These Dark Chocolate Cupcakes have no refined sugar (just honey) and are a healthy dessert you can feel good about serving to your kids, or anyone for that matter!
One food misconception I hear all the time is that eating healthy means sacrificing the foods you love most. For example, a bunch of my friends don’t like to let their kids have snacks like cake or cupcakes for all the obvious reasons and so the kids have to miss out on fun things like chocolate cupcakes at birthday parties. I can’t think of many things more heartbreaking than seeing a little one at a party having to eat a banana while all the other kids’ faces are covered in chocolate frosting!
Well, here at weelicious, we’re always up for a challenge. Is there a healthy cupcake with absolutely no refined sugar that parents can be happy to serve their kids and even the most discriminating chocoholic will love? There is now! Enter these delicious and decadent Dark Chocolate Cupcakes!
Why I Love This Recipe
- It’s easy: When I tested this recipe I did it every which way, and turns out this version was the best (and easiest) version we tried! It’s truly a dump in a bowl, mix and bake recipe that is absolutely delicious.
- It’s healthier: Traditionally cupcakes are loaded down with sugar and not something you would want your little ones eating all the time. But these cupcakes are made with no sugar and sweetened naturally with honey. You’d never know it though by the way they taste!
- Kid-approved: Since this recipe is so simple to make, it’s a great one to let your kid’s help you make! They’ll have a blast helping you in the kitchen and you can even let them lick the bowl. The dream!
The Ingredients
For The Dark Chocolate Cupcake
- all purpose flour
- baking soda
- kosher salt
- cocoa powder
- melted butter or olive, avocado or vegetable oil
- honey or agave
- whole milk or plant based milk
- apple cider or white vinegar
For The Chocolate Ganache
- heavy cream
- honey or agave
- unsweetened chocolate bar or chips
- unsalted butter
How to Make Healthy Dark Chocolate Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Place all cupcake ingredients in a mixer or mixing bowl in the order listed in the recipe card and mix well to combine. Batter should be free of lumps. No need to sift the dry ingredients or place in separate bowls. This is a dump in the bowl, mix and bake recipe!
- Fill greased or lined muffin cups with batter about 3/4 full.
- Bake for 20-22 minutes for regular sized and 15 minutes for mini cupcakes.
- Cool and frost with chocolate ganache.
Dark Chocolate Cupcake FAQs and Substitutions
- Can these be made vegan? Yes! The cupcakes can absolutely be made vegan. Make them vegan by using oil instead of melted butter and almond or oat milk instead of cow’s milk.
- What if I don’t have honey? You can use agave or maple syrup in place of the honey and still get a light, perfectly sweet chocolate cupcake.
- Could I make these into a cake? I haven’t personally, but I’ve had a few readers convert this into a layered cake by doubling or tripling the recipe. Depending on the size of your cake you’ll most likely have to bake for a little longer than the cupcake instructions. You’ll know it’s done when a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
- No eggs? Really? Yep! No eggs in these cupcakes. The baking soda and vinegar work together to leaven and bind the cake.
- What kind of cupcake liners did you use? You can use any that you have on hand, but I’m newly obsessed with these silicon cupcake liners. They don’t stick at all and are reusable!
Make Adorable Garden Cupcakes with This Recipe
I recently had a party welcoming the spring season and made adorable Garden Themed Cupcakes using this dark chocolate cupcake recipe! Of course, the simple chocolate icing topped with sprinkles is great, but if you want to really wow your guests, make these!
- What You Need:
- 1 Dark Chocolate Cupcakes recipe
- 12 chocolate wafer cookies, crushed
- 12 two inch terracotta pots
- Edible flowers, fresh berries and mint for decorating
- How to Make Garden Cupcakes
- Make dark chocolate cupcakes as directed in the recipe card below.
- Spread with frosting, then top with crushed chocolate wafers. This is your “dirt” or “soil”.
- Place cupcakes in terracotta pots, and top with edible flowers, berries and mint leaves for adorable cupcake flower pots!
More Healthy Desserts
- Peach Snack Cake
- Berry Coconut Crisps
- No Bake Cookie Dough Balls
- Frozen Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Bites
- Flourless Pumpkin Chocolate Muffins
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Dark Chocolate Cupcakes
These Dark Chocolate Cupcakes are decadent, delicious and naturally sweetened using honey! A healthy dessert that actually tastes like the "real" thing!
Ingredients
Dark Chocolate Cupcakes:
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup butter (melted) OR olive, avocado or vegetable oil
- 2/3 cup honey or agave
- 2/3 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon apple cider or white vinegar
Chocolate Ganache:
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1/3 cup honey or agave
- 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped fine
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
Instructions
Dark Chocolate Cupcake Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Place cupcake ingredients in a mixer or mixing bowl in the order listed and mix well to combine. Batter should be free of lumps. (No need to sift the dry ingredients or place in separate bowls. This is a dump in the bowl, mix and bake recipe).
