Easy Chocolate Valentine’s Cupcakes (+ Free Printable Cupcake Toppers!)
A simple and moist chocolate cupcake recipe with a fail-proof cream cheese frosting colored pink for Valentine’s Day. These Valentine’s Cupcakes are a hit at parties!
Click HERE to save this recipe for Valentine’s Cupcakes!
Written by: Caroline Edwards of Chocolate & Carrots
Easy Valentine’s Day Dessert Idea
If you’re scrounging around for a last-minute way to show your spouse, family, friends, and/or coworkers that you love them this Valentine’s Day, these Valentine’s Cupcakes with Pink Cream Cheese Frosting are for you.
The dark chocolate cupcakes and cream cheese frosting are so simple to whip up.
Take a few minutes and go the extra mile with these simple, yet adorable, handmade paper cupcake toppers and you’ll surely impress with your loved ones with these made-from-scratch cupcakes and frosting.
Because these dark chocolate cupcakes are so simple, you’ll likely have all of the ingredients in your kitchen already, making this the perfect treat to bake up last minute.
Valentine’s Cupcakes Ingredients
To make this easy Valentine’s Day dessert recipe, you’ll need:
- Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa powder
- Boiling water
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Unsalted butter
- Granulated sugar
- Eggs
- Vanilla extract
And for the homemade cupcake frosting, you’ll need:
- Cream cheese
- Unsalted butter
- Vanilla extract
- Powdered sugar
- Pink food coloring
For the complete ingredient list and detailed instructions, scroll to the bottom of this post for the FREE printable recipe card.
Click HERE to save this recipe for Valentine’s Cupcakes!
How to Make Valentine’s Cupcakes
There are so many wonderful Valentine cupcake ideas on the internet, but I love making these cupcakes because they’re so simple! Here’s how I make these dark chocolate Valentine’s Day cupcakes:
- Whisk together the chocolate cupcake batter.
- Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full, then bake until set.
- Let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting.
- Garnish the cupcakes with sprinkles and/or cupcake toppers (keep scrolling for instructions on printing the toppers).
How to Make Paper Cupcake Toppers
To make the cupcake toppers you’ll need the following:
- White card stock paper (I used 110lb card stock and was very sturdy)
- Colored printer
- This free printable document.
- Some sort of circle cutter (I used Martha Stewart’s Simple Circle Cutter)
- Small wooden skewers or toothpicks (I used 3-inch skewers)
- Tape
Cupcake Topper Assembly (Click photos to enlarge):
1. Open the cupcake topper document.
2. Right click and save image as…
3. Open the free printable cupcake topper image from your downloads folder in a program such as preview (mac).
4. Select the drop down for File and click on the Print option…
5. Change the ‘Scale to fit’ option to however many cupcake toppers you would like per page. You can also make them larger by decreasing or increasing the scale.
Also, check the print to page option.
6. Print the printable document on the card stock.
7. Cut out each individual cupcake topper using your circle cutter.
8. Tape the cut out cupcake topper onto the top of your skewers.
9. Stick the adorable Valentine cupcake topper into your decorated cupcakes.
Note: These directions will vary slightly depending on your computer platform and printer. I use a macintosh computer.
Making and decorating homemade cupcakes is as simple as that. With just a little bit of effort, you can make a really big impact in how much you care about those you love.
I hope you’ll consider making your loved ones these homemade Valentine’s Day cupcakes. They not only taste amazing, but it’s a fun way to really show you care. Personally, I think that homemade Valentine’s are the best kind.
Click HERE to save this recipe for Valentine’s Cupcakes!
Can I Use Another Type of Cupcake Frosting?
Of course! These Valentine’s cupcakes use a homemade cream cheese frosting, but you could also top the chocolate cupcakes with Salted Caramel Buttercream, Chocolate Buttercream, Cherry Vanilla Buttercream, or your favorite frosting.
Can I Prep Valentine’s Cupcakes in Advance?
If desired, you can bake and freeze the unfrosted chocolate cupcakes ahead of time. When you’re ready to serve the Valentine’s Day cupcakes, set the cupcakes on your counter to thaw, then make a fresh batch of buttercream and frost them.
Tips for Making Valentine’s Cupcakes
If you don’t have the time or supplies to prepare the cupcake toppers, no worries. Just add some pretty sprinkles on top to dress them up a bit.
Need help learning how to frost cupcakes? Check out these Cupcake Piping Tips and these instructions for Multi-Swirled Frosting (if you’d like to swirl pink and white cream cheese frosting together – how cute would that be?).
Baking at high altitude? Katie has High Altitude Baking Tips for Cupcakes.
Love this recipe for Valentine’s Cupcakes? Sign up for Good Life Eats email updates and never miss another recipe!
What are you looking forward to for Valentine’s Day?
Chocolate Cupcakes with Pink Cream Cheese Frosting
A simple and moist chocolate cupcake recipe with a fail proof cream cheese frosting colored pink for Valentine's Day.
