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Gluten-free Chocolate Cupcakes with Fudge Frosting

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Requested at almost every family birthday party, these gluten-free chocolate cupcakes are topped with an amazing fudge frosting! This might just become your go-to gluten-free birthday cupcake recipe too!

Gluten-free Chocolate Cupcakes with Fudge Frosting regular and dark chocolate

After my diagnosis with celiac disease several years ago, one of the first desserts that I knew I was going to have to make gluten-free was chocolate cupcakes.  I adore cookies and brownies, but if I HAD to pick my favorite dessert, it would be these gluten-free chocolate cupcakes with fudgy frosting. They’re my favorite gluten-free cupcakes!

This is the only thing I bake that I have zero self-control around. I will usually eat 3 of these gluten-free chocolate cupcakes per day until they are gone, which is definitely not good for the waistline! It’s definitely best if I make them when I have somewhere to bring them!

I’ve been sharing these super chocolaty, moist cupcakes with their fudgy frosting with people for years. They always receive rave reviews from everyone that tries them, whether they eat gluten-free usually or not. No one can tell that they are gluten-free!

Gluten-free Chocolate Cupcake with Fudge Frosting

These gluten-free cupcakes have the best texture on the day AFTER baking them, which I think is a big plus! I can whip these up the day before a birthday party, holiday get-together, or BBQ and save myself the work on the day of the event. Sometimes I’ll frost these the first day, sometimes I’ll wait to frost them until a few hours before I need them. You can store these at room temperature if your house isn’t overly warm, or keep chilled until an hour before serving.

This versatile recipe comes from my favorite recipe for gluten-free Texas Sheet Cake.  If you’re looking for a potluck friendly dessert, go check that one out!

Gluten-free Chocolate Cupcake with Chocolate Frosting

Notes on ingredients for gluten-free chocolate cupcakes:

Here’s a look at how full to fill the cupcake liners before baking and what the cupcakes look like after baking. You’ll notice the cupcakes are mostly flat, making them perfect for frosting!

Making gluten-free chocolate cupcakes

This frosting – you MUST make this fudge frosting! You will totally want to just eat the frosting with a spoon. My hubby and I will fight over who gets to lick the beaters when I make it. Thanks to my friend Steph for sharing this frosting recipe with me back in my college days!

No matter what new cake recipe I try out, I always use this frosting as it is simply the best chocolate fudge frosting there is!

Gluten-free Chocolate Cupcake with dark chocolate frosting

Now I often do the frosting like I do the cake – with half regular cocoa and half dark cocoa. This pic shows you what the frosting looks like made with all regular cocoa (the lighter colored frosting) or with the blend with dark cocoa and regular together (the darker colored frosting). It’s completely delicious either way, or to make it fun, make a batch of each like I did here if you want the pretty assortment to offer.

Gluten free Chocolate Cupcakes with chocolate frosting

If you use this frosting while still warm, it is easily spreadable and has a glossy finish when dried like you see in the photo of my gluten-free Chocolate Love Cakes but can slide off of whatever you are frosting. If you let the frosting cool completely before using, then it firms up and can be placed into a pastry bag for piping for decorating cupcakes like I did in these photos.

The chocolate fudge frosting can also be refrigerated to use later; just microwave 10 seconds at a time, and stir, until you get to the right consistency for piping or spreading. If you like a lot of frosting on each cupcake (or if you eat too much of it with a spoon!), then you might need to make another batch of the frosting to have enough. If you have any frosting left over, I put it in a freezer bag and put in the freezer to pull out the next time I need some extra frosting (or need a pure chocolate fudge fix!) For piping the icing on these to make a fun swirl,  I used a tip from this Ateco Decorating Set on Amazon.

You can also switch up your cupcake liners and add sprinkles to make these work for whatever holiday or party you’re bringing them to. Here I used red/white/blue liners and sprinkles to make gluten-free patriotic cupcakes for a Fourth of July potluck:

Gluten-free Chocolate Cupcakes with Fudge Frosting

For gluten-free Halloween treats, I simply found some Halloween cupcake toppers and used them, along with some Halloween cupcake liners. I usually find these Halloween cupcake toppers at Hobby Lobby – but other stores like Michael’s and cake/party decor places should have them too. I took these easy Halloween cupcakes to a Harvest Party our church was having. The gluten-free kids in attendance were so excited to have gluten-free Halloween cupcakes to win in the cake walk game.

Gluten-free Halloween Cupcakes

My personal favorite way to enjoy the best gluten-free chocolate cupcakes is to pull them out of the refrigerator and put in the microwave for 12 seconds. With a glass of cold milk as a chaser, I am in heaven as I enjoy chocolate overload! I hope you can make this soon and enjoy chocolate overload with me!

Looking for some other yummy chocolate recipes? Try my flourless chocolate cookie recipe for a real chocolate fix. Next try this skinny flourless dark chocolate cake recipe – it looks so decadent! 

Recipe for Gluten-free Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Fudge Frosting:

Yield: 24 cupcakes

Gluten-free Chocolate Cupcakes with Fudge Frosting

Gluten-free Chocolate Cupcakes with Fudge Frosting regular and dark chocolate

These super chocolaty gluten-free cupcakes are even better made the day before eating, making them a great choice for birthdays.

Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 17 minutes
Total Time 37 minutes

Ingredients

Cupcakes:

  • 2 cups good quality gluten-free flour blend
  • 1 tsp. xanthan gum *see note
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • ¼ tsp. salt
  • 1 cup salted butter (2 sticks, 16 Tbsp.)
  • ⅓ cup cocoa powder *see note
  • 1 cup water
  • ½ c. buttermilk
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Fudge Frosting:

  • ½ cup salted butter (1 stick)
  • ½ cup cocoa powder *see note
  • 3 ⅔ cup powdered sugar
  • 6-7 Tbsp. milk
  • 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Instructions

Cupcakes

  1. Line a muffin pan with paper liners and set aside.
  2. In your mixing bowl, combine gluten-free flour, xanthan gum, sugar, baking soda, and salt and set aside.
  3. In a medium saucepan, combine butter, cocoa, and 1 cup water. Bring just to boiling, whisking constantly. Remove from heat and add to dry ingredients, beat until combined.
  4. Add buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla and beat for one minute on low-medium speed.
  5. Pour batter into cupcake liners. I use a large scoop that measures about 1/3 cup batter into each opening.
  6. Bake at 350° for 17 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean or with a few crumbs (no wet batter).
  7. Let cool in pan for 4 minutes, then remove cupcakes. Wait to frost until completely cool.

Fudge Frosting:

  1. Using a medium glass bowl, melt the stick of butter in microwave. Whisk in cocoa powder, then heat for 1 minute. Add powdered sugar and milk alternately, beating with a hand mixer until creamy. Add vanilla last, beating in until mixed well.
  2. If you use this frosting while still warm, it is easily spreadable and has the glossy finish when dried like you see in the photo but can slide off of whatever you are frosting. If you let it cool completely, then it firms up and can be placed into a pastry bag for piping for decorating cakes or cupcakes. The icing can be refrigerated to use later; just microwave 10 seconds at a time, and stir, until you get to the right consistency for piping or spreading.

Notes

*If your flour blend already contains xanthan gum or guar gum, omit the xanthan gum called for in this recipe.

As always, be sure to double-check your ingredients for gluten.
For the cocoa powder, I like to use about 1/2 of dutch-processed or Saco blend cocoa and 1/2 Hershey's special dark cocoa. That is how I achieve a nice dark brown to my cupcakes and icing.

*You can also bake this as a cake in a 9x13" pan for ~35 minutes or in two 8" cake pans for 22 minutes. Make sure to spray the pans well with non-stick cooking spray.

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© Michelle @ MyGluten-freeKitchen.com
Cuisine: American / Category: Cakes
Here they are decorated for a patriotic party:

Gluten-free Chocolate Cupcakes recipe with fudge frosting

Pin these to your gluten-free desserts board here!

Gluten-free Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Fudge Frosting Recipe

I hope you and your family enjoy these and think they’re the best gluten-free cupcakes like my family does!

