Decadent Dark Chocolate Mini Cupcakes with Caramel Frosting

These dark chocolate mini cupcakes are frosted with a rich salted caramel frosting for an indulgent, bite-sized treat. This recipe takes less than an hour to make and makes plenty to share. Perfect for parties!

Recipe: https://sugarspunrun.com/dark-chocola...

Ingredients
1 ⅔ cups granulated sugar (333g)
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour (188g)
⅔ cup dark cocoa powder (65g)
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 ¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup canola or vegetable oil (118ml)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg + 1 egg yolk
⅔ cup whole milk (157ml)
1 cup hot coffee (236ml) (see note)
1 batch caramel frosting: https://sugarspunrun.com/caramel-fros...
Flaky sea salt, for sprinkling

Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases from the links below.
Mini cupcake pan (Affiliate Link): https://amzn.to/3RYhniJ
Mixing bowls (Affiliate Link): https://amzn.to/2C47vQx

Instructions
00:00 Introduction
00:17 Note: If you are making the accompanying caramel frosting that I’ve linked to in the “Ingredients” section, I recommend making the caramel before beginning the cupcakes to give it ample time to cool.
00:26 Preheat oven to 350F (175C) and line a 24-count mini muffin tin with paper liners. Set aside.
00:30 In a large mixing bowl, whisk together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
01:02 Add canola oil, egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract and stir until well-combined.
01:45 Stir in milk until thoroughly-combined, then stir in hot coffee. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and then stir again to ensure you have a uniform, well-combined batter.
02:56 Divide batter into mini muffin tin, filling liners ½-⅔ of the way full.
03:36 Bake on 350F (175C) for 14-15 minutes or cupcake tops spring back lightly when touched and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
03:51 Allow to cool for 15 minutes then carefully remove to a cooling rack (I gently pry them up with a butter knife) to cool completely before covering with caramel frosting.
04:03 Decorate with caramel frosting then sprinkle with flaky sea salt. I used the Wilton 2D tip for icing the cupcakes in the photos.

Notes
Muffin tin
This recipe makes 72+ mini cupcakes. If you only have one mini muffin tin, you can leave the batter on the counter while the first batch bakes, then upon removing from the oven allow the cupcakes to cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes before carefully removing them to a cooling rack to cool completely. Let the tin cool completely (this should happen pretty quickly once the tin is empty) before refilling with liners and batter.

Hot Coffee
Coffee contributes a bolder, darker, chocolatier taste to the cupcakes, but you may substitute hot water instead. The important thing is that the liquid you use is very hot so that the cocoa powder can “bloom”, giving you a rich dark chocolate taste.

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