The texture using sugar is mind-blowingly awesome. It’s the moistest chocolate cake ever. Kind of fudgey, even. Pretty much everyone who tastes this cake says it’s the best chocolate cake they’ve ever had. I’ve made this cake dozens of times and when I decided to use replace all of the white flour with whole wheat (or whole spelt), nobody noticed. This version tastes the best but obviously two cups of sugar is ridiculous. It also works with 1 1/2 cups sugar (but it’s even yummier with 2 cups!).
I love those chocolate mocha bean things and I went to town with them. They look kind of ridiculous, but that’s okay. These cupcakes aren’t to be shared. :)
Then I came up with an all honey version. I used one cup of honey instead of two cups of sugar and it’s pretty awesome. The taste is almost as good as the two cups of sugar version but the texture is like normal chocolate cake, and not like the super duper moist and fudgy original recipe. I’m thinking with the frosting, nobody would even notice.
With the honey version, I replaced all the water with really strong coffee, but this resulted in slightly bitter cupcakes. With the next honey version, I just followed the recipe and added some espresso powder to the cream cheese frosting. Perfect.
Ingredients:
2 cups white (360 grams) or unrefined sugar (400 grams) OR 1 cup (320 grams) honey*
1 3/4 cups (210 grams) whole spelt, whole wheat pastry, or whole wheat flour
3/4 cup (85 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup (240ml) milk
1/2 cup (120ml) olive or canola oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup (240ml) boiling water (I know that sounds like a lot but I promise you, you need 1 cup!)
* I’ve also used 1 1/2 cups sugar and it was still sweet enough
Frosting:
1 cup (240ml) whipping cream
1 8-ounce package (225 grams) cream cheese
3/4 cup (98 grams) powdered sugar
~ 1/2 teaspoon espresso powder
~ 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350°F / 175°C. In a large bowl, stir together the sugar (if using honey, don’t add it yet), flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add eggs, milk, honey (if using), olive oil and vanilla. Mix for 2 minutes on medium and then stir in the boiling water. The batter will be almost as thin as water. Line 24 muffins tins with liners and fill each one just a little more than halfway. Bake for 14 – 17 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with some moist crumbs, but no liquid. Let cool for 5 minutes in the pans, and then turn out onto a rack to cool. Let cool completely before frosting.
For the frosting, beat the whipping cream until stiff peaks form. In a separate bowl, using the same beaters, beat the cream cheese until soft and smooth. Slowly add the powdered sugar. Dissolve 1/2 teaspoon of espresso powder in 1/2 teaspoon vanilla (I did this in a tablespoon). Add this to the frosting. If you want more coffee flavor, keep adding 1/2 teaspoon espresso / vanilla until you’re happy. Fold in the whipped cream.
This is too liquidy to pipe and it’s only enough for a thin coating like you see in the pictures. But it’s enough. :)
Source for the cake: One Bowl Chocolate Cake
34 comments on "100% Whole Grain Chocolate Cupcakes with Espresso Cream Cheese Frosting" — Add one!
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I have been agonizing over what cupcakes to make for my daughter’s 4th b-day party tomorrow. She wanted chocolate cupcakes with strawberry (pink) frosting. We have cut out all processed foods and so you can imagine the joy I had when finding your blog for whole grain cupcakes! I made the cupcakes today and they were a HUGE hit. She LOVED them and my husband could not tell they were made with whole grain spelt! Fabulous, tender and moist! I halved the recipe and used 1/2 cup of coconut palm sugar and 1/4 cup of local honey and they were great! I will be making another batch tomorrow before the party since I know they are perfect and passed the test from my daughter. Thank you for creating a dessert I feel good about serving my kids and their friends (and myself too, of course) I made a butter cream frosting to go on top made with butter, eggs, honey and fresh strawberry puree to make it pink! Perfect!! Also loved that you put the weight of all the ingredients. SO helpful!! you rock!
First of all, I hope your daughter had a great birthday! I am so happy that you made her these cupcakes and your frosting sounds really nice. And you’re welcome for the weights of ingredients – thank you for saying something about that! You’re one of maybe, 3 people, to have mentioned it. Thanks so much for your feedback and your extremely nice comment! I really, really appreciate it. :) Oh and great to hear about coconut sugar + honey working. I’ll definitely have to give that a try!
I have been looking for a whole wheat cupcake for my daughters party and I came across these…oh my goodness! I made a trail run without frosting since I didn’t have the stuff on hand and we ate 90% of them that night! I did use 1 cup coconut sugar since I was low on regular sugar and they came out amazing! I am excited to do another trail with frosting this time, because…well…I…I mean we, need to make sure they still taste ok ;)
Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe!!
Haha. I like how you think, Brajee! You definitely need to try out another batch to make sure the frosting is edible. ;) Thanks a ton for your feedback and I hope your daughter has a great party! Oh and it’s great to know that coconut sugar works. It’s now my favorite sweetener but I haven’t gotten around to making these with it. So thanks a bunch for that tip!
Thank you! I am new to this blog and am very impressed. Just made these and have to be the moistest cupcakes I have tried. Truly better than anything you can buy! I did a different icing, with melted chocy and coconut oil as my fiancé isn't a coffee fan. So good :)
Hi Beccy! I'm so happy that you liked the cupcakes. And melted chocolate and coconut oil sounds lovely. :) Thank you so much for leaving feedback and stopping by to say hi. I do love hearing from new readers! Makes my day. :)
Lori – Yay! So happy that you liked them and that the brown sugar worked out. I bet boyfriend couldn't even tell they were whole wheat, could he? :) Thanks for letting me know. I appreciate the feedback!
