Say hello to the best ever chocolate cupcake recipe. For real though, these Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes are insanely delicious. They’re full of that deep chocolate flavor with a hint of Guinness…which only makes the chocolate taste even better. Topped with a salted caramel buttercream, these chocolate cupcakes need to be at the top of your “to bake” list!
What makes Guinness Cupcakes so good?
It’s one of those things that’s hard to explain and you just know when you try it. You might not think Guinness and chocolate go together…especially in cupcakes…but trust me, it’s AH MA ZING.
If you’re thinking, “Can you actually taste the beer?” the answer is no! Or at least not really. There is the slightest HINT of stout flavor but because it goes so well with the chocolate, it just tastes like a really rich and luxurious chocolate cupcake. A fancy chocolate cupcake, if you will.
The best part is that the Guinness makes these super moist chocolate cupcakes. I mean I brought these to work and 5 days later they were STILL good.
The carbonation also helps to lighten the cake so it’s not super dense. It’s the perfect balance of light and fluffy but also rich and moist.
DELICIOUS Salted Caramel Buttercream
You’ve got a super rich chocolate cake so it’s only natural to match it with a luscious salted caramel buttercream, am I right??
I absolutely love this caramel buttercream recipe because of how quick and easy it is to make. It starts with my tried-and-true salted caramel recipe that I’ve used in SO many of my desserts. Seriously, it never fails! And just to name a few:
- Caramel Banana Coffee Cake
- Salted Caramel Cheesecake
- Gluten Free Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie
After the caramel has had time to cool and thicken, you just add it to this simple American buttercream recipe. Voila! You have salted caramel buttercream. And just as a warning, you’ll be very tempted to eat it by the spoonful.
How to frost cupcakes without a piping bag
If you’re in a pinch or just can’t justify buying piping tips AND piping bags, you can still make your cupcakes look cute! All you need is a butter knife or an offset spatula and you’re good to go.
Start by dolloping about 3 tablespoons worth of frosting into the center of your cupcake. Using the knife or spatula, gently spread it just past the edge of the cupcake.
Turn your knife upright and run it along the edge to create a smooth side.
For this recipe, drizzle on some SLIGHTLY warm salted caramel sauce and use either a spoon or the edge of your knife to make that swooping motion around the top of the cupcake.
Sprinkle on some chopped chocolate, pretzels, sea salt, sprinkles, or nothing at all! They’ll look gorgeous either way.
A couple things to know before baking these Guinness chocolate cupcakes:
- Make sure to use Guinness Extra Stout. This will give you that bold flavor as opposed to the Draught version.
- If you don’t have Dutch Process Cocoa Powder, opt for a dark chocolate cocoa powder to get that deep flavor and color.
- MAKE SURE YOUR CARAMEL IS COOLED TO ROOM TEMPERATURE BEFORE USING. Otherwise your buttercream will melt.
- The batter is very thin so don’t be alarmed. It also might not seem very smooth but it will bake up very nicely.
- These cupcakes bake pretty flat so don’t be alarmed if yours didn’t get much of a rise.
With these tips, you’re on your way to making the best chocolate cupcakes you’ll ever have.
For even more cupcake recipes:
- Toasted S’mores Cupcakes
- Roasted Strawberry Cupcakes
- Chocolate Strawberry Hi Hat Cupcakes
- Gluten Free Chocolate Cupcakes
- Brown Butter Vanilla Cupcakes
Make sure to tag me @butternutbakery on Instagram if you make these Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes. I love seeing my recipes come to life in YOUR kitchen! To pin this recipe and save it for later, you can use the button on the recipe card, the buttons above or below this post, or on any of the photos above. Happy baking!
Print
Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 12 cupcakes
Description
These Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes have to be the BEST EVER chocolate cupcakes and are topped with a delicious salted caramel buttercream.
Ingredients
Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes
- 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup dutch processed cocoa powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 2/3 cup stout
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp espresso powder
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temp
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup sour cream
Homemade Salted Caramel (half the recipe)
Salted Caramel Buttercream
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temp
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup salted caramel, cooled
Instructions
Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350F and add 12 cupcake liners to a cupcake tin.
- In a bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda.
- In a cup, mix together the stout, vanilla, and espresso powder.
- Using a hand or stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. About 3-4 minutes.
- Mix in the eggs one at a time and then the sour cream.
- Mix in half of the dry ingredients, half of the stout, half of the dry, then finish with the stout.
- Evenly distribute the batter between your 12 cups and bake for 15-17 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Let them rest for 15 minutes then remove the cupcakes and place on a cooling rack.
Salted Caramel
- Pour into a glass container and let it cool at room temp.
Salted Caramel Buttercream
- Cream together the butter and powdered sugar until smooth.
- Pour in COOLED salted caramel and mix until combined.
- If needed, add more powdered sugar or a teaspoon of milk to either thicken or thin the frosting.
