Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

Why You’ll Love This Chocolate Chip Cupcake Recipe

• Easy, no-fuss recipe. These aren’t cupcakes that require piping swirls of frosting—or even making a frosting at all! Chocolate chip cupcakes are a cinch to make.
• Fantastic texture and flavor. The flavor of the cupcake portion is reminiscent of a blondie, with the brown sugar really shining through. As these lean toward the cookie spectrum, you’ll find that they’re sturdier than a traditional cupcake, while still being soft.
• Rich chocolate and crunchy pecans. This base is topped with a chocolate and pecan combination that really pushes them over the edge to perfection.

What You’ll Need

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

For the cupcakes:

• Unsalted butter – Let this soften, but not all the way to room temperature.
• Granulated sugar
• Light brown sugar
• Vanilla extract – I like to use my homemade vanilla extract.
• Egg – Let the egg come to room temperature.
• All-purpose flour – Here’s how to measure flour.
• Baking soda
• Salt

For the topping:

• Light brown sugar – Learn more: Light Brown Sugar vs Dark Brown Sugar: What’s the Difference?
• Egg
• Salt
• Miniature semisweet chocolate chips – The size of mini chocolate chips is just right for this topping. If you don’t have mini chips, then you can roughly chop some chocolate and use that instead.
• Pecans – These will be chopped, so save yourself some money and buy pecan pieces at the grocery store instead of pricier whole pecans.
• Vanilla extract

Are Dark Chocolate and Semisweet the Same?

Semisweet chocolate is a type of dark chocolate with a cocoa solid content between 35 and 65%. In other words, all semisweet chocolate is dark chocolate, but not all dark chocolate is semisweet! 

How to Make Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

• Prepare. Preheat your oven to 350°F and add liners to miniature muffin pans, then coat them with nonstick spray.
• Combine the wet ingredients. Use an electric mixer to beat the butter and sugars until the mixture is creamy. Beat in the vanilla extract, followed by the egg.
• Finish the dough. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, mixing just until combined.
• Fill the muffin cups. Spoon about 1 1/2 teaspoons of the batter into each muffin cup. 

• Bake. Place the muffin pan in the oven and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until very lightly browned.
• Mix the topping ingredients. Use an electric mixer on medium speed to beat the brown sugar, egg, and salt. Fold in the chocolate chips, pecans, and vanilla extract.
• Top the cupcakes. Spoon the topping onto the partially baked cupcakes.
• Bake and cool. Return the muffin tin to the oven and bake for 8 to 10 more minutes. Cool the cupcakes in the pans before removing them.

How to Store

• Room temperature: Store these Chocolate Chip Cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days. 
• Freezer: You can freeze Chocolate Chip Cupcakes in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Let them thaw at room temperature before serving.

More Chocolate Chip Desserts

• Double Chocolate Chip Slab Pie
• Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bites
• Chocolate Chip Crumb Cake
• Thick Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake