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Chocolate Mousse Mini Cupcakes

These chocolate mousse mini cupcakes take four simple ingredients and turn them into an indulgent little bite that’s perfect for a party!

3 chocolate mousse mini cupcakes

Baked Milk Chocolate Mousse Cups

Consider these chocolate mousse mini cupcakes a marriage of traditional chocolate mousse and a chocolate cupcake, all in a convenient bite-sized form. They’ve got the richness of mousse, but instead of being served whipped and chilled, they get baked in the oven like mini cupcakes.

The most amazing thing is that you can make these with just four ingredients. If you’re busy like I am this time of year, these kinds of recipes can be life-savers. Just top them off with some sweetened whipped cream, and you’ve got a beautiful plate of tiny, lovely desserts.

When I make desserts for a gathering, I like to make mini treats like these chocolate mousse mini cupcakes so there’s no slicing and serving to be done—and so everyone feels free to try a few different desserts. These cupcakes are so easy, you’ll have plenty of time to make some other mini muffin pan dessert recipes to pair with them!

Overhead view of ingredients for chocolate mousse mini cupcakes

What You’ll Need

Scroll down to the recipe card to find the ingredient quantities and recipe instructions.

  • Milk chocolate – You can certainly use another type of chocolate, but because there’s no dairy or cream in this recipe, I appreciate the flavor of milk chocolate here.
  • Eggs – Just like with traditional chocolate mousse, eggs are a key player in this recipe.
  • All-purpose flour – Learn more: How to Measure Flour
  • Vanilla extract – Use store-bought or homemade vanilla extract.
  • Whipped cream and chocolate shavings – Use these or choose your own garnishes for the perfect finishing touch.
Chocolate chips in bowl

Do You Need Special Chocolate for Baking?

You can use any type of milk chocolate in this recipe, whether it’s a bar you grab from the checkout lane at the grocery store or milk chocolate chips sold in the baking section. Just make sure it’s high quality!

How to Make Chocolate Mousse Mini Cupcakes

These chocolate mousse mini cupcakes are quite easy to make—in fact, cracking all the eggs is probably the hardest part! Here’s what you’ll need to do.

Prepare. Preheat your oven to 325°F and grease 48 mini muffin cups with non-stick spray.

Melted chocolate in bowl

Melt the chocolate. Place the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat the chocolate at half power in 30-second intervals until the chocolate melts when you stir it. Keep stirring until it’s smooth, then set it aside to cool slightly.

Finish the batter. Beat the eggs and flour in a large bowl until combined, then beat in the chocolate, followed by the vanilla.

Bake. Divide the batter into the muffin cups, filling each about 2/3 full. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the edges of the cupcakes are browned and the centers jiggle slightly.

Overhead view of chocolate mousse mini cupcakes on wire rack

Cool. Let the mini cupcakes cool in the pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes. Then, carefully remove the cupcakes from the pans to finish cooling. 

Chocolate mousse mini cupcakes on wire rack, being decorated

Garnish. Add a dollop of whipped cream to each mini cupcake and sprinkle chocolate shavings over the top before serving.

Chocolate mousse mini cupcakes on tray

Tips for Success

If you’re new to baking, look over my baking tips for beginners to make sure you’ve got the basics down. Here are some additional tips to help you with these chocolate mousse mini cupcakes.

  • Use high-quality chocolate. In other words, it should be something you’d want to snack on. Chocolate is a key ingredient, so these will only be as good as the chocolate you put in them. 
  • Let the chocolate cool a bit after melting. Otherwise, it will cook the eggs in the batter.
  • Don’t use paper liners. I’ve made these with and without liners, and I found that the cupcakes tended to lose their shape in the liners.
  • Loosen carefully. Run a knife between the pan and the cupcake to loosen the mousse cakes if necessary.
Overhead view of 3 chocolate mousse mini cupcakes

Variations

Try swapping the vanilla extract with a coffee liqueur or hazelnut liqueur. To garnish, you can swap the chocolate shavings for a raspberry or slice of strawberry. 

How to Store

Once you’ve added the whipped cream on top, these chocolate mousse mini cupcakes will need to be stored in the refrigerator. Place them in an airtight container and store them for up to 3 days.

If you’d like to store these before adding the garnish, you can keep them at room temperature in an airtight container for 4 to 5 days.

Chocolate mousse mini cupcake on small pedestal

Can This Recipe Be Frozen?

You can freeze chocolate mousse mini cupcakes in an airtight container for up to 2 months. Let them thaw in the refrigerator before garnishing and serving.

More Bite-Sized Dessert Ideas

Chocolate Mousse Mini Cupcakes

Yield 48 mini cupcakes
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes

Chocolate Mousse Mini Cupcakes take the popular classic and turn it into little bites of baked chocolate goodness made with just four ingredients.

