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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.
I have made this recipe many times and it comes out perfect every time! I did increase the icing a bit but that is because we love the icing! There is enough in this recipe if you don’t like mega icing! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe with us! They are a hit every time!
I don’t make these often enough – I need to! :)
Thank you so much for this recipe! I used the frosting for an apple spice cake and it became a family favorite for Thanksgiving :).
Oh yay! So happy to hear these were a success on Thanksgiving!
I love these cupcakes sooooooooo much! I love the Salted Caramel Icing! By far my favorite cupcake ever!!!!
What size Devil Foods Cake Mix did you use? They used to be 18.25oz now, they come in either 15 or 16 oz boxes. Thanks! Looks delicious!
I don’t remember what size mine was but you’re fine to use those smaller boxes!
Would it change the frosting taste or texture if i put dye in the frosting?
No, it shouldn’t change anything.
How long should I bake them for mini cupcakes? They sound awesome.
I’m not sure – I’ve never done it that way. I’d imagine to just watch it and once it looks done to you, put a toothpick into it and see if it comes out clean. Start with maybe 8-10 minutes?
I had plenty of batter left over after I put the 24 full size cupcakes in. So I baked up the remainder of batter into mini cupcakes. I baked them for 19 minutes.
I think there’s a little butter mistake with your recipe :) Maybe 1 stick instead of 2? I doubled the amount of powdered sugar to fix mine and added more heavy cream to soften it up, and now it’s perfect. Thanks so much for a yummy recipe!!! The cake and frosting are AMAZING!
Hi Bianca, glad you were able to figure it out. No, I definitely meant 2 but at least it worked out for you! This is one of my favorite cupcake recipes :)
Okay, thanks! I’m not sure what I did wrong. Either way thank you for the great recipes!
Are you sure you added 2 sticks of butter and not 1?
Did you have problems with the consistency of the frosting? I made it and it tastes amazing, but the butter is separating.
I just made a practice batch before my daughters birthday to see how I could make these work at high altitude. It was pretty simple, I just made the adjustments that the devils food cake said to (1/4 cup all purpose flour and 1/4 cup water) and followed the rest of this recipe exactly. They turned out great! Also I got the frosting to dye to a pastel green so I know a darker color would turn out fine as well.
I’m so glad you were able to modify this accurately for high altitude, Alicia! I hope she enjoys it!!