Decadent Flourless Chocolate Cupcakes

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These incredibly rich and chocolatey flourless chocolate cupcakes are fabulous hot out of the oven with some cold ice cream. They are also crowd pleasers at room temperature topped with chocolate whipped cream. Think of them as the the fudgy brownies of the cupcake world!

Flourless chocolate cupcake cut open on a plate with a dripping scoop of ice cream on top

I originally started making this recipe as a decedent treat for Passover, but it’s wonderful any time of the year a great choice if you are serving dessert to someone who is following a gluten-free diet.

Ingredients

Top down labeled ingredient shot for flourless chocolate cupcakes

This recipe doesn’t use any fancy ingredients. But, you will need A LOT of chocolate. Because chocolate is the predominant flavor, make sure you use a chocolate that you love. One of my favorite chocolates to bake with is TCHO.

How It’s Made

Start by dissolving sugar into water with a touch of salt. This takes just a few minutes in a small saucepan over medium heat. Remove from the heat and stir in vanilla extract.

Sugar syrup in a saucepan on the stove with a purple spatula

Next, melt your chocolate. While I often suggest melting chocolate in the microwave, I like to use a a metal mixing bowl over a pot of boiling water (a double boiler) when I want this much chocolate melted evenly. Stir continually for a few minutes until it’s all melted.

partially melted chocolate in a mixing bowl over a pot on the stove with a red spatula

Mix room temperature butter into the melted chocolate a little bit at a time.

Hand dropping butter pieces into a stand mixer filled with chocolate with paddle lifted

Then, stir in the sugar water and gently mix in the eggs and egg whites until fully incorporated.

Egg being dropped into stand mixer

Fill cupcake liners almost all the way to the top. These are flourless and have no leavening agent so they may rise a bit during baking (from the eggs). It’s normal for them to settle back down as they cool.

Filling cupcake liner with an ice cream scoop

Bake at 350 F for 40 minutes. The tops should be set and crackly and a toothpick should come out with some chocolate on it but not be totally wet.

flourless chocolate cupcake on a plate with no topping and other cupcakes in the background

Expert Tips and FAQs

How to Serve

These cupcakes are very rich – like fudgy chocolate brownies. If you eat one warm, the center may still be a little molten. It’s heavenly!

A giant swirl of frosting is a bit much for these cupcakes. If you want to frost them, consider a small swirl of chocolate cream cheese frosting or a ganache.

My preference is to top them with Chantilly cream once cooled (chocolate whipped cream and strawberry whipped cream are great choices, too) or to scoop a generous amount of my favorite flavor of ice cream on top while they’re still warm.

flourless chocolate cupcake with melty vanilla ice cream cream on top and some cupcakes in the background

FAQs

Can I make this recipe as a cake?

Yes! I suggest using a greased springform pan and chilling the cake before removing the sides.

Can I make these as mini cupcakes?

Sure! They are great as minis – especially if there will be many other desserts on the table. Follow my guidelines for mini cupcakes.

Do I have to use dark chocolate?

No. This can be made with any kind of chocolate. If you use baking chocolate, increase the sugar by 1/4 cup since the chocolate isn’t sweet at all.

My cupcakes sank in the middle – is this normal?

If you remove the cupcakes from your oven before their centers are totally set, they will sink in the middle. Letting the cupcakes sit in the tins for five minutes after baking will help a bit. Remember that sunk cupcakes give you a perfect spot to put your topping!

Are these cupcakes kosher for Passover?

If you take your u0022kosher for Passoveru0022 to more serious levels than I, you will want to use kosher versions of all of these products. If you are of the mindset that chocolate doesn’t rise so it’s kosher for Passover, then just go for the best ingredients you can find. Also, keep in mind that the cupcakes have butter and should not be served with a dairy meal unless you use an alternative butter like Country Crock’s plant butter.

Why are the bottoms of my cupcake liners greasy?

Because this is a very moist and buttery recipe, the bottoms of your liners may get a little greasy if you don’t use grease-proof liners. Wipe them off with a paper towel. Don’t be alarmed – the cupcakes don’t taste at all greasy!

How should I store flourless chocolate cupcakes?

Store these cupcakes at room temperature for up to 5 days or freeze for several months. Use a microwave to reheat them if you want to serve them warm.

Did you make this recipe? Leave a review!
Flourless chocolate cupcake cut open on a plate with a dripping scoop of ice cream on top
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4.67 from 6 votes

Decadent Flourless Chocolate Cupcakes

These incredibly rich and chocolatey flourless chocolate cupcakes are fabulous hot out of the oven with some cold ice cream. They are also crowd pleasers at room temperature topped with chocolate whipped cream. Think of them as the fudgy brownies of the cupcake world!
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings 16 cupcakes
Calories 344kcal
Author Stefani

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup white sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 18 ounces dark chocolate baking discs, chips, or any chocolate chopped into small pieces will work
  • 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature, cut into tablespoon-sized pieces
  • 3 large eggs
  • 3 large egg whites