Chocolate mousse mini cupcakes on tray

Ingredients

  • 15 ounces (425g) milk chocolate (about 2 & 1/3 cups)
  • 6 large eggs, beaten
  • 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (45g) all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • sweetened whipped cream and chocolate shavings or chocolate curls, for garnish

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease 48 mini muffin cups.
  2. Place the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat at half power in the microwave in 30-second increments until the chocolate melts when stirred. Stir until smooth. Set aside to cool slightly.
  3. Place the eggs and flour in a large bowl. Beat until combined. Add the chocolate and beat until thoroughly mixed and smooth. Mix in the vanilla.
  4. Fill muffin cups about 2/3 full of batter.
  5. Bake 8 to 10 minutes, or until the edges are browned and centers shake slightly.
  6. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes. Then, carefully remove from pans and cool completely. Run a knife between the pan and the cupcake to loosen the cupcake if necessary.
  7. Garnish with whipped cream and chocolate shavings or chocolate curls before serving.

Notes

Recipe slightly adapted from MyRecipes.

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    26 Comments on “Chocolate Mousse Mini Cupcakes”

  1. I love how simple these are! There is nothing better than mini desserts that allow you to eat quite a few of them;-)

  2. Aw Jen these are so beautiful- thank you so much for bringing them to my “shower” 🙂 They look so fluffy and spongey and rich- perfect for my sweet tooth that is growing every day!!

    And I tell you what- add a little booze and I won’t tell anyone!! 🙂

  3. I love chocolate mousse, and the fact that you’ve put it in an individual serving size is genius! What a nice dessert for a virtual baby shower!

  4. I wish we were all getting together in real life, too — all this yummy food on my screen is driving me crazy! Love how easy these are to make — less effort and time to get them all in my belly. 😉

  5. I have a thing for mousse that I only discovered a couple years ago. I would devour these.

  6. These look DIVINE! I love that they’re made with so few ingredients and are mousse-y. I just got some silicone molds that will work wonderfully with this recipe, and with so many eggs it’ll easily adapt to being gluten-free. Lovely! So pleased to work on Audra’s shower with you 🙂 I also freelance from home, and get the isolation that sneaks in after a while. These relationships are such a joy!

  7. Those look great. One of my favorite groups to bake for ADORE bite-sized. Their argument is “mini sized always justifies another one”. HA I love that kind of logic. Music to a baker’s ears. Can’t wait to make these for them (after the other 50 you’ve already encouraged me to bake!). And thanks for the other suggestions and links from the event. Like I need another baking site to encourage me to bake more at this time of year but I love finding new sites and great bakers like you to give me more ideas and fun. Thanks, Jennifer.

  8. I came running when I saw this recipe. Well figuratively running, as you pointed out, blogging is pretty virtual. Chocolate mousse in cupcake form? Great idea!

  9. Looks wonderful, I became hungry 🙂

  10. With the word mousse being in their name, I can only imagine how heavenly these must taste! We all thank you for bringing the chocolate Jennifer…it is an essential flavor!

  11. I seriously need more mini chocolate things in my life. This sounds awesome!!

  12. Oh yum, I haven’t had chocolate mousse in forever but it is the best! Love the simplicity of this recipe, it’s perfect for this crazy busy month!

  13. I don’t think it really matters whether you call them cupcakes or mousse bites, the excellence in flavor will probably be the same! These look fantastic!

  14. These are for SURE the perfect bite – LITERALLY. So rich!! Love em. And yeah, the blogging friends make the solitary moments totally worth it!

  15. These sound delicious! Chocolate Mousse mini cupcakes steal my heart just by the name then those pictures <3,<3 ! I will definitely be making these this weekend!

  16. Yummy! These are the perfect bites!

  17. These mini cupcakes came out great, I love how cute they are! I could sure finish a few.. 😉

  18. I love Audra and I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE how decadent and delicious these little mousse cakes look!!

  19. These little bites look so yummy!

  20. These look incredible! Definitely the kind of treat I could OVER indulge in 😉

  21. I love mousse! I can’t believe you turned it into cupcakes! Yum.

  22. i made these yesterday and i was so excited about that! mine came out more of a cake consistency instead of mouse? any ideas what i can do next time to ensure that they have that mousy deliciousness??? THANKS!

  23. Hi …please tell me which milk chocolate do we use here. ..the one that we buy to eat off the shelf or the milk chocolate that we use for cooking.
    I am desperate to try this recipe!!!
    Thank you

  24. I just made these and what a great alternative to cupcakes. Chocolate cakey decadence and that from my bite without whipped cream! 

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