Yellow Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting — These from-scratch yellow cupcakes with chocolate buttercream frosting taste just like the kind you grew up eating at childhood birthday parties!
Classic Yellow Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting
At the beginning of the year, I made it a goal to post some classic recipes on my site. Goal fulfilled.
In this very Pinteresty world, there’s always another Nutella-swirled, brown buttered, bacon crumbled, bourbon-infused recipe for everything from cookies to cakes. But sometimes you don’t want potato chips in your cookies or pretzels in your salted caramel.
Sometimes you just want a classic yellow cupcake with chocolate frosting like you remember eating at birthday parties as a kid. These are those cupcakes.
Sure, you could use cake mix. Duncan Hines makes an almost unbeatable yellow (I ate plenty when I toured their test kitchen last month), but I just had to make these from scratch. And they really don’t take any more time to make than using a mix.
I used melted butter and so there’s nothing to cream, making it a fast, whisk-together cake batter, just like making muffins or quick bread. A bowl of wet ingredients, fold in the dry, pour into liners, and bake. I used melted butter not only for ease, but for color, and most importantly for flavor.
Often I prefer oil in cakes, muffins, and quick breads because it keeps them so soft, but only in recipes where there are other dominating flavors, like chocolate or pumpkin, which will mask the butter flavor anyway. But with yellow cupcakes, that buttery flavor is instrumental.
In addition to the butter, the other ‘fat source’ is 6-ounces of nonfat honey Greek yogurt. If you can’t find honey flavor, use vanilla.
I tinkered around with various combinations of 1 egg, 2 eggs, 1 egg plus 1 yolk, and a popular Cook’s Illustrated The New Best Recipe (a cooking Bible, best $22 bucks you’ll ever spend on a cookbook) calls for 1 egg plus 2 yolks.
Although I try hard not to use partial eggs in recipes because it’s just annoying, I found that 1 egg plus 1 yolk gives the right amount of moisture and thickness to the batter. Yolks add moisture, whites dry things out, and having extra moisture insurance in cupcakes is nice since they’re prone to being dry. The extra yolk also helps add a more golden hue.
To top the yellow cupcakes, I made a simple chocolate buttercream frosting. One stick of butter, cocoa powder, confectioner’s sugar, dash of vanilla. That’s it. If you want to add a splash of cream or milk to thin it, feel free but I didn’t.
It’s dense, uber-thick and fudgy. It’s not too ‘dark’ of a chocolate flavor. We didn’t have 72% chocolate on birthday party cupcakes when I was growing up, and this frosting tastes like my childhood.
Piping bags and I don’t generally get along, but I tried my best with a Wilton 1M tip and disposable piping bag.
I garnished with Wilton Chocolate Jimmies. The sprinkles taste more like real chocolate, and not like corn syrup made to taste like chocolate, compared to any other brand of chocolate sprinkles I’ve tried.
These from-scratch yellow cupcakes are soft, moist, springy, light, and are what I’d want to see on a big spread at a birthday party, graduation party, or shower. Or on any old Wednesday afternoon.
The chocolate buttercream frosting for the cupcakes is rich, creamy, and has a perfect chocolate intensity. Not too bold and dark, or too light and wimpy, and not cloyingly sweet.
It’s piled on sky high. The only way to enjoy a cupcake.
What’s in Yellow Cupcakes & Chocolate Buttercream Frosting?
To make the homemade yellow cupcakes, you’ll need:
- Unsalted butter
- Eggs
- Granulated sugar
- Greek yogurt
- Vanilla extract
- All-purpose flour
- Baking soda
- Salt
And to make the chocolate frosting for the cupcakes, you’ll need:
- Unsalted butter
- Unsweetened cocoa powder
- Confectioners’ sugar
- Vanilla extract
- Cream or milk
- Chocolate sprinkles
How to Make Yellow Cupcakes
To make the classic yellow cupcakes, melt the butter then stir in the egg plus yolk, sugar, yogurt, and vanilla. Next, stir in the dry ingredients.
Place about 2 tablespoons of batter per cupcake into your muffin cups so they’re solidly 3/4 full. Bake until the tops are golden, set, slightly domed, and springy to the touch. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean or with a few moist crumbs, but no batter.
You need to let the yellow cupcakes cool completely before frosting.
How to Make Chocolate Frosting for Cupcakes
This chocolate buttercream cupcake frosting recipe is so simple! To make the best cupcake frosting, add the butter to the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until light and fluffy (it’ll take about 5 minutes).