- Frost the cupcakes when they’ve completely cooled. Drizzle the remaining caramel sauce on top. Enjoy!
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
Keywords: chocolate cupcakes, guinness chocolate cupcakes, stout cake
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These seriously look SO DAM GOOD!
haha the exact reaction I hoped for!
Can I make these and the frosting one day in advance?
Absolutely! If you’re planning to make the two separate and then frost the day of, keep both in the fridge. Wrap the bowl of frosting in plastic wrap and keep the cupcakes in an air tight container. For the frosting, let it sit out at room temperature for about 20 minutes then whip it up again with an electric mixer and whisk attachment. It’ll be good as new and ready for frosting!
Instead of cupcakes…could I make this in a cake say 20cm spring form? Or small layered cake? Would you have the ratio? 🙂
This recipe should fit in two 6″ cake pans baked at 325 for about 20 minutes. I haven’t tried it myself so I can’t guarantee anything! You could also use my chocolate cake recipe from my Blackberry Chocolate Cake which is just as rich and moist.
Hey there. Delicious cupcake! Love that you can actually taste the Guinness! My issue is that the cupcakes keep sinking after they’re out of the oven. I’m using a convection oven and have adjusted the temp. I have not overmixed. I’m an instruction follower. LOL Any ideas?
It could be that the liners are filled too high! Try filling them halfway and that should do the trick 🙂
I was annoyed because these rose more than I expected and overflowed the tins. They felt heavy and dense coming out. Then I thought the homemade caramel was too salty, and I considered not using it. I’m so glad I persisted in finishing them because they are AMAZING. They are moist and fluffy when cooled, and the frosting is perfect.
★★★★★
Dear Jenna, this recipe is superbly great. loving the taste of bitterness of stout. 🙂 Wanna check if instead of stout what can i replace for kids.
★★★★★
Oh thank you! You could dry a dark soda like coca cola or dr pepper, otherwise I recommend trying my chocolate cupcake recipe from my s’mores cupcakes 🙂
So, so good! Made these using a porter and the kids loved them!!!
★★★★★
I just made these and they are delicious!! Sooo good! A winner recipe as always!
★★★★★
Yay! Thanks for sharing!
Do you have this recipe converted to grams ,ml etc please? I’m in the UK and would love to give this a try. Many thanks!
I’m currently working on adding weighted measurements to all of my recipes so hopefully you won’t have to run into this again! I would just pop the measurements into a cups to grams converter online and you should be good to go 🙂
Hi, this looks like an awesome recipe. I plan on making them today, but I plan to serve them tomorrow at a family dinner. What is the best way to store these cupcakes overnight? In the refrigerator?
Yep in the refrigerator in a cupcake container!
Is it possible to use greek yogurt instead of the sour cream? I won’t have a chance to get any before I plan on making these.
Yep that’s fine!
Sadly, I don’t have 6″ pans. Would it be a complete fail if I baked this in 8″ pans?
You can try! Just make sure the pans are at least 1/2 full with batter.
These look tasty! I am planning a Steampunk Themed baby shower and thinking these might be nicely in theme. I figure it would, but just double checking that the alcohol would bake out, right? And I would be making these on Thursday, then frosting on Friday for the party Saturday (Traveling out of town for it). Do the cupcakes have to be refrigerated if they are unfrosted?
The alcohol won’t completely bake out, so I can’t guarantee that! But yes, the cupcakes should be refrigerated unfrosted.
AMAZING SCRATCH CAKE!! I used 1 cup of cake flour instead of all purpose and baked in 2 6 inch cake pans at 350 deg for 35 min. So moist, light and full of flavor. Definitely my go to recipe from now on. My family went crazy over it!!
★★★★★
Yay so happy to hear this!
Hi there, may I know what is the size of your cupcake pan? Does this recipe make mini cupcakes or regular sized cupcakes?
Regular sized cupcakes
Hi Jenna! This recipe looks amazing! I was wondering is it possible to bake this recipe into a cake rather than cupcakes? If so, would you say it calls for the same measurements?
Super delicious. Unfortunately mine sank pretty bad and got mishapen, so I did a second batch. I filled them a little less (made 16, first batch I divided between 14) and they did turn out slightly better but still sank. The flavor of these though is incredible. I didn’t necessarily get a Guinness flavor (not that I drink Guinness) but definitely a deep rich chocolate. I made a regular chocolate cake the next day and there was definitely a difference. They were a total hit! Will make again
★★★★
Excited to make these! Could you replace the espresso powder with grounded coffee?
You can sub in instant coffee but ground coffee might leave little chunks of beans in the cupcakes
These cupcakes are truly amazing! They do rise then sink a bit, but that didn’t affect the taste or presentation, especially after being topped with that crazy good caramel icing. Thanks so much for this one, it’s definitely my new favorite!
★★★★★
Outstanding! Everyone raved about these!