Related posts:

Gluten-free Apple Bundt Cake {Dairy-free}
Gluten-free Cream Cheese Pound Cake
Gluten-free Chocolate "Love" Cakes and Sweets for Your Sweeties Recipe Round-up

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Comments

  1. There are no words to describe how yumy these cupcakes are. I love cooking and baking and these are the best choc cupcakes I have ever made. I ended up with about 20 and they were demolished in less than a day. Usually cupcakes last for a week in my house. Even my son who generally only eats the frosting, was eating the cake part. Thank you so much for such an incredible recipe.

    Reply

  3. Hi – I am in need of a really delicious gluten-free choc cupcake recipe for my son’s upcoming birthday. Your recipe sounds great. Can you tell me how many mini cupcakes this recipe yields and how much to shorten the baking time? Thanks!

    Reply

  4. These were amazing! I used 1/2 the amount of sugar, and coconut oil instead of butter, and almond milk instead of buttermilk. My kids loved them.

    Reply

  5. As soon as they came out of the oven, I couldn’t wait to let them cool to try one. So delicious even before the fudge frosting (or icing as we call it in Canada). Cupcakes and frosting, directly into the freezer so I do not eat more than two. For the flour, I used 2 cups of my normal GF combination: 2 c sorghum flour, 2 c potato starch, 1/2 c brown rice flour, 1/2 c coconut flour, and 1 tbsp xanthan gum, and they came out beautifully… I also added 1 tbsp of instant coffee (I use this for every chocolatey baking treat I make) which enhances the chocolate flavour. I think I would add 2 Tbsp next time. Thank you for this delicious recipe!

    Reply

  7. A very special member of our Civitan club has her 95th birthday coming up in a few days. Yes, 95 is correct!! She still drives her car, and volunteers at our local hospital as a “pink lady”, AND volunteers at our local county jail for prison ministries. She teaches the ladies behind bars that even though you’ve made a mistake, God still loves & forgives you, and has a purpose for your life. Ok, ok….enough of the bragging! Anyway she needs to be gluten free, and I bought a GF cake mix from the grocery store. I then googled GF frosting recipes and found yours. I didn’t have special dark cocoa, so I used all regular baking cocoa. I also only had almond milk in the fridge and used that. I must say you are right about wanting to eat the frosting by the spoon!! It is soooooo yummy!! I will definitely use this frosting recipe again. Thank you so much for sharing!

    Reply

  8. Hi! I looked all over the Internet for a good gluten free chocolate cupcake recipe. I have my first gluten free order due in 2 weeks so I wanted a test run. This one just seemed like the perfect combination Of ingredients. However, after 17 minutes, the cupcakes were still like soup. After 27 minutes, there was still some wet batter but the edges were turning crispy so I took them out of the oven. At about minute 12 in the oven, they completely collapsed and look more like tart cups instead of cupcakes? Any ideas what I might have done wrong? Thank you! The taste is yummy, but there was no rise at all. I couldn’t find mamas almond flour so I used a brand called uncle bobs red mill.

    Reply

    • Cathi,
      Unfortunately there can be a huge difference in results depending on what “all-purpose” gluten-free flour blend you use. In my opinion, the Bob’s Red Mill all-purpose blend is the worst one out there and does not yield good results at all.
      Please look around any specialty stores near you or just order online. The varieties I recommend most are: Gluten-free Mama’s all-purpose almond flour blend, Jules Gluten free flour blend, Cup4Cup (available at Williams Sonoma) and King Arthur Flour brand. All of those can be bought online. I link to the Gluten free mama one on Amazon in the little Amazon ad on the side of my blog.
      Also, do make sure you are using xanthan gum. If the flour blend you buy doesn’t have xanthan gum added to it already, make sure you add the amount listed in the recipe.
      Good luck to you! With a good flour blend, this recipe is very successful!

      Reply

      • Have you ever tried the Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 baking mix? Its the one that’s actually meant for baking sweets like cookies, brownies, cakes, and pies, where as the BRM All purpose baking flour is actually just meant for things like breads, biscuts, and other more savory baked goods.

        Reply

  9. I made these and the batter is yum…but the fell in the middle of baking. I checked on them have way through and they were huge! But when I pulled then out the were flat! I am new to this gf stuff….and suggestions?