These are great! I didn't have any white flour on hand, and found your recipe after searching 'whole wheat chocolate cupcakes'. I also didn't have white sugar or enough honey, so I used 1 1/2 cup brown sugar and they turned out fabulous. My bf and I like dark chocolate anyhow so we like it slightly less sweet and more on the rich side. yum.
Rubecca – I don't know because I never use it. Could you maybe try half sugar, half Stevia? I really don't think the consistency will be the same but good luck. :)
Hey Can we use stevia in place of sugar or honey will that make a difference to the consistency of the cupcakes?
Amy – You should definitely try these! But I'd try the sugar version if your family isn't used to whole grain / reduced sugar stuff. When people ask me to make them a cake, I always use the sugar version of this but still use 100% whole wheat and nobody has noticed. Just be careful not to overbake! It loses it's really amazing texture if you do. Good luck. :)
I'm been wanting to make whole grain cupcakes…but afraid no one in the family wanna try it. LOL….silly me. I'm sold on your descriptions. I'm gonna give this a try and just don't mention these are made with whole grain and see what my family would say. I have a thing with the chocolate mocha beans too. Shhh….
Dianne – Wow, thanks! Did you use the honey version or sugar? And if you used sugar, how much did you use? I'd love to hear if it worked with less than what's written. Thanks a bunch for the comment and referring people over here. :)
Great Healthy Recipe!! I love that it uses whole wheat flour and olive oil! Everyone is asking for the recipe and I`m directing them to your website!!
Kathy – To be honest, I think it'd be more like the honey version. And since one cup of honey is supposedly sweeter than one cup of sugar, I'd be worried that it wouldn't be sweet enough. Even with one cup of honey, it was just slightly sweet. I'd be willing to experiment for you on the weekend if you like. Let me know and I'll try it out! :)
My family is extremely health-conscious, so whole-wheat is great! I was wondering how the cupcakes would turn out with 1 cup of sugar- would it still be gooey, or more like the honey version? Thanks!
FoodEpix – Thanks!
La enredadera – Thanks a bunch! They're not that unhealthy so you can eat one or three. Doesn't matter. :)
bananamondaes – Thanks! I'm happy you found me too. :)
So glad I stumbled across your blog. Great recipe.
I also love the mocha bean, I can only eat one, or two, or three… I have to eat them all!!
The cupcakes (coffe beans or not) looks really cute!! And with that ingredients, they must be really good!!
These cupcakes look so good. Would love for you to share your pictures with us over at foodepix.com.
Nicole – Thanks! I'm so happy people like the mocha beans. Germany never has any cool baking things so I'm super excited to have found something neat. :)
These cupcakes look very, very tasty! I love those chocolate mocha beans on top. I've never seen them before now, but they're such a cute topping for the cupcakes.
Asmita – Thanks! :)
Miryam – It works with 1 1/2 cups of sugar. I wrote that in the recipe but I guess people don't really read the recipe unless they're actually baking them so I'll add it to the description. Thanks for the idea! I bought the beans that way. I found them in the racks at Aldi during "baking week." :)
I think you'd also like the cupcakes with 1 cup of honey. I know honey is still sugar, but 1 cup of honey is better than 1 1/2 or 2 cups of sugar I guess. I just went and ate another one. I promise you wouldn't be disappointed!
These look awesome……just curious to know if you have tried to decrease the amt of sugar before. Do you think they would still be ok with just say 1 1/2 cups? Those coffee beans on top look really good as well did you coat them on cocoa powder or something? Beautiful Picts :-)
What a healthy take on cupcakes. These look gorgeous!!!
Nora – Thanks! I've been planning on trying out some gluten free donuts but I can't find the ingredients anywhere. Not even online! I'm working on it, though. One day I will post something that you could possibly eat should you feel inclined. :)
These look incredible!!! Yum yum, nice job! And your photos are droolworthy…props on using honey,I love using honey as a sweetener :)
Katrina – Thanks. :)
Julie – Thanks! And that's great. One good thing about Germany is that whole grain baking is really cheap here compared to other countries. Thanks for stopping by. :)
Hi there Erin, these cupcakes look like fun. I will follow your site as I am interested in knowing little more about grains and less sugar will not hurt me either. Cheers!
Wowzers, these are lovely! They are so pretty!!
Heidi – Thank you! I really hope you do try them out one day. Please let me know if you do. :)
The cake really doesn't require much work! But if you're referring to taking pictures… I spent almost three hours trying to get a few good shots and ended up with a couple decent ones. I suppose only practice can help that problem. Thanks again for calling my beans non-ridiculous. :)
I'm speechless. These look so incredible! I'm saving this recipe because I know I will use it one day on a special occasion. I can tell how much work you put into this and I am so impressed! And those beans on top look so good – totally not ridiculous :D
Oh well? No! No oh well! :)
The honey version is still super delicious. Maybe I shouldn't have been so critical.
Anything that is described as fudgey, I will eat! Fudgy is my favorite word when it comes to chocolate, but 2 cups of sugar does sound like a lot…oh well!