I have a thing for cupcakes. Maybe because they are small? And salted caramel. Well because it's caramel and butter is involved.
I have a good friend, Carrie, who tells me all the time she doesn't like salted caramel. So if you're like her, you can make the caramel without the salt and it would be caramel buttercream!
I'm so glad to be working with Land O'Lakes again to bring you another recipe and because this one's a little special, I consider this a holiday recipe.
You can make your own caramel sauce or use store bought. If you use regular caramel, you can easily make it salted caramel by adding sea salt (to taste) to it.
Also, when I'm making these cupcakes, I usually put the cupcakes in the oven, make the salted caramel and then the buttercream but you can honestly make the caramel and the buttercream ahead of time, even a couple of days before!
Sift all of the dry ingredients, especially, the cocoa powder because it always has hard bits in it, except the salt. Mix together all of the dry ingredients with the salt.
Take two tablespoons of the dry ingredients and mix in with the chocolate chips ahead of time, then set aside. I do this so the chips don't sink…some still will but that's ok. Also, I use the miniature chocolate chips because the big ones…no matter what you do, they sink to the bottom of the cupcake!
Cream the butter and the sugar together.
Add eggs and mix.
Then, add the coffee, vegetable oil, vanilla extract and the milk. Once you mix it up, it will look curdled.
I always carefully add the dry ingredients in two or three batches and mix.
Add the chocolate chips.
And mix with a rubber spatula.
I use a 1/4 cup measuring cup for these cupcakes.
And then bake at 350 degrees F for 16 to 18 minutes.
While those are baking, make your caramel sauce. Don't stir once you turn the heat on. You can pick up the pot and swirl around but don't stir.
Once they are an amber color…
Add the butter and whisk vigorously.
Then, add the heavy cream and whisk vigorously again.
Remove from heat and add vanilla extract and sea salt and mix together.
And now for the buttercream! I like to use both salted and unsalted Land O Lakes® butter for buttercream.
After mixing the butter, vanilla extract and powdered sugar. It's a regular ol' vanilla buttercream…
Until you pour in the salted caramel!
And there you have it!
Check out the short little instagram video I posted of frosting one of these cupcakes…below!
Cupcakes that I KNOW you'll love! A few friends taste tested for me and they really enjoyed them. Now time to make these for your next holiday get together! Stat!
Recipe
Double Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Buttercream Recipe
Ingredients
Double Chocolate Cupcakes
- 2 1/4 cups cake flour
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/4 cups mini semisweet chocolate chips
- 1 Land O Lakes® Unsalted Butter Stick, 1/2 cup, softened
- 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup brewed coffee, cooled
- 3/4 cup milk
Salted Caramel
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 Tablespoons water
- 1/2 cup heavy cream, room temperature
- 1/2 Land O Lakes® Unsalted Butter Stick, 1/4 cup, cubed, room temperature
- 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons sea salt
Salted Caramel Buttercream Icing
- 1 Land O Lakes® Unsalted Butter Stick, 1/2 cup, softened
- 1 Land O Lakes® Salted Butter Stick, 1/2 cup, softened
- 1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 6 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup salted caramel, cooled
Instructions
Double Chocolate Cupcakes
- Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two muffin tins with cupcake liners.
- Sift cake flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt and mix together with a large spatula in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Measure out mini chocolate chips, place in a small bowl and add 2 Tablespoons of the dry mixture and mix. Set said both bowls.
- Cream butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, on medium for 2 minutes, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl halfway through with a rubber spatula. Add eggs and mix for 2 minutes (scrape the bottoms and sides of the bowl). Add vanilla extract, vegetable oil, coffee and milk. Mix thoroughly for about 1 minute (batter will look curdled).
- Add the dry ingredients in two batches and mix together until they are combined (don’t over mix and don’t forget to scrape the bottoms and sides of the bowl). Add chocolate chip mixture and fold into the batter using a rubber spatula.
- Portion out 1/4 cup of cake batter into lined muffin tins. Bake for 16 to 18 minutes on 350 degrees F or when inserting a toothpick in a couple of cupcakes in the center comes out clean. Carefully remove cupcakes from the muffin tin and cool on wire cooling racks.
Salted Caramel
- Add 3/4 cup sugar and 2 tablespoons water to a stainless steel pot (that has a heavy bottom and high sides). Mix to combine and then turn heat to medium high.