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 F.
  • Combine the water, salt, and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir until completely dissolved, remove from heat, and stir in vanilla extract.
  • In a metal mixing bowl (I like to use the bowl of my stand mixer) over a pot of boiling water, stir the chocolate until it melts.
  • Remove the bowl from the stove and, if using the bowl from a stand mixer, place on the mixer. Beat the butter into the chocolate, one or two pieces at a time.
  • Beat in the hot sugar-water.
  • Beat in the eggs and the egg whites, one at a time.
  • Use a disher to transfer the batter almost all the way to the top of lined cupcake tins.
  • Bake for 40 minutes. The tops will be set and slightly cracked and a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake will come out with chocolate on it, but it won't be wet.
  • Do not take the cupcakes out of the tins. Wait until the cupcakes are cool enough to handle with your bare hands (5 – 10 minutes). If you take the cupcakes out of the tins while they are still hot, they they are more likely to sink in the middle.

Video

Notes

I adapted the flourless chocolate cake recipe from Allrecipes into these cupcakes.
These can be made with any kind of chocolate. If you use baking chocolate, increase the sugar by 1/4 cup since the chocolate isn’t sweet at all.
If you remove the cupcakes from your oven before their centers are totally set, they will sink in the middle. Letting the cupcakes sit in the tins for five minutes after baking will help a bit. Remember that sunk cupcakes give you a perfect spot to put your topping!
Because this is a very moist and buttery recipe, the bottoms of your liners may get a little greasy if you don’t use grease-proof liners. Wipe them off with a paper towel. Don’t be alarmed – the cupcakes don’t taste at all greasy!
Store these cupcakes at room temperature for up to 5 days or freeze for several months. Use a microwave to reheat them if you want to serve them warm.

Nutrition

Calories: 344kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 26g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 62mg | Sodium: 66mg | Potassium: 252mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 17g | Vitamin A: 412IU | Calcium: 32mg | Iron: 4mg
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Recipe Rating




44 comments:

  1. Giftbasketworldwidesays:

    Absolutely amazing work. Thank you so much for sharing and inspiration.

  2. Annabellesays:

    3 stars
    I found this recipe back in 2009 (when the pictures had a Moses figurine in them!) Looks like the recipe has changed since then, as they used to be baked in a water bath.

    Really bummed to say that without the water bath, these turned out unbearably dry and crumbly and were not fudgy at all. Stef, would you happen to have a copy of the old recipe you could email or link somewhere in this version? The old version is to die for

    • Stefsays:

      So sorry to hear that you liked the old version better. I recently changed the recipe when I tested the old recipe and found that it wasn’t setting properly. I didn’t want other people to have the same problem. My family all liked the new version better. In the current post, I link to the allrecipes recipe that I got the old cupcake recipe from (mine was just adapted to be cupcake). You can follow that recipe if you like.

  3. Beekitesays:

    5 stars
    Your recipe is the best one I found on the net. Maybe because its the closest that resembles my mother’s recipe. Thank you!

  4. Sandysays:

    5 stars
    These are to die for. Just a quick comment that rising is not an issue on Passover. You can find kosher for Passover baking powder and baking soda and use them to bake with as long as you’re using kosher for Passover flours (matza meal, potato flour, almond flour, etc.). Common misconception but untrue

  5. Samanthasays:

    Could you make these ahead of time and freeze them for a few days?

  6. Megansays:

    Do you know how coconut butter would work for this?

  7. cook apples in skilletsays:

    If you have children you can even make your own baby food.

    At work the next day we all agree that we would go the next week
    and if things did not improve we would skip the rest of the cooking courses and spend the time having drinks and dinner.
    For example, if chicken is your main meat for the week, you can
    buy organic chicken whole and use different parts of it
    for different meals.

  8. Anonymoussays:

    These look great. Why does it need to cook in the water, though?

  9. michesearessays:

    when you say “eggs” and then egg whites, do you mean use just the yolk for the “eggs” or do i need 6 eggs in total?

  10. air to air heat exchangersays:

    Stef, those cupcakes must be real good because Moses looks very protective of them!

  11. Marysays:

    I recently made a flourless cake and it had a strange goo on the bottom and I realized that it was the butter. It had settled to the bottom. I forgot to put it in at the time when the water was the hottest and so everything had already been incorporated and then adding the butter last, it did not blend in properly. I have made flourless cakes before and did not have this problem, because I did put the butter in at the right time. I had the feeling that it would probably fail and my feeling was correct.
    I will try these though, because now that I had that to happen, I know not to do that again.

  12. Kimsays:

    Thank you for showing a link to these. I made these two years ago and we named them Satan’s cupcakes because they were so sinfully delish. Last year family friends scolded my mom for not making sure their cupcakes found a way to her house for second night. I have been asked to make them again this year. In fact, I was told don’t come without them!

  13. malkahsays:

    This year my birthday fell during Pesach and I made these. AMAZING!!!

  14. Stefsays:

    Wish I could help. As you can see from the other comments, they usually turn out amazing. No idea what could have happened. Sorry. :(

  15. Anonymoussays:

    These looked so delicious! So because I am on bed-rest, had my 16 and 11 year old make them… they completely flopped. There was a strange goo underneath the cupcake tin which I leaves me perplexed. The remnants tasted incredible though… because this was my 11 year old’s Pesach project.. she was absolutely crushed. Any ideas what went wrong?