Add the cocoa powder, sugar, and vanilla to the butter and beat for another 5 minutes.
Once the yellow cupcakes have cooled, pipe the chocolate buttercream frosting on top and garnish with sprinkles, if desired.
Can I Freeze Yellow Cupcakes?
Yes, the yellow cupcakes should be baked and then allowed to cool completely before being stored in a freezer bag or freezer-safe container. When you’re ready to enjoy the frozen cupcakes, place them on your counter to thaw. Note that you should freeze the cupcakes before they’re iced.
Can I Freeze Frosting?
Yes, the homemade chocolate buttercream frosting for the cupcakes can be prepared and frozen separately from the cupcakes. When you’re ready to eat the frozen cupcake frosting, place it in the fridge to thaw.
Can I Make This Recipe as a Regular Cake?
Possibly, but I haven’t tried it before so I can’t say for sure. If you’re looking for a classic yellow cake recipe, I recommend making my Easy Yellow Cake and topping it with the chocolate buttercream icing I used for these yellow cupcakes.
Can I Make This Recipe as Mini Cupcakes?
I bet you could, although you’d need to drastically reduce the cook time. If you make mini yellow cupcakes with this recipe, please leave me a comment below letting me know how they turned out!
Tips for Making the Best Yellow Cupcakes
If you don’t have yogurt on hand, plain Greek yogurt or sour cream will work as well, but you’ll miss out on a bit of sweetness and sour cream adds tons more fat. I’m very pleased that I got the cupcakes to stay soft and moist without piling in mindless fat grams.
Also, be sure to sift the cocoa powder into the butter mixture when making the chocolate buttercream frosting. Sifting the cocoa powder will ensure that no lumps form while the frosting is being whipped up.
Lastly, don’t overbake these yellow cupcakes. In my oven, just over 18 minutes is ideal, and by 20 minutes, while they don’t appear to be too dark, they taste dry. You’ll have to find your own oven’s sweet spot.
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Classic Yellow Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients
Yellow Cupcakes
- ½ cup unsalted butter, 1 stick, melted
- 1 large egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 6 ounces about 1/2 cup Greek yogurt (I used nonfat honey Greek yogurt; vanilla or plain Greek yogurt, or sour cream may be substituted)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt, optional and to taste
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
- ½ cup unsalted butter, 1 stick, softenend
- ½ cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder, sifted (I used Trader Joe’s)
- 2 ½ to 3 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted is ideal
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- splash cream or milk, only as needed for consistency
- chocolate sprinkles, optional for garnishing
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line a Non-Stick 12-Cup Regular Muffin Pan with paper liners; set aside.
For the Cucpakes:
- In a large, microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter, about 1 minute on high power.
- Allow the butter to cool momentarily (so you don’t scramble the eggs), and add the egg plus yolk, sugar, yogurt, vanilla, and whisk to combine.
- Stir in the flour, baking powder, optional salt, and mix until just combined and free from large lumps; don’t overmix or cupcakes will be tough.
- Using a medium 2-inch cookie scoop, place about 2 tablespoons of batter per cupcake into each of the 12 cavities so they’re solidly 3/4 full. There will likely be enough batter for a 13th cupcake, and either lick the bowl or discard it; or I placed a large paper liner inside a mini loaf pan, and fit the mini pan on the rack next to the main muffin pan.
- Bake for 18 to 19 minutes, or until tops are golden, set, slightly domed, and springy to the touch. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean or with a few moist crumbs, but no batter.
- Allow cupcakes to cool in pan for 5 to 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. While they cool, make the frosting.
For the Frosting:
- To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter and beat on medium-high speed until pale, light and fluffy, about 5 minutes (or use a hand mixer and beat for at least 7 minutes). Stop to scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
- Add the cocoa (sift it, or you will have a hard time getting the lumps out of the frosting), 2 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, and beat on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Stop to scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
- Based on texture and taste preferences, optionally add 1/2 cup additional sugar (for 3 cups total), which I find necessary to achieve a thick consistency with my ingredients. If your frosting seems thick enough, refrain from the additional sugar and/or add a splash of cream to thin it.
- Transfer frosting to a piping bag and frost the cooled cupcakes. I used a Wilton 1M tip . Or simply spread frosting on with a knife.
- Optionally, garnish each cupcake with a pinch of sprinkles (do it over the sink because they fly around when they hit the frosting).
