.
- Sift together the powdered sugar, cocoa powder, and salt. With the mixer on low, slowly add ½ of the sugar and cocoa mixture, beating until incorporated. Add the vanilla and chocolate extracts and mix until smooth. Slowly mix in the remaining sugar and cocoa mixture. Add the milk or cream, starting with just 1 tablespoon and adding more as needed, until frosting is smooth and soft enough to be piped. It should be somewhat glossy, but still hold swirls.
- Transfer the frosting to a piping bag fitted with a ½-inch closed star pastry tip (I use Ateco 846 or 847) and pipe swirls onto the cupcakes.
Notes
Note on cupcake size
For years, I've make this recipe with homemade gluten-free oat flour (ground up gluten-free oats), baking it in 12 standard cupcake liners, filling them just above half full, which bakes up 12 perfectly-sized cupcakes that reach just the brim of the liner. I discovered that there is a small difference in cupcakes baked with store-bought gluten-free oat flour, where the cupcakes rose just ever so slightly less. If you're using store-bought oat flour, I recommend making 11 cupcakes. Additionally, I have about 5 different cupcake pans and have discovered that the size of my cupcakes is greatly affected by the pan I use. Some are just so slightly wider, which makes the cupcakes not as tall. If your cupcakes turn out on the small side, next time, divide the batter between just 10-11 muffins!Dairy-Free Gluten-Free Chocolate Cupcakes
These cupcakes are easy to make dairy-free. Use dairy-free milk, such as oat milk or almond milk for the batter. The results are identical to those with whole milk. For the chocolate buttercream, use a stick plant butter and dairy-free milk You'll need a bit less milk for the frosting, as plant butter tends to be a bit softer, so start with just ½ tablespoon, adding more as needed.Vegan Gluten-Free Chocolate Cupcakes
To make these cupcakes vegan, simply follow the dairy-free option above, using plant milk in the batter and plant butter in the frosting, and replace the egg with ¼ cup aquafaba (the liquid in a can of chickpeas). For vegan cupcakes, the recipe makes 10 cupcakes and requires 5-6 minutes longer baking time.Flour Substitution
- Millet Flour: You can sub in by weight: teff flour, brown or white rice flour, or Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 all-purpose gluten-free flour blend. Alternatively, sub in just 16g coconut flour: coconut flour is much more absorbent, so you need less flour than millet.
