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Naturally-sweetened with honey and real strawberries! These cupcakes are a 'healthier alternative' without compromising taste or texture. The cupcake recipe only requires one bowl, too. So easy to make...you don't need any baking skills to make the perfect double chocolate cupcake.

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You know there’s something big and celebratory happening in life when I post a recipe titled, “One Bowl Double Chocolate Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream Frosting.”

So big, I’ve enjoyed these cupcakes not just once or twice. Oh no, when double chocolate and strawberry buttercream meet on an antique blue (or green, whatever you’re feeling) cake stand, I can’t just eat one or two. Under obligation, multiple cupcakes must be enjoyed!

These cupcakes are about as “healthy” as a cupcake can get. They may not rank with kale and liver (the latter I still can’t eat!), but they definitely fit somewhere on the “healthier than the alternative” scale. So no worries, enjoying multiple double chocolate cupcakes with strawberry buttercream is A-okay. Think of them as super moist chocolate muffins with a sweet naturally-dyed treat on top. Poof! Any guilt, which really doesn’t belong in a real food lifestyle anyway, is instantly gone.

Naturally-sweetened with honey and real strawberries! These cupcakes are a 'healthier alternative' without compromising taste or texture. The cupcake recipe only requires one bowl, too. So easy to make...you don't need any baking skills to make the perfect double chocolate cupcake.

Naturally-sweetened with honey and real strawberries! These cupcakes are a 'healthier alternative' without compromising taste or texture. The cupcake recipe only requires one bowl, too. So easy to make...you don't need any baking skills to make the perfect double chocolate cupcake.

Five years ago, on March 5th, I became a mom. Piper was born after a long thirty-six hour labor.

Piper’s birth was the change Dustin and I desperately needed in our lives. Suddenly we were parents, and for the first time ever we had to care for an individual who was dependent upon us for every need. His birth, in one way, helped birth this blog, a little spot on the worldwide web dedicated to sharing my family’s mission to simplify real food and natural living. A lifestyle choice that was prompted by our new responsibility as parents.

Naturally-sweetened with honey and real strawberries! These cupcakes are a 'healthier alternative' without compromising taste or texture. The cupcake recipe only requires one bowl, too. So easy to make...you don't need any baking skills to make the perfect double chocolate cupcake.

Photo Credit: Jeanine Leigh Photography

What an amazing five years it’s been to watch Piper grow and develop into the little man he is today.  Piper is a sweet and compassionate five year-old. His adventurous spirit and great love for life are contagious. Piper loves playing pirates, beating up Dad (in the nicest play kind of way), and homemade jelly sandwiches.

Naturally-sweetened with honey and real strawberries! These cupcakes are a 'healthier alternative' without compromising taste or texture. The cupcake recipe only requires one bowl, too. So easy to make...you don't need any baking skills to make the perfect double chocolate cupcake.

Photo Credit: Jeanine Leigh Photography

In honor of Piper’s birthday we’ve been indulging on multiple batches of homemade cupcakes. After all, birthdays are meant to be celebrated all month long, not just one day.

Naturally-sweetened with honey and real strawberries! These cupcakes are a 'healthier alternative' without compromising taste or texture. The cupcake recipe only requires one bowl, too. So easy to make...you don't need any baking skills to make the perfect double chocolate cupcake.

The month rule fully applies to “healthier than the alternative” cupcakes. And if you’re going to enjoy month-long birthday celebrations, then the homemade cupcakes need to be simple. Really simple! No fancy ingredients or a ten-bowl process, just good ol’ homemade cupcake batter and an oven.

Naturally-sweetened with honey and real strawberries! These cupcakes are a 'healthier alternative' without compromising taste or texture. The cupcake recipe only requires one bowl, too. So easy to make...you don't need any baking skills to make the perfect double chocolate cupcake.

Friend, these double chocolate cupcakes are about as simple as recipes come. Since the chocolate cupcakes are so easy to make, you can spend a few extra minutes whipping up a bowl of the sweetest strawberry frosting. Seriously, you need the frosting. Don’t skip the frosting!

Ready to join the celebration? On three…

One.

Two.

Three.

Happy Birthday, Piper!

Naturally-sweetened with honey and real strawberries! These cupcakes are a 'healthier alternative' without compromising taste or texture. The cupcake recipe only requires one bowl, too. So easy to make...you don't need any baking skills to make the perfect double chocolate cupcake.