    Reply

    • Megan,
      I’m so sorry that happened. If you try them again, I’d recommend:
      Make sure you use one of the good flour blends (Gluten Free Mama, Jules, King Arthur Flour, Cup4Cup).
      Make sure you beat them thoroughly so it is mixed well.
      Don’t open the oven at all during baking. You can view them through the window with the light on if you want to check on them. Opening the oven will reduce the oven temperature and could cause them to fall.
      Check them at the early side of the baking time listed above and do the check for doneness. They likely needed a little longer to bake so they wouldn’t sink. Also though, these should end up pretty flat since that is desired for decorating them. If you want them to have a dome, you’d need to do some tweaking to the recipe for that. I prefer the cupcakes to be flat so I have a nice flat surface for decorating! I hope you’ll try them again and that they turn out perfect!

      Reply

  10. I personally do not eat nor make gluten free cupcakes but as I am going into baking as a side job I decided to give gluten free cupcakes a try. I am a fan of gluten free now! I was worried how the texture and taste would be but it came out just as light and fluffy as my regular chocolate cupcakes and the taste was amazing! This was a great recipe and I would definitely use again for my gluten free friends! Thanks for the recipe!

    Reply

  11. Hi Michelle,

    Am planning on trying this recipe out tomorrow! Can I use Almond flour instead of Almond blend or Coconut flour instead of coconut blend as I can’t purchase Mama’s in Ireland (unless I get it online of course, but don’t think it will be here by tomorrow! )

    Thank you
    Natasha

    Reply

    • Natasha,
      No, defiitely don’t just substitute almond or coconut flour. This blend I recommend is an gluten-free version of all-purpose flour that has either a little almond flour or a little coconut flour in it. I would see what you have available there as a gluten-free all-purpose flour blend, or make your own blend using any of the recipes widely available on the internet. Good luck to you!

      Reply

  12. I’d love to make these for a birthday party, but the one who really NEEDS the GF also has a nut allergy. What would be a suitable substitute for the almond flour blend?
    Thanks!

    Reply

  13. These chocolate cupcakes and frosting were the Best! Now, do you have a good lemon gf cupcake recipe? Thank you.

    Reply

    • Linda,
      I’m so glad you liked these! Yes, I do have a good lemon cupcake recipe. I just need to make them again so I can get some good photos! Should be coming this spring! I’ve got a backlog of posts to write right now! I need to clone myself a couple of times to get everything done!
      Thanks so much for your comment and support!

      Reply

  14. I was thinking about making these for people at my mums work because some people are gluten free but I don’t shop online for flour so I wondering if Orgran gluten & wheat free flour?

    Reply

      • Bridget,
        I looked all of those up online and it looks like their ingredients are all pretty much the same, so I think you could try either of them. Make sure you buy xanthan gum as well. I obviously haven’t used any of those varieties, but you should have pretty good results with those.

        Reply

  15. I made this recipe for a lady at my church who has been home-bound for many years since she was diagnosed with MS. On one of my recent visits to her home, she requested a chocolate cake. I am fairly new to gluten free baking and after reading tons of blogs, recipes, tips, etc. I decided on this recipe. Before I forget Michelle is correct the icing recipe is absolutely the best! Now for the cake, it did not turn out as I would have expected, but I contribute that to some of the substitutions I made and I didn’t make cupcakes, but rather 2 – 9 inch cake pans. The cake came out almost to moist – wet and dense. I used Mama’s Almond Flour Blend, but didn’t have any buttermilk on hand, so I made my own, with almond milk and white vinegar. I also subbed the white sugar for coconut sugar and instead of butter I used coconut oil. The flavor of the cake was great, but it was more like a brownie consistency and it didn’t rise very much. I will use this recipe again I just need to work on perfecting my substitutions. Thank you for the recipe and inspiration Michelle!

    Reply

  16. I used Bob’s Redmill gluten free flour and the cupcakes turned out just fine. Not sure why everyone had such a problem with it. I also made sure to use xanthan gum. Next time, I will use less sugar. Though the cupcakes are amazing, they are too sweet and gave me a bit of a stomach ache. I also used coconut sugar in place of regular sugar and it worked out just fine. Next time I will use half the amount.

    Reply

  17. I made these cupcakes today and I am very impressed. There were so light and fluffy. I can’t wait to see how they will be 2 or 3 days later. I used my “homemade” flour blend, which is rice flour based. Tomorrow I’ll be making the batter again to make a cake.

    Reply

  20. I am looking forward to trying this recipe this weekend. Recent switch to gluten and dairy free; I had no idea where to begin and your website is a wealth of knowledge. I love to cook/bake and my heart was broken as I tried to decide how to do this. You made it easy for me and I will reference your site often. THANK YOU!!! You saved the day and Im sure will put smiles on a lot of little faces (including mine 🙂

    Reply

  21. Hi, I was wondering if you could recommend a flour substitution… my son can’t have almond or coconut. I usually make my own flour blend using amaranth, teff, sorghum and oat flours and potato and arrowroot starches, but I think that might be too dense? (And we’re also cutting out oats, even GF oats). Also, do you think it would really change the cupcake if I used ground flax or chia instead of eggs (eggs are on his list too).

    Reply

    • Kristy, If you’ve found your own mixture that seems to work for you in other baking recipes, feel free to try it here. The other all-purpose gluten-free flour blends that I recommend that don’t have almond or coconut flour in them are gfJules and King Arthur Flour. Hopefully those would fit with his allergies.
      I haven’t tried these with the egg adjustment. You’ll probably just need to give it a shot and see how it goes. Let me know whether it works or not. Good luck to you!

      Reply

  22. Oh, Michelle! These chocolate cupcakes are fabulous and just what I was looking for. Per your suggestion, I made them yesterday and frosted them today. Couldn’t wait to try one and they are seriously yummy…so moist and chocolatey. I gave them (well, MOST of them anyway) to my brother-in-law who has had to go gluten-free and he is a chocolate fanatic. He’s gonna love them. By the way, I used King Arthur’s Gluten-free Multi-purpose Flour and added 1-1/2 teaspoons of baking powder as “insurance” against sinking in the middle after baking and they came out beautifully. I’m gonna try your white cupcakes next. Thank you so much for sharing.
    P.s. My brother-in-law just emailed me that he loved these cupcakes! Thanks again.

    Reply

  23. I made these cupcakes egg free and milk free. I used 1/2 TBSP white vinegar with enough soy milk to make 1/2 cup. I used flax seed to replace the eggs (1 TBSP flax seed and 3 TBSPs water for each egg) and added 1 Tsp baking powder. They are so good!!!

    Reply

  24. Hi,
    Your cupcakes looked great so I tried to make them. I didn’t have buttmilk, so I substituted kefir. They flopped. How important is the buttermilk? Should the chocolate/butter mixture be thick after cooking?

    Reply

    • Mary,
      The butter/cocoa/water mixture will be quite liquid after cooking. You are just cooking and whisking to combine them well. If yours was thick, it could be a mistake,
      I have not done any baking with kefir, so I’m unsure whether that is a suitable substitution for buttermilk. Hope you’ll try this again when you have the right ingredients. You’ll love them!

      Reply

  25. Can I use a flour blend of, brown rice,white rice, potato statch, tapioca flour , cornstarch and xan, gum? Do I need to add some almond flour to make your chocolate cupcakes? Thank you linda

    Reply

  26. I have had Celiac for many years now. When I found out I was Celiac, I thought my cooking good creative meals and desserts was over. Now a job change has felt me to create in my kitchen again. I am trying your chocolate fudge icing tonight. It sounds good and easy enough. I can’t wait.

    Reply

  27. These are amazing!!! I made them for my daughters 2nd birthday last month! We couldn’t believe how good they were! I Made the Texas sheet cake version yesterday when family came to visit! What a hit =) thank you for another great recipe!!!

    Reply

  28. Hi Michelle, I made these over the weekend for a 60th birthday party. I was nervous because I hardly ever bake cupcakes from scratch, let alone gluten-free – and they were spectacular! Everyone loved them and asked for the recipe. I got 22 cupcakes from my mixture. I noticed that when I baked the second batch (I had to do it in two batches), it took longer and also seemed ‘watery’ after the 17 minutes were up (as someone else mentioned). But I simply left them in for longer and kept an eye on them, and they were perfect. I suspect it’s because that half of the batter sat for about half an hour before going into the oven. The icing (that’s what we call it in South Africa) was great too. Thanks for this fabulous recipe!

