December 26, 2019

Gluten Free Chocolate Cupcakes

I love chocolate cupcakes. And I especially love them for breakfast with a cup of coffee…it’s my guilty pleasure. Because I’m not much of a baker, I’ve been sampling gluten free box mixes for several years. Finally, I found one that rivals even Duncan Hines. The King Arthur Gluten Free Chocolate Cake Mix is fantastic. The cupcakes are chocolatey, moist, and delish. If you have a sweet tooth like I do, grab a box of King Arthur Gluten Free Chocolate Cake Mix at almost any market and make yourself a batch.

Jump to Recipe

King Arthur’s Gluten Free Cake Mix

For the easiest and best (in my opinion) gluten free chocolate cupcakes, I use King Arthur Gluten Free Chocolate Cake Mix.

Ingredients for Chocolate Cupcakes

You will need vegetable oil, water and four eggs to add to the mix.

Combine Cake Mix Ingredients

next mix in cake mix to egg and oil mixture

First combine the wet ingredients: oil, water and eggs. Then add the chocolate cake mix and stir until combined. No electric mixer needed! (I use a large measuring cup as my large bowl to make pouring batter into the pan easier.)

Pour Batter into Cupcake Pans and Bake

I like big cupcakes so I fill each cupcake hole almost to the top. Then I bake for 18-22 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Start testing cupcakes at 18 minutes because you don’t want over-baked, dry cupcakes…at least I don’t!

Chocolate Cupcakes – Gluten Free

Let cupcakes cool and frost as desired with your favorite icing and toppings. Cupcakes go great with milk and/or coffee.

chocolate cupcakes wrapped in foil for freezing

Or freeze cupcakes for later (without icing) by wrapping in foil – I wrap three or four cupcakes to a foil package as shown above. You can wrap them individually as well. When ready to eat a cupcake, remove one (or two) from the foil package and defrost it for 30 seconds in the microwave until soft and slightly warm. My microwave doesn’t have a rotation plate so I manually turn the cupcake every 10 seconds for even defrosting.

Once the cupcake is defrosted, frost using your favorite icing flavor.

Print Recipe

5 from 2 votes

Gluten Free Chocolate Cupcakes

Prep Time10

Cook Time20

cool in pan10

Total Time40

Course: Breakfast, Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: chocolate cupcakes, cupcakes, gluten free, king arthur gluten free cake mix

Servings: 18 cupcakes

Author: GFchow @ gfchow.com

Equipment

2 cupcake pans, each pan makes 12 cupcakes

Ingredients

2/3 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups water (or freshly brewed coffee, decaf or regular)*
4 large eggs room temperature
1 box King Arthur Gluten Free Chocolate Cake Mix

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (325 degrees if using glass or dark metal pans). Lightly grease pans if not using cupcake papers.
Whisk together oil, water (or coffee) and eggs.
Add chocolate cake mix and stir until smooth. (No electric mixer is needed.)
Bake on center rack approximately 18-22 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
Let cupcakes cool before icing.

Notes

*Coffee intensifies the chocolatey flavor. Thank you Bonnie for this amazing yet simple suggestion.

The box mix states 24 cupcakes can be made but I make mine on the bigger side so I am only able to make approximately 18 cupcakes.

Sheet, layer or bundt cake can also be made from the same box mix.

These cupcakes freeze well. Once cupcakes have cooled, I wrap them in foil (usually three to a package) and freeze without icing.

When I’m ready to eat a cupcake I defrost it for 30 seconds (in 10 second increments if your microwave doesn’t have a rotation plate in it).

Once defrosted, I frost the cupcake using a store bought icing…either Pillsbury, Betty Crocker or Duncan Hines. It’s about simplicity for me.

If you prefer homemade icing (which is completely understandable), feel free to make a batch and store in the refrigerator until needed.

Recipe is found on the back of the box mix for King Arthur Chocolate Cake Mix. Here’s a link to Amazon for the cake mix. Click here.

If you like this recipe, you may also like these other GFchow recipes. Gluten Free Pumpkin Pancakes, Baked Cider Doughnuts, and GG’s Vanilla Noodle Kugel.

GLUTEN FREE DISCLAIMER

The recipes you find here are considered by me to be gluten free. However, it is up to you to make sure the ingredients you use are gluten free. Whenever possible, I will list specific brands of ingredients that I use, but always be sure to check the labels yourself to verify the item is gluten free.