- Lift the pot and swirl but don't stir. Cook until the sugar turns to a caramel color, about 10 to 11 minutes (watch carefully so it doesn't burn).
- Turn heat down to low. Add butter (it will be really hot so be careful) and whisk until thoroughly combined. Again, being careful, add heavy cream and whisk thoroughly.
- Remove from heat and add vanilla extract and salt (add more if you like it even more salty) and whisk thoroughly. Allow to cool completely before putting into an airtight container and refrigerating.
Salted Caramel Buttercream
- In your stand mixer bowl using the paddle attachment, mix thoroughly the softened 1 Land O Lakes® Unsalted Butter Stick and 1 Land O Lakes® Salted Butter Stick on low to medium speed. Add vanilla extract and mix well.
- Turn off your mixer and in two batches, add the powdered sugar and mixing until well blended (it will look like a dough). Be careful, the powered sugar can go everywhere!
- Add salted caramel sauce and mix for about 3 to 4 minutes. I like to refrigerate my buttercream before using. Refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes (overnight even), just place on the kitchen counter for a little while before icing your cupcakes.
- Pipe buttercream over cupcakes using your favorite tip in a decorator/frosting bag. Drizzle leftover caramel sauce on top and serve!
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Disclosure: The Little Kitchen has partnered with Land O’Lakes for an exclusive endorsement of Land O Lakes® Butter for their Kitchen Conversation blogger program. This blog post is sponsored by Land O’Lakes.
Barbara says
So glad to see that you are still replying to comments on this recipe. I just came across it and would like to try them but like someone else has mentioned that they don’t care for coffee I don’t either. I want to make sure that I can’t taste it. So my question is do you use a particular brand of coffee? Also what size muffin tin do you use? In the recipe, it says to line 2 muffin tins, how many muffins are in each tin. There are so many different sizes with different numbers of muffins in each tin. I’m not the best a baking so any help would be great.
Alyssa says
These cupcakes are AMAZING! I’ve made them about 5 or 6 times now for parties and family get togethers and people love them! They always turn out perfectly. Thank you for such a great recipe.
Julie Deily says
Yay, Alyssa! That makes me happy!!
Ariel says
I’ve made these twice and thinking about making them a third time. These are phenomenal. Absolutely wonderful.
Jackie says
I’ve tried many (many!) chocolate cupcake recipes in search of one that is moist, maintains it moistness and has a rich chocolate flavor. This is now the ONLY chocolate cupcake recipe I will use!
Julie Deily says
Yay, Jackie!!
Ariel says
I’ve made these cupcakes twice and they’ve been amazing both times. I love this recipe. They come out so tasty and it’s so satisfying to make my own caramel sauce.
Sheryl Pesnell says
Hi Julie!
Do you have any tips on how to make sure the frosting comes out thick and not runny? This is one thing I struggle with the most.
Thank you,
Sheryl
Julie Deily says
Hi Sheryl,
I think you might not be using enough powdered sugar. Try adding more powdered sugar. Hope that helps!
Ipolani says
I would love to try these for a friends wedding. The wedding is at a winery and it will probably be pretty hot outside so I am a little concerned that the buttercream frosting will melt. Can you give any advise on that?
Marisela Magid says
Hi Julie, I’m making these cupcakes for my son’s 5th birthday party and I have a question can I substitute cake flour for all purpose flour? Would the flavor change or the cooking method?
Thanks,
Mari
Casey says
The frosting turned out sooooooo stiff–way too much powdered sugar. I think starting with 1 cup and adding a bit until it’s the right consistency would work much better. The caramel recipe is wonderful–turned out fabulous!
Lindsay says
Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve followed this recipe exactly 3 times and am still unsuccessful. 1/4 cup of batter was way too much- I ended up with half the batter on the bottom of my oven. No matter what I did, they sunk way to the bottom in the middle of the cupcake. The frosting was tasty, but after chilling it, it was so stiff it broke out of the side of my piping bag. I was so frustrated at this point (on my third attempt) that I tossed everything. So again, not sure if anyone else has had these issues or not, but I’d love some insight- these cupcakes look and sound amazing!
Julie Deily says
I’m so sorry to hear this, Lindsay! I would try less batter in the cupcake tin then, it should only be about 2/3 full or it will overflow.
The frosting is too stiff right out of the fridge, I always let it chill about 20 to 30 minutes before I try piping it. If you find it’s still too stiff, I would add 1/2 tablespoon (at a time) of water and mix with a spatula. You don’t want to add too much water though or when you pipe it, it won’t hold the shape of your tip.
I hope that helps! Feel free to email me [email protected] so we can troubleshoot further! I’m so so sorry again!
Christine says
Hi Julie!
These cupcakes look so delicious!
As a beginner in making cupcakes, I’d like to try making a smaller portion. Say, if I want to make only 12 cupcakes, do i just simply cut back half of the ingredients?
Jor says
My caramel keeps burning. What do I do?
Elise VanWoert says
Going to make these cupcakes for a baby shower and made the caramel last night. It tastes really really salty…is that how it’s supposed to be? I have never had salted caramel before, only regular caramel. Thanks!
Julie Deily says
Hi Elise,
They are a little salty but you can omit the salt if you want regular caramel buttercream!
Catherine says
Hi Julie!
I am planning to make these cupcakes this weekend but am wondering if it will be ok to make the buttercream frosting a day in advance before frosting? Will the buttercream be ok in the fridge overnight and frost the next day or would you prefer to frost immediately?
Julie Deily says
Hi Catherine,
You can totally make the buttercream frosting a few days ahead of time! I actually prefer to make it ahead of time to break up the “work” of making cupcakes.
From the recipe: “Refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes (overnight even), just place on the kitchen counter for a little while before icing your cupcakes.”
I have made buttercream so many times and I really like the consistency once it’s refrigerated at least 30 minutes in the fridge. I hope that answers your questions!
Erin says
Does this frosting recipe make enough to frost a cake or would you double it? Thanks!
Julie Deily says
Hi Erin!
I would double it just to be sure!
Emily Passmore says
Just made these for my mom and she LOVED them!!! Any suggestions for getting a stiffer buttercream? Mine always seems to have an oily sheen on it 🙁 Thanks for the great recipe!
Erin @ The Spiffy Cookie says
Normally double chocolate is not my thing but salted caramel definitely is and now I need these cupcakes.
Meghan Cooper says
These look absolutely devine!
Patty K says
I love salted caramel and that buttercream looks heavenly!
Maureen says
These look so good! I unfortunately have a dairy allergy so no milk products for me but I may try these and just use almond milk and dairy free “butter”.
Julie Deily says
Hi Maureen!
You should try these!!! https://www.thelittlekitchen.net/vanilla-cupcakes-with-vanilla-buttercream/ — I made them with almond milk, I did use dairy butter but you can try with the dairy free stuff! 🙂 🙂
Maureen says
Thanks Julie! I will definitely try those out!
Teresa says
Looks delicious! I love the black rack, where did you get it?
Julie Deily says
Thanks, Teresa!
I love the black cooling rack too! It’s from Donna Hay, I think it’s this medium sized one: https://www.donnahay.com.au/online-store/shop-tabletop/vintage-rectangular-cooling-rack-medium
Melissa @ Bless this Mess says
Yes. Please! Caramel is my love language and those are pretty much screaming “I LOVE YOU!”
Brenda @ a farmgirl's dabbles says
Caramel + salt + chocolate is one of my very favorite combinations. AND BUTTERCREAM. What more could a person ask for?!
Stephanie C says
I’m not a fan of coffee. Can you omit the coffee without adjusting the rest of the recipe???
Julie Deily says
Hi Stephanie,
Actually the coffee doesn’t make the cupcakes taste like coffee…it actually enhances the flavor of the chocolate. I highly recommend trying it even if you don’t coffee. You could try using a little bit more milk and some water instead of the coffee but since I haven’t tried it this way…I can’t vouch for it! Hope that helps!
Anna @ Crunchy Creamy Sweet says
Caramel is my weakness! These cupcakes look absolutely perfect!
Joanne @ Fifteen Spatulas says
What a perfect combination, and I’ve somehow never had salted caramel buttercream before. I must try. Your cupcakes are the best!
Tina says
I have to, and will, make this for Thanksgiving! My family will definitely devour these.
Dani Mendocha | Styled Variety says
These cupcakes look AMAZING!! Salted caramel buttercream sounds heaven 🙂
Dani | http://www.styledvariety.com
Medeja says
These cupcakes look so fantastic! I love everything about them chocolate and caramel.. yummy!