  16. Anonymoussays:

    These were fabulous – I actually made some in mini muffin tins since they were so rich. Delicious – thanks!!

  17. Anonymoussays:

    Totally scrumptious! We added a sliver of strawberry on top of the frosting. So gourmet, yet VERY easy!

  18. marysays:

    I doubled this recipe and was overrun by cupcakes! They look so good though, we’re just going to dust them with powdered sugar or top with a bit of whipped cream.

    I thought when reading this that it made 24 MINIS; otherwise I would have made the recipe as written…but FWIW, it does double OK – thanks!

  19. Kristinsays:

    OMG these are so good! I just made them for a co-worker’s birthday…and with the cream cheese/chocolate icing…sinful! Thanks!!!!1

  20. AdamWalker12says:

    Has anyone ever tried this recipe with carob instead of chocolate? There is a company I know of called Holy Food Imports which makes an excellent carob spread and in my opinion, to me, it is similar to chocolate.

  21. Stefsays:

    Ms B – I think the silicone should work. I’m not quite sure about the cooking time. I’d guess it would take 15-20 minutes.

  22. Ms Bsays:

    I noticed that you cut the time for baking down from Allrecipes by 15 minutes to do cupcakes instead of a single cake. How much would you recommend to cut baking time down for minis? And would this work in a silicone mini pan? Or would that pan be too porous for the water bath?

  23. Stefsays:

    Wheeler – Thanks so much!

    Sophie – There are all kinds of flourless possibilities. The cookies sound good!

    Anon – Sorry for the confusion. As J pointed out, they are certainly Kosher for Passover with a non-meat meal. My family is not strictly kosher so we do eat milk and meat at the same meal. However, obviously if you do not, you could have these with a dairy lunch. Sorry for not thinking about that before.

  24. jpollackphotosays:

    Anonymous – if you make these cupcakes with K-P cream cheese and other ingredients, as you suggested, then these are definitely kosher for Passover. If there were meat in the cupcakes themselves, then I’d agree that these were not kosher for Passover. As they stand now, you could make them and serve them with any non-meat meal!

  25. Anonymoussays:

    I’m confused on how you can call these cupcakes Kosher for Passover when you use cream cheese in the icing. Although cream cheese is kosher by itself, you cannot eat it if you are eating meat. Because almost all families will be eating meat at a Pesach seder, these cupcakes would have no place at the table.

  26. Sophiesays:

    What a cool idea. I just made flourless chocolate peanut butter cookies last week, but it’s never occurred to me to make flourless cupcakes! I didn’t think it was possible! Thanks for sharing, this is an exciting discovery :D.

  27. Wheeler's Frozen Dessertsays:

    great pic, and good idea – what a creative way to stay kosher!

  28. Stefsays:

    Alana – The yield was for regular sized cupcakes. As for the type of chocolate, use whatever you like best. I actually used a mix of what I had leftover in my pantry: some ghirardelli, some green and black, and some callebaut. There were all different percents. If you like the flavor of our chocolate, you should like the cupcake.

    Karen – Yay! I’m so glad you liked them.

  29. K.says:

    Sweet chocolately goodness – these were the best cupcakes I’ve ever had in my life!!!!! We (and by we I mean Dan) will be making this recipe in the near future.

  30. Alanasays:

    Hi, I was just wondering if the yield was 18 mini or regular sized cupcakes? Also what % of bittersweet choc and what kind did you use? Thanks!!

  31. gizsays:

    Thanks for posting this – it’s now officially on my list of baking for next week :)

  32. Brunosays:

    Stef, those cupcakes must be real good because Moses looks very protective of them!

  33. Stefsays:

    Maxine – If you like heavy fudgey chocolate, this is a winner. It’s delish!

    Naomi – You have not.

    Gigi – Thanks so much!

    TW – You can make you own version of it! Give it the TW pizazz. I got the action figure from Stupid.com. Yes, I actually ordered it special for this photo.

    Mr D. I should probably have clarified that it wasn’t piping hot when I put it in the fridge. I waited a few minutes. It did probably raise the temperature of my fridge a bit, but not much as far as I could tell.

    Michelle – Good luck. Hope you like it!

  34. Michellesays:

    I am definitely trying this recipe – thanks!

  35. Mr. Dsays:

    You put a hot muffin tin in the refrigerator? Didnt that raise the overall temperature of your fridge and put it in the danger zone?

  36. Tempered Womansays:

    Dagnabbit~ you beat me to flourless chocolate cake. I have it totally earmarked for my good chocolate. This is what I get for procrastinating. Sounds incredibly good with the chocolate cream cheese frosting. YUM.
    What little kid did you steal the Moses action figure from?

  37. Gigisays:

    oooo, they look awesome! So chocolatey and then topped off with chocolate cream cheese icing!

  38. Naomisays:

    Thank god you did these. Have I described to you by intense hatred of macaroons?

  39. Maxinesays:

    These look so good! I may just have to whip up a batch before next weekend…. :)

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