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Salted caramel chocolate cupcakes-your favorite coffeehouse drink in cupcake form!
I’m SO EXCITED to share with you all this cupcake recipe. I truly believe this is the best cupcake I’ve ever made. The buttercream tastes exactly like the first sip of the salted caramel mocha drink you get at Starbucks (well, sans caffeine).
It’s my favorite holiday/seasonal drink and now it’s in cupcake form – brilliant!
I brought this cupcake to so many people. I brought it in for my coworkers and I brought it to happy hour with my friends. Upon my arrival with the cupcake box to the bar, the bartender asked me, “oh, are those cupcakes from the cupcake place in the shopping center?” You have no idea how awesome it felt to tell her, “nope, I made them!” with a big, cheesy grin :) I love that my frosting skills have improved so much. I remember my first few trials with frosting. Oh man, those were the days!
These will probably be the moistest cupcakes you will EVER EVER have. Seriously. Also, in the process of buttercream recipe testing, I ate so much buttercream that my hips are cursing me and my jeans aren’t happy!
Alright, so, if you aren’t in the mood to get up to go to Starbucks, whip up a batch of these and you won’t even miss that green lady in your hand :)
Salted Caramel Chocolate Cupcakes
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 box devil’s food cake mix
- 1 package of Jello instant chocolate pudding
- 1 cup (230 g) sour cream
- 1 cup (237 ml) vegetable oil
- 4 eggs, beaten
- ½ cup (118 ml) milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 ½ cup (270 g) mini chocolate chips
For the salted caramel buttercream
- 15-20 caramel candies, unwrapped
- 3-4 tablespoons heavy cream
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt, divided
- 16 tablespoons (224 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 4 cups (480 g) powdered sugar, divided
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 °F (177 °C) and line muffin tins with baking cups.
- In a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl, mix together cake mix, instant pudding, sour cream, vegetable oil, eggs, milk, and vanilla. Mix very well. Gently stir in the chocolate chips with a spatula.1 box devil’s food cake mix, 1 package of Jello instant chocolate pudding, 1 cup (230 g) sour cream, 1 cup (237 ml) vegetable oil, 4 eggs, 1/2 cup (118 ml) milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1 1/2 cup (270 g) mini chocolate chips
- Equally divide the batter into the baking cups, filling 2/3 of the way full. Bake for 18-22 minutes, let cool for 5 minutes in pan, then remove and place them on wire cooling racks to cool completely.
- In the meantime, make your buttercream by first melting the caramel candies and heavy cream in a small saucepan over medium heat. Once the caramel is all melted, stir in 1/2 tsp. of salt.15-20 caramel candies, 3-4 tablespoons heavy cream, 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter until light and fluffy. Add in the remaining 1 tsp. of salt.16 tablespoons (224 g) unsalted butter
- Gently add half of the powdered sugar to the butter and beat until light and fluffy. Then drizzle in the caramel while the mixer is on low. If the caramel has hardened up a bit that you can’t pour it, heat it up just enough so you can pour it into the mixer with ease.2 cups (240 g) powdered sugar
- Add the remaining powdered sugar and beat until well combined.2 cups (240 g) powdered sugar
- Put the frosting in a piping bag fitted with a pastry tip of your choice.
- Pipe the frosting on top of the cooled cupcakes.
- Store cupcakes in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
Just made these for my husband to take to work. Did you double the frosting recipe in order to get that much on each cupcake? It didn’t see to want to stretch that far (nor did it want to pipe as neatly as yours). I’m not thrilled with the way mine look but they taste delicious!
Hi Tracy! I’m so glad you enjoyed these, they’re one of my favorite cupcakes, ever! No, I didn’t double the frosting, I just used what I had and frosted about 6-7 of them with the mile-high frosting you see, and then the rest, I just spread on with a butter knife :)
Thanks for replying. Your frosting is good enough to eat with a spoon! I wonder if you’d consider making a note in the printable recipe about the frosting. Since step 9 says to pipe the frosting on, I assumed you had done so on all of them. Might save other cupcake bakers a little frustration if they know in advance that the recipe does not make enough to pipe that much on all of them.
Can’t wait to hear what my husband’s co-workers think. They got good reviews from my random taste testers! :)
Thanks for the tip! I’ll go add in a note :)
Thanks! I should have also told you that my teenage son LOVED the cupcake (without the frosting) and thinks it would be a good cake for hot fudge cake (with vanilla ice cream & hot fudge sauce). We’re trying it tonight!
This frosting is delicious, I made it once before, and now I have a friend requesting it on cupcakes for a birthday party. My question is can this frosting be made two days in advance? If so, what is the best way to store it?
You could probably make it and store it in the fridge in an airtight container. Then, before frosting, take it out and let it sit to room temperature.
Hi! These are delicious! I had a hard time with the frosting though. Definitely not able to pipe it. It was very thick and stiff. I could pick up the frosting and smoosh it like a pancake then lay it on top the cakes ha! Ideas of what I did wrong? Too much caramel? Too much/not enough powdered sugar? Over mixing, not enough mixing? Caramel too hot??? I want to take these to a party, but would like them to look better this time. Thanks!
I think it’s too much powdered sugar. If that happens, you could add a tbsp. of milk at a time until you get it to the consistency you want.
happily pinning your yummies – thank you for sharing and making me drool! ♥
http://pinterest.com/pin/56787645273542560/
Thank you, friend!! :)
What kind of mini choc. chips did you use? Semisweet?
Semisweet.
Found your blog from Katelyn James’ website!! This recipe looks incredible!! Do you recommend any particular brand for the caramel candies?
No brand, just really any caramel candies you can find. I’ve used Milk Maid and Kraft brands before, though, if that helps you at the store! :) thanks for popping by!
Just made these for my families Christmas Eve party! They’re amazing. I’m sure everyone will devour them in a matter of minutes LOL.
Going to try this! By the way, what size box of pudding? There are the tiny boxes and med size boxes…
It’s the 3.4 oz size.
I followed the recipe exactly – they were yummy and the frosting is definitely caramel with a wonderful salt flavor.
I just made these & they are amazing. Cake is moist. Frosting is perfect. Thanks for this great recipe!