Love and Olive Oil

Double Shot Mocha Cupcakes

Double Shot Mocha Cupcakes

It’s been a good two months since I last baked cupcakes (with good reason, you’d need a break too if you had made 300 of them in one day). But I figured it was about time. I was also having major chocolate cravings, and we all know the result of those is usually cupcakes. Chocolate cupcakes. Rich, dark, chocolate cupcakes with even more chocolate buttercream. And, in the case of these cupcakes, a shot of espresso mixed right in. These are not your bedtime treats. In fact, I wouldn’t recommend eating them after 4:00 in the afternoon. At least if you’re as sensitive to caffeine as I am, you won’t sleep a wink. Though if you happen to need to stay up late for whatever reason, these cupcakes will put you well on your way.

Double Shot Mocha Cupcakes

Double Shot Mocha Cupcakes

Makes 12 cupcakes.

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Ingredients:

1 cup coconut milk
1 tablespoon instant espresso powder or 1/2 ground coffee
1/3 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Frosting:
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons brewed coffee (cooled)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin pan with paper liners.

In a microwave safe bowl, heat coconut milk until hot (but not boiling). Stir in espresso powder. If you don’t have espresso powder, put coffee grounds into a fine sieve. Pour coconut milk over grounds and allow to seep through. You will end up with a few grounds in your milk this way, but it won’t affect the final product.

Whisk sugar, oil, and vanilla extract in to coffee mixture. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add to wet ingredients and beat until no lumps remain (or very few remain).

Pour into liners, filling each with a scant 1/4 cup of batter. Bake 18-22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely.

For frosting, sift together powdered sugar, cocoa. Cream butter and add to sugar mixture slowly. Add salt, and coffee. Beat 2 minutes. Add vanilla and beat until light and fluffy. Spread or pipe onto cooled cupcakes.

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45 Comments

  1. Good one. Very moist and fluffy

  2. can i add egg in this?? if yes how many?

  3. why does egg did not include here? just wonderin'(:

  4. Totally my favorite cupcake recipe! I use a little more powdered sugar for thicker icing, but other than that I keep everything the same. The coconut milk gives a light fluffy texture, and how can someone say no to coffee? 5 year olds to 105 year olds- all love them!!! Mmmm just made a batch!

  5. mmmm, just polished off one of these. loved them lindsay, thank you!

  6. Hi Lindsay – in the ingredients you have “1 tablespoon instant espresso powder or 1/2 ground coffee”. Should that be 1/2 tablespoon ground coffee? I think the instant should be stronger than the ground, but I could be wrong. Thanks!

  7. thanks for replying, ill give your suggestion a go and fingers crossed it works out :)

  8. hey there, just wondering if you could make this without the cocoa powder, im after just a coffee flavored cupcake, would it still work and taste like coffee?

    • I think you’d be better off adding coffee to a vanilla cupcake recipe. Taking the cocoa powder out of this one would affect the chemistry of it too much, I’d think, and I have no idea what the end result would be. Try my go-to vanilla cupcake recipe, and add a few teaspoons of instant espresso powder.

  9. I use coconut oil as well as these cupcakes are my go to chocolate. They are divine! I frost with a chocolate ganache that is also divine and I make it not too sweet. I’m making these for at least the 10th time this weekend.

  10. Yes, please! I love coffee flavored cupcakes and these look divine! Bookmarking this for a possible dessert option next week. Mmmmm!

  11. These looked so good I decided to leave work early to make them. I am presently licking the bowl and anticipating the the arrival of my lil’ cupcake buddies. Thanks Lindsay and Taylor! PS this is my new favorite website and I just discovered it today, good work!

  12. Hey! absolutely fabulous looking cupcake! I wanted to know what type of camera you use for your food photography? Your pictures are absolutely drool worthy! Im in the market for a good camera for this exact market, any suggestions or help would be fantastic!!

    :)

  13. I’m intrigued by the use of coconut milk instead of regular milk. I’m pretty sure they are as tasty as they look.

  14. yummy it’s my boyfriend’s birthday next week so i’ll be surprising him with these
    thanks

  15. These cupcakes look amazing! I want to try to make some tonight, but I don’t have a coffee pot. Is there something I can substitute for the brewed coffee in the frosting, or some secret way to brew coffee without a pot? Thanks!