Notes
- Cupcakes will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 3 days. I personally am comfortable storing buttercream-frosted items at room temp, but if you prefer to store in the fridge, that’s fine, but note the fridge will dry them out more quickly.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Gorgeous! You should make cupcakes more often. :D I love a good yellow cake – I have yet to find one that measures up to the luscious box version. *shhh* Please don’t tell anyone how much I love that beloved box cake from childhood. ;)
I should, but they’re a pain. If it was just for us, not a biggie, but when you’re making something to take pics of it, you know it’s a way different situation :)
And nothing can ever replaced boxed yellow mix. It’s the best, I love it, and always will. But these come close!
Sometimes simple and classic cupcakes are the best! I worked at a bakery earlier this year, and when we would have yellow cupcakes with chocolate frosting, they were ALWAYS the first cupcakes we ran out of. These cupcakes look absolutely perfect! I also love that you get into the science of it all. Love this post!
I love the details and story that the yellow cupcakes with chocolate frosting were the first to sell out at the bakery. That was my whole rational for making these – that I KNEW people want classics. When googling for a recipe, the avg person does not type in something exotic or fancy; they type in white cupcakes, or yellow cupcakes, and go from there. Glad you like the science, too!
Please continue to post classic recipes. I guess I am just an old-fashioned girl-
simple, comfort foods are the best! Can’t wait to try the cupcakes, they look delicious!
I am glad you like the classics. It’s very hard b/c people want ‘new and fresh’ and there’s nothing new and fresh about yellow cupcakes but it’s a staple and I think everyone should be able to make them, from scratch, at least once. So now I have a recipe for that! :)
I like the classics. These look great and that frosting piled on top – love it!
Averie – these cupcakes are GORGEOUS! And that frosting – such a perfect piping job! My hands shake too much to do what you do. PINNED of course :)
I tried to make them as pretty as I could but I really don’t consider myself an expert at all and it’s sort of random how I add the frosting. Sometimes they’re uniform and looking good, and otherwise it’s just random splooges with no design strategy. lol
Thanks for pinning!
Wowwww they look so….fluffy and grrr bite-worthy, lol. That’s exactly how I feel! :D I think these sound much much better than boxed cake mix as I’ve never actually liked those–they taste way too sweet and not homemade at all. Great job with the frosting, too!
Thank you for another recipe to try on my quest to replicate the boxed variety. These look like a great contender!
There’s something about mixes that no matter what, they are not duplicate-able, but these are very, very good!
I would absolutely rather go to the trouble of making these in my own kitchen as opposed to buying a boxed mix. I know what you are saying about not wanting to divide eggs up, but in this case, it would be worth it. I love how your bare cupcakes almost look like cornbread muffins. They look so delicious and my husband absolutely loves yellow cake/muffins. I will have to make these for him!
Cornbread muffins – you’re right! And yes dividing eggs is the pits but had to for these and if your hubs loves yellow cake and you try these, LMK what he says!
Gotta love the classics! These look simply perfect :)
We call this combination bronco cake at our house. My sister went to WMU where the mascot is the bronco.. and the colors are brown and gold. So my sister always needs this combination for her birthday :)
Cute story! :)
Love your classic recipes! Tons of frosting is the only way to go with cupcakes!
there’s nothing better than a classic cupcake!
cake mixes make the best base for truly scrumptious creations!
case in point here!
Except these are from scratch 100% :)
Oh no I know! I should have wrote that better, sorry.
I was referring to the mention of Duncan Hines in your post.
Yes, I love that these are from scratch.
Mybad, written at night while tired!
No worries girl. I type comments and then go back and re-read them AFTER I hit enter that I wish I could re-write them b/c what I said isn’t conveying and/or I was half asleep :)
These look so good! I love basic, simple recipes. Sometimes it’s good to take a break from complicated and/or nonbasic/out of the ordinary recipes.
When people google for cupcakes, they generally want some basic staples..not something with potato chips and pistachio pastry cream in it :)
Yup, I know!! Sometimes, I just want a plain old cupcake, with no add-ins, with chocolate frosting on top, and just enjoy the basicness of it!
Chocolate icing and yellow cake is my favorite combination! Yum, yum, yum!
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These look so fantastic. It’s so true that sometimes you just need to go back to basics — especially when your basics look so fabulous :) Loved your comments on which fats to use and how many eggs (I can’t help but use partial eggs sometimes too!) And you can’t beat that chocolate buttercream. Thanks so much for posting! I’ll have to make these sometime.
It’s so annoying to use partial eggs but here, I just had to!