    Reply

  29. Made these last night. I didn’t have bakers cocoa, so I used a few chunks of a dark chocolate (65% cocoa and with crystallized ginger) bar. These are absolutely delicious! Nice and moist! This will definitely be my go-to recipe for any cake / cupcakes in the future!

    Reply

  30. I don’t know if it’s just that I’m a bad baker or what but they looked good at about halfway baking. At 17 minutes, they were spilled over and concave. I thought Bob’s Red Mill mix had xantham gum but it didn’t so I looked up substitutes and used gelatin. I also added 1/2 almond meal since Bob’s has a tangy taste to it (maybe from the sorghum flour?). THEN, as luck would have it, I was short on butter in total so I added some coconut oil. FINALLY, I cracked my second egg and it spilled on the counter but I used it anyway. The mix was fairly runny and still smelled tangy from the GF mix but wasn’t sure how to fix it by any means…suffice it to say, looks like store bought baked goods are the way for me! I used accurate measurements but a few substitutes. I guess that’s the difference between a cook and a baker. They don’t mix well in my brain!!!

    Reply

  31. Have you ever made these vegan, substituting applesauce for the eggs and a vegan apple cider milk mix for the butter milk?

    Reply

  32. Delicious!! No one believed they were glutne free. I used bobs red mill 1 to 1 baking flour and they were perfect.
    I topped them with Magnolia bakery vanilla buttercream recipe icing and they were heavenly.
    Its a keeper.
    Thank you!

    Reply

  33. I made these cupcakes this week but replaced the water with brewed coffee and used a gluten-free flour mixture that included brown rice flour, white rice flour, tapioca flour, and potato starch. I also used a Bailey’s cream cheese frosting. They were amazing! No one even realized they were gluten free!

    Reply

  35. I tried these cupcakes and icing and they are so good. I only made one change to the icing that I recall . It was because I had whipping cream I needed to use so used it instead of milk. It did not help thin the icing down any, but was it ever yummy and I ended up adding some evaporated milk to thin it down with so I pipe the icing on to the cupcakes. Also I use an oat based flour mixture as I can not have rice and I guess that makes two changes, but they are really yummy and I love the texture of them.

    Reply

  36. I just made these cupcakes and while they were baking they looked great. When I took them out of the oven, they sank in the middle. Can you tell me what I did wrong? I followed the recipe to a T. Thanks!

    Reply

    • Hey Lisa, I read somewhere recently that it does not hurt to add a little more baking powder to a gluten-free recipe. I think I added a half teaspoon first time I made the cupcakes and they did not fall so you might try that. Also you do not say if you cook at high altitude or not, but that will affect it too. Good luck. They are worth perfecting.

      Reply

  37. just got through making another batch of the icing. I do not think that you could mess this up. unless you burned the cho. I did not have a glass bowl so melted in a saucepan and it is still just as yummy. I think that maybe I did not add as much powdered sugar as the first time, but the taste is still very yummy. I am going to ice some more cupcakes and then use the rest of the icing to ice some brownies. Oh, my goodness. I can taste them now.

    Reply

  38. I usually never leave feedback for recipes but this one was fantastic. I made a batch for my patients for Christmas some allergic to gluten, the other to dairy. I used Bob’s Red Mills and had to make a few sibstitutions to accomodate them. As someone suggested, I added a teaspoon of baking powder. I substituted the amount of Xathan Gum for ground Flaxseed, half a cup of coconut oil and half of unsweetenes applesauce to replace the butter and lastly the buttermilk for 1/2 cup of Flaxseed milk witb a teaspoon of apple cider. I also cut thesugar to 1 1/2 cups. I was very nervous to change the recipe but they came out fabulous! The batter looked very thin a for a moment and freaked me out but they are delicious and airy. Thanks a lot for the recipe!

    Reply

  39. Unfortunately, these turned out terrible! They took much longer to bake than the recipe said, and then collapsed when I took them out of the oven. Also, they were not very chocolatey. I was very disappointed, as the recipe had looked delicious.

    Reply

  40. The problem with this recipe is the so-called all purpose gluten free flour blend. Every brand of so-called all purpose flour blend is so different. Cup4Cup is mainly cornstarch. Bob’s Red Mill contains a lot of bean flours and sorghum. The results between these two flours will be vastly different.

    There’s no such thing as all purpose gluten free flour. Failure to specify the gluten free flour blend in a recipe sets the baker up for failure. Gluten free flours are very expensive…both time and money tossed in the trash because the brand of flour used to develop the recipe was not specified.

    I’ve learned the very expensive lesson to never use a recipe that does not specify the brand of all purpose gluten free flour used.

    Reply

  41. These cupcakes were perfect!! I followed the recipe as written. I used the Namaste brand flour blend. All of my boys LOVED them and have continuously asked me to make them again since. Thank you for posting the recipe! We just had an allergy diagnosis last month and these cupcakes gave all of us hope and joy that there IS a way to have allergies and eat cake too! Thank you again!

    Reply

  46. We made these twice in one night because after they were a spectacular failure the first time we thought we must have done something wrong. The second round was as no better. They rise for a while and then collapse into an undercooked goo no matter how low by you leave them in. We used almond flour, which appears to be an approved ingredient. Seems like way too much butter or something.

    Reply

    • I’m sorry that you misunderstood my instructions and thought I was saying to use almond flour. Do not use almond flour. I specify in the recipe to use a good quality gluten-free flour blend. I list several, one of which is called Gluten Free Mama’s Almond Blend. It is a blend of several gluten-free flours and starches including a small amount of almond flour.
      The terrible results you experienced would definitely be due to using almond flour alone in this recipe instead of a gluten-free all-purpose flour blend. I hope you’ll try these again with one and enjoy!

      Reply

  47. GREAT recipe! I used King Arthur’s Gluten-Free flour. Rave reviews on cupcakes, especially the frosting, Made 24 cupcakes and had lots of extra frosting. Plus convenient to make the cupcakes a day ahead.

    Reply

  48. These were amazing! I know gluten free cooking can be tricky so I understand that while many have excellent results, others have terrible results & no one can figure out why. Here’s what I did. I used a stand mixer & leaned toward over mixing rather than under mixing. I used my own blend of flours. My blend contains white rice, oat, potato starch, sorghum, millet & buckwheat. I usually use tapioca as well but was out. I used psyllium husk instead of xanthan gum. And I doubled the amount for the psyllium husk. Baking time did take longer than stated in recipe but no big deal. No one could believe these were gluten free. Outstanding!

    Reply

  49. i just made this night. i did a half batch. the first attempt i forget the sugar. so i started again, it was better. i added 1/4 cup of melted semi-sweet to the cupcakes and the frosting. i only had skim milk, 53% vegetable spread for butter. Have not seen the flour in any of the post that i used but the one I used is Krusteaz, i check it to make sure it has xanthan gum, other why i would not been able to make them

    Reply

  50. Would you be able to convert this to a regular round cake? I’d like to be able to make a traditional chocolate and vanilla layer cake? Thanks!

    Reply

  51. Wondering if this can be made egg free and if so what you suggest to try. This sounds amazing and I”m looking forward to trying it!

    Reply

  52. YUM!!! We used Pillsbury GF flour and they started to rise, but then fell a bit, but who cares … the taste is still fabulous. We will try to find your recommended blend and give it another go. The frosting is to die for, too. Thanks for a delicious recipe!

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  53. Trying to make these for my son’s birthday next week. I did a trial run since I am new to GF baking. I cut the sugar in half, used coconut milk instead of buttermilk (dairy issues) and Kerrygold butter. However I only got 20 cupcakes and they are super lumpy. My batter wasn’t smooth like yours. More sticky. I used Namaste perfect flour blend. Any idea what went wrong? Haven’t frosted them yet but the flavor is good just not pretty at all.

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    • Yes – the problem is that you cut the sugar in half. I’m not sure why you would do that. My recipes are tested to be just right as written. The sugar here also counts as liquid in the recipe (that’s often the case in baking) You can’t cut half the sugar out and not expect it to effect the result. Sorry! Hope you can try again, following the recipe!

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  54. This recipe is our “go to” chocolate cake or cupcake recipe. I have followed the recipe as written, baked both cakes and cupcakes many times, and they have always turned out well. Much appreciated by our new family member who has celiac disease!