  16. Hi Cristin! For sure! Go for it! I was just having one of those I really don’t want to clean the piping bag days. hehe. Hence, spread frosting. :)

  17. Hi Lindsay, was just wondering – is this icing a consistency that could be piped? Thanks!

  18. Heh. Yeah, I used them as wake-up cupcakes as they had an insane amount of coffee :) Everyone kept saying I got the recipe wrong, so I thought I’d just check. Anyway, I loved them *even with crazy amounts of coffee* and will definitely make them again.

  19. Hi Nida –

    In the frosting, it is brewed coffee, not espresso powder. I could see how 3T of that would make things very strong! :) Hope you were able to sleep after eating some of those! hehe.

    I’ll update the recipe now so as to avoid confusion in the future. :)

  20. I made these cupcakes and while they tasted great the coffee flavor was very strong. When you say 3T coffee, do you mean brewed coffee or coffee powder?

  21. I have completed making a batch tonight. Since the can of coconut milk had 1 3/4 cup, I just added another 1/4c milk and doubled the recipe I have a question about the frosting. When listing 3T coffee,do you mean to use the same instant espresso powder?

  22. Awesome! I definitely love coffee & chocolate.

  23. I love coconut milk and chocolate. I combined the two when making pancakes and it was delicious! I wonder if you add the espresso and coconut milk in a french press if it would work? Thanks for the recipe!

  24. Celebrated my 41st birthday on the 23rd WITHOUT a birthday cake because I couldn’t find one without a gazillion fake ingredients. Just didn’t feel like a real birthday without cake, so made these yesterday and they are so good that I’m celebrating all week long!

  25. Yummm these look so delicious! I especially love how you decorated them!

  26. Those look so pretty! The sprinkles and coffee bean make for a great presentation. I made my husband an espresso type cake a few nights ago for his birthday… and last night he totally couldn’t sleep and blamed it on the cake! So I agree w/ your advice :)

  27. These look fantastic. Maybe they’re just the recipe I need for my perfect chocolate cupcake quest! And thanks so much for the recipe cards. I got mine this weekend as well, and they’re gorgeous! I can’t wait to try them out, and can’t wait to “borrow” your idea whenever I get married!

  28. Beth –

    I’ll have to consult Taylor (he’s the mini-cupcake baking expert!) but I’m guessing mini cupcakes will take about 10-12 minutes rather than 20. Just keep your eye on them and I’m sure they’ll turn out great! :)

  29. How should I adjust the time if I’m using a mini-cupcake pan? These look amazing, and I can’t wait to try. Thanks!

  30. Those look fantastic! I love the sprinkles!

  31. I don’t know what it is about the first picture, maybe it’s the sprinkles? But wow! That cupcake looks inviting!

  32. Woah! That was a quick reply :) Even though it’s 3am here, I’m headed off the kitchen. :D

  33. Nida –

    Any milk should do… regular 2%, whole milk, heavy cream, even soymilk or almond milk. The coconut gives a very unique and slightly nutty flavor to the chocolate which I LOVE, but they’ll still turn out just fine without it. :)

  34. Hi,

    Any ideas for what I can use as a coconut milk substitute? Can’t get my hands on any, and really want to bake these.

    Thanks,
    nida

  35. So glad you got back into making cupcakes because these look and sound awesome! My boyfriend will love these – he’s a huge chocoholic.

  36. I’m excited to try these–fascinated by coconut milk in chocolate baked good.

  37. Hiya Lindsay! =) I also got your recipes cards this past weekend (THANK YOU!) and they are just lovely! What a nice wedding favor for your guests! :)

    It was so funny when I looked at the address on the envelope and I was like, “But I don’t know anyone in Tenn….OH YEAH THE CUPCAKE LADY lol!”

    Thank you and congratulations again on your wedding. I hope married life makes u as happy as my husband and I are! :-D *hugs*

  38. this cupcake = my love. caffeine makes the chocolate go into your system even faster! score.

  39. These are perfect!!! Great for breakfast, right? lol

  40. I’m the same way with caffeine. Unfortunately that doesn’t curb my Starbucks addiction one bit…and I wonder why I have insomnia.

    These cupcakes are adorable and I’m sure they’ll give you a little zing in your step. Great recipe!

  41. Oh my goodness, talk about picture perfectT

  42. Oh my these look wonderful! I am glad to see you making cupcakes again, yours are the recipes I book mark most =)

  43. Hey! I got your recipe cards that were from the wedding and I made the Mexican Hot Chocolate ones this weekend and they were so fantastic! Sweet chocolatey goodness! Thank you so much for sending them! :) Gina

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