Ingredients
For the Cupcakes
- 1/2 cup Hershey's Special Dark cocoa powder
- 1 cup boiling hot water
- 1 1/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
For the Frosting
- 8 ounces 1/3 fat cream cheese, room temperature (frosting)
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature (frosting)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- pink food coloring
Instructions
For the Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Line a muffin tin with paper cups and spray with canola oil. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder and boiling water. Set aside.
- In another small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Beat in the eggs and vanilla until combined.
- Beat in the flour mixture until just combined, scraping down the sides, if needed.
- On low, beat in the cocoa water until just combined.
- Fill the paper cups about 3/4 full and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.
- Allow the cupcakes to cool for 5 minutes before removing from the tin and placing on a cooling rack to cool completely.
For the Frosting
- Meanwhile, to make the frosting, beat the cream cheese and butter together until light and fluffy.
- Beat in the vanilla extract.
- Slowly beat in the powdered sugar until combined.
- At this point, you can add pink food coloring to get it the shade you'd like. Just make sure to add a little bit at a time. You can't take the pink out, but you can add more if you need to.
Decorating the Cupcakes
- Once the cupcakes have cooled completely, scoop the frosting into a large pastry bag or ziplock bag fitted with a large pastry tip.
- Gently press some on the top of your cupcakes until you have a nice base of frosting, then while continuing to squeeze, lift straight up to make another little mound of frosting on the top.
- Stop squeezing and quickly lift off of the cupcake.
- Garnish with sprinkles.
Recommended Products
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Nutrition Information
Yield 15 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 373 Total Fat 16g Saturated Fat 9g Trans Fat 0g Unsaturated Fat 5g Cholesterol 59mg Sodium 117mg Carbohydrates 56g Fiber 1g Sugar 46g Protein 3g
Tag @goodlifeeats and include the hashtag #goodlifeeatsrecipes so I can see what you’re cooking up in YOUR kitchen!
Click HERE to save this recipe for Valentine’s Cupcakes!
Valentine's Day Recipes for Kids
Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream and Fresh Raspberry Sauce
Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream and Fresh Raspberry Sauce are the perfect combo of a fluffy, light vanilla cupcake, rich chocolate buttercream, and a tangy, sweet fresh raspberry sauce.
Easy Vanilla Cut-Out Cookies
Easy Vanilla Cut-Out Cookies for Valentine's Day are a fun project for kids to do to celebrate Valentine's Day.
They will love helping cut out the dough and decorating the finished cookies.
Simplest Homemade Fudgy Brownies
Easy Homemade Fudgy Brownies are the perfect quick dessert to whip up at home. They only take a few minutes and totally satisfy your chocolate cravings. Just like the recipe promises, they're easy! Plus, I bet you have all the ingredients on hand.
Valentine's Day Activity Round Up
With kids at home, this February holiday can be a day focused on family fun and connections. I've pulled together a collection here of kid friendly Valentine snacks, activities, and treats that will inspire memorable holiday moments with the little ones we love so much.
Cherry Vanilla Cupcakes for Valentine's Day
These cute Cherry Vanilla Cupcakes have bits of real maraschino cherry in the bright pink Cherry Vanilla Buttercream. They're the perfect treat for Valentine's Day.
Chocolate Cupcakes with Pink Cream Cheese Frosting
A simple and moist chocolate cupcake recipe with a fail proof cream cheese frosting colored pink for Valentine's Day.
Chocolate Sour Cream Cupcakes with Raspberry Cheesecake Buttercream
These Chocolate Sour Cream Cupcakes are topped with a bright and delicious Raspberry Cheesecake Buttercream.
Ooooh yum can’t wait to try these this weekend ! My boyfriend will be absolutely thrilled 🙂 Thank you !
You’re welcome 🙂 thanks for stopping by!
Are these miniature cupcakes or regular size? They look awesome! Thanks
These are simply adorable!
These look so cute and seem like they are lots of fun to make!! Definitely something I could try for Valentine’s Day
These are gorgeous! Love the piping! And the toppers are too cute 🙂
Great idea, Caroline! Love your cupcake and frosting recipes, too.
Thank you =)
Can’t go wrong with chocolate and pink for Valentine’s! I think I might do heart-shaped brownies this year. What is your piping technique for the smooth look? I assume you do not circle around like the link in your post advises with a star tip.
You’re correct. I actually tried to explain it in the last paragraph of the recipe. I need to do a video how-to. Seeing it is much easier than me explaining it. 😀 It’s quite easy once you get the hang of it!
Goodness those could not look any cuter!!! Beautiful cupcakes Caroline!
Those toppers are so cute! And the cupcakes, too. You did an excellent job with the piping and sprinkles decorating. They look like they belong in a cookbook! And you know what? I’m so lucky that I actually happen to have some of those skewers laying around. 😉 Now I have something awesome to do with them!
So cute, and so easy! Love this idea 🙂