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  55. I just made these *literally just removed them from the oven and ate it while it was still too hot lol*

    I substituted flour with Gluten free Bisquick (it already has xanthan gum and find it to gave the best texture for baked goods)
    Coconut milk, Earth balance butter (dairy free) and added the enjoy life (gf/DF) chocolate mini chips as per requested by my kids lol

    These were so light and fluffy !!!! 17 minutes was the perfect time for these to cook.

    I’ll be saving this recipie for the future 🙂

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  56. I made these today and substituted some of the flours to make a better blend like you suggested. I used 1 cup bobs red mill 1:1, 1/2 cup almond flour and 1/2 cup oat flour. I am also dairy free and used the earth balance buttery sticks but i think next time I will reduce 2 tablespoons of the dairy free butter (they seemed a little greasy). Overall I really liked the recipe and will continue to modifying just a bit to get it right with the dairy free butter! Thank you!

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  58. This is one of the best gluten free cupcake recipes I have ever come across. Once again it helps me love my family for special events – today baking it with a tinted blue buttercream frostings and baby shark cupcake toppers.

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    • Thank you so much for your comment and 5 star rating Debbie! I’m so glad this helps you love on your family. I LOVE that you are making these as shark cupcakes today! Be sure to email me a pic or tag me on Instagram if you’re on there so I can see the photo! They sound so fun!

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  59. Hello, they look delicious. Do you have the measurements in grams at all for more accurate consistency as cups measurements can vary from country to country.

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  60. I’m new to gluten-free baking. My dad asked me to bake something gluten-free as a couple of co-workers are gf. This was my third time baking gluten-free and my second recipe that was actually designed to be that way.
    All I have to say is I didn’t even get a chance to try them as my dad’s co-workers ate every last one. I was a little disappointed because they looked and smelled amazing.
    I intend to make these again, this weekend, so my friend can have dessert at my graduation party.
    Thank you for giving such great directions!

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  61. Can you freeze this recipe? We have a future son in law who is gluten sensitive and I would like to have something special for him at the engagement party we are throwing. But I need to have things made ahead of time.

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  63. HANDS DOWN BEST GF CHOCOLATE CUPCAKE EVER!!
    I have a daughter who is gluten intolerant and I found this recipe about a year and half to make for her birthday… my entire family is crazy over these! I have only used King Arthur’s GF Flour until last time I made them and it wasn’t available so I made them with a blend of almond and brown rice flour – which I will never do again – although the the cupcakes were still yummy – not the same at all !! Seriously the moistness that these cupcakes offer can’t be beat. The only thing I do differently is test them once they have been baking for 14 mins – they are always done and always perfect. It could just be my oven but it is new – I live in south FL so dint know if that has anything to do with the baking time. Anyway I have made these at every birthday celebration, baby shower and any other reason I can come up with. I typically dint eat “treats” but I indulge with these and feel zero guilt. On more than half of the occasions I have made this recipe with buttercream icing mostly because of request and please if you’re going to make buttercream icing researching the lowdown on it. All buttercream recipes are not the same ! Anyway – in behalf of my family we thank you for creating the most delicious cupcake recipe in the planet!!

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  64. Hello – Has anyone had success using just Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1 to 1 Baking Flour? I use it routinely for muffins and they come out fabulous. Hoping to try your recipe for my gluten free son’s 7th birthday.

    Thanks!

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    • They were amazing with Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1. I also subbed coffee for the water. So gooooood! Thanks for the recipe!

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  65. Made with the 1 to 1, reduced to 1 c sugar and no xanthan gum since flour had it. Frosting also reduced sugar by one cup. These were a hit! May they to sub butter for ghee, will that work?

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  66. Ugh!! I didn’t see the note regarding checking the flour for xanthan gum. So I added the teaspoon plus what was in the flour. Maybe an asterick like you did for the cocoa powder would be good. They smell great so we’ll see how they turned out after they cool and I frost them tomorrow.

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    • I’m sorry Joan. I try to note that on every recipe, but I had missed adding an asterick on this one. I’ve made it more noted now. Thanks for the suggestion. You’re might be pretty gummy/squishy due to the extra xanthan. I find they’re better another day later, they get a little more cakey then, so don’t toss them tomorrow if they’re gummy – save for one more day! Otherwise, I do hope you’ll try these again!

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