- Fill greased or lined muffin cups with batter about 3/4 full.
- Bake for 20-22 minutes for regular sized and 15 minutes for mini cupcakes.
- Cool and frost with chocolate ganache.
Chocolate Ganache Instructions:
- Heat the cream and honey (or agave) in a small saucepan just to a boil, whisking to combine.
- Turn off the heat and add the chocolate. Whisk constantly until chocolate is melted.
- Pour into a bowl and add the butter 1 tablespoon at a time until icing is smooth and butter is incorporated.
- Let the icing come to room temperature to allow it to set. You can also put the icing in the refrigerator for 5-10 minutes to speed up the process. Dip the cupcakes into the icing or spread using an offset spatula or knife.
Notes
- Can these be made vegan? Yes! The cupcakes can absolutely be made vegan. Make them vegan by using oil instead of melted butter and almond or oat milk instead of cow’s milk.
- What if I don’t have honey? You can use agave or maple syrup in place of the honey and still get a light, perfectly sweet chocolate cupcake.
- Could I make these into a cake? I haven’t personally, but I’ve had a few readers convert this into a layered cake by doubling or tripling the recipe. Depending on the size of your cake you’ll most likely have to bake for a little longer than the cupcake instructions. You’ll know it’s done when a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
Nutrition
Calories: 378kcal | Carbohydrates: 47g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 14g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 51mg | Sodium: 427mg | Potassium: 164mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 29g | Vitamin A: 607IU | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 43mg | Iron: 2mg
Did you make this recipe?Mention @Weelicious or tag #weelicious!
Images by Ivan Solis
Garden Cupcake Images by Gerry Speirs
Nettle leaf, not nettle root. Nettle root is good for psattore problems but not so much for what most people want out of nettle. Nettle leaf is one of the herbs that almost anyone can take at any time. I’ve never heard of a recommendation to only use it for a limited time. I know Susun Weed recommends it daily for all seasons of life. It’s gentle, supporting the liver and kidneys, full of nutrients. I drink an infusion of it almost daily and can the difference (low energy) when I stop for a while.
Without being there I can’t know for sure what happened. How did you measure your ingredients? You may have used too much flour or not enough liquid. I scoop the flour into the measuring cups with a spoon and then level with the flat side of a knife. If you pack your flour in the cups or scoop directly from the container you would end up with more flour than I used. What type of flour did you use?
I just made these and they taste like glue… I’m a former vegan baker so I know what I’m doing… what do you think happened?!
Hello, a good friend of mine just rrrefeed me to your blog. This recipe sounds right up my alley. as for soaking the almond meal, do you grind your own almonds? If you soaked your almonds and then ground them you wouldn’t have to soak the meal.oh and Jann’e I hate to answer on someone else’s blog. But I wouldn’t bake flax. Heating flax will break down it’s nutrients and actually cause the oil to turn “rancid” causing a carcinogen. Flax is incredibly sensitive. The best way to eat flax is freshly ground and topped on cereal, smoothies, waffles, ect.glad I found your blog, looking forward to reading more!Brittany
Since this recipe has no eggs the baking soda and vinegar work together to leaven and bind the cake!
Why does it call for vinegar? I am just curious since I”ve never seen it with other cupcake recipes.
Thanks so much for this recipe Catherine. I live in Uk and trying to find good healthy recipes as many of my family and friends have allergies or can’t tolerate some things. My hubby is on Gluten free diet i’m diabetic (althoughI can eat most things as long as I limit the amount) and my son has ADHD so additives not good for him and my tutor at college is Dairy Free so this was so helpful
The icing will hold to the cake pop, but you would probably have to let it dry.
Just tried the recipe in cake pop pans and it worked beautifully… home make cake pops or doughnut holes 🙂 would the ganache icing be firm enough to hold on the the cake pop? If not, can you suggest an icing recipe that would work. Thanks for all your great recipes 🙂
Vegetable or Canola!
Vegetable oil or olive oil?
Is it possible to substitute the ap flour for whole wheat flour? I would actually love to use coconut flour but I know the consistency is different. So looking forward to making these!!
These are soooo easy and perfect for freezing…thank you!! I subbed banana for the oil and they were great as a choc banana cupcake! Perfect for kiddos that can’t get enough banana. 🙂
If I wanted to make this a cake what size pan would I use? And long would you bake it. I live in Colorado so at high altitude?
Yes, I always use unsweetened cocoa powder so I sometimes forget to specify! Yes, white vinegar! Oy, sometimes this mommy’s brain gets a little scrambled!
Is it correct for me to assume that the Cocoa Powder is unsweetened and the vinegar is white vinegar? Thank you!