One bowl double chocolate cupcakes (made with honey!) with natural strawberry buttercream frosting
5 from 2 votes

One Bowl Double Chocolate Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream Frosting

Friend, these double chocolate cupcakes are about as simple as recipes come. Since the chocolate cupcakes are so easy to make, you can spend a few extra minutes whipping up a bowl of the sweetest strawberry frosting. Seriously, you need the frosting. Don’t skip the frosting!
Kristin Marr
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time18 minutes
Total Time48 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 6 Cupcakes
Calories 7739 kcal

Ingredients

One Bowl Double Chocolate Cupcakes:

Strawberry Buttercream Frosting:

  • 1 cup butter softened
  • 2 1/2 cups organic powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • 1/3 cup strawberry powder see below

Strawberry Powder:

Instructions

  • For the Cupcakes:
  • Preheat the oven to 350F.
  • In a medium-size Dutch oven (I use a 3qt Dutch oven) or saucepan, over medium heat, melt the butter, chocolate chips, and cocoa powder. Once melted, whisk in the honey. Turn off the heat and remove the pan from direct contact with the burner. Whisk in the milk, eggs, and vanilla extract.
  • Using a large sieve, sift the flour over the chocolate mixture. Add the baking soda and salt. Whisk the dry ingredients into the chocolate mixture for 1 minute.
  • Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners. Fill each cupcake liner half full. Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
  • Allow the cupcakes to fully cool before frosting.
  • Strawberry Powder:
  • In the bowl of a food processor, place the freeze-dried strawberries. Pulse the strawberries for 1 minute until they resemble a fine powder. Sift out any remaining strawberry chunks by pressing the powder through a sieve and into a bowl. Throw out or eat (as a snack) the strawberry chunks in the sieve. You'll need the powder to make the strawberry frosting.
  • Strawberry Buttercream Frosting:
  • In the bowl of a stand-mixer (you can also use a wooden spoon or a hand-mixer), fitted with the paddle attachment, mix together the butter and powdered sugar. Start on low for the first forty seconds and then increase the speed to medium-high until "whipped" (about 2-3 minutes).
  • Add the heaving cream, vanilla extract, and strawberry powder (add one tablespoon at a time until you reach the taste and color you desire). Beat the ingredients for 1 minute, until whipped and creamy. If you're frosting is too thick, add more heavy cream, 1 tablespoons at a time.
  • Once the cupcakes are cool, frost the cupcakes with the strawberry buttercream.

Notes

The "where to buy" links provide links to the actual products I use. As always, I recommend shopping around online and at local stores for the best prices and products you love. Find all my favorite kitchen essentials, here.
Leftover strawberry powder can be stored in an air-tight jar at room temperature.

Nutrition

Calories: 7739kcalCarbohydrates: 938gProtein: 59gFat: 435gSaturated Fat: 270gCholesterol: 1412mgSodium: 5371mgPotassium: 3394mgFiber: 34gSugar: 688gVitamin A: 13090IUVitamin C: 1447.2mgCalcium: 630mgIron: 48.3mg
Tried this recipe?Let me know how it was!

Naturally-sweetened with honey and real strawberries! These cupcakes are a 'healthier alternative' without compromising taste or texture. The cupcake recipe only requires one bowl, too. So easy to make...you don't need any baking skills to make the perfect double chocolate cupcake.

Kristin is the creator and editor-in-chief of Live Simply. Kristin is married to her high school sweetheart, Dustin, and is the mom to two kids and two free-roam (litterbox-trained) bunnies, Leo and Estela. Kristin started Live Simply in 2013 to share her passion for real food and natural living.

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10 Comments

  1. I made these for my daughter’s third birthday, except with a maple syrup sweetened whipped cream and cream cheese topping instead of the frosting. They were great! I dipped them into ground coconut to make them into panda bear faces and she loved them!
    I’m always trying to find ways to make treats healthier so I’m really appreciating your recipes!

    Reply

    1. Hey Lauren, They should be okay at room temperature for about a day (unfrosted), but after that, I would definitely recommend putting them in the fridge. Enjoy!!

      Reply

  5. 5 stars
    I successfully soaked this recipe, but they are better just freshly cooled. They are not hard to make so one could set them to soak the day before, make the frosting and set out the set of the ingredients and just while them up about 40 minutes before planning to eat them. Delicious, fluffy and moist just as a cake should be. Yum! I think I will try cream cheese in the frosting recipe next time.

    Reply