Best Cupcake Tops with Chocolate Frosting
Preview: This recipe for the Best Cupcake Tops with Chocolate Frosting will remind you of the top of a chocolate cupcake topped with a ganache-like frosting. The best part? They’re small so that you can eat more than one.
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Are you a cupcake lover? Maybe you’re like me, and you mostly like the frosting on a cupcake and the crunchy top. If so, this frosted cupcake top cookie recipe is for you.
After testing these cookies, I dropped some “reject” cookies off at my friend’s house. She later told me they tasted like the top of a frosted cupcake.
Yes! She’s right.
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These cookies are miniature chocolate “cakes” with rich chocolate frosting. Throwing a little instant espresso and Dutch-process cocoa into the dough makes these babies dark and flavorful.
My obsession with frosted cookies started with ugly, irregularly shaped, frosted cinnamon cookies my Grandma used to bake for us.
I’ve become slightly obsessed with frosted cookies like these Frosted Lemon Yogurt Cookies and Mini Black and Whites. Like parents with more than one child, my affection for frosted cookies multiplies with each new recipe added to my collection.
The secret ingredient in the frosting:
There is a magic ingredient in the frosting. I hesitate to say it but here goes. Sour cream. (Lite sour cream works just fine.) I promise you won’t taste anything that reminds you of sour cream.
If you aren’t into frosting as much as I am, swipe a little across the top. It’s not necessary to get fancy.
Speaking of fancy, thanks to Annie of Annie’s Eats for putting me on to the mechanical pastry bag available from Williams-Sonoma. The large tip is what I used to decorate the cookies in the first picture.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- FLOUR: The recipe calls for unbleached, but you could substitute bleached flour.
- COCOA: I like Hershey’s brand Special Dark-a blend of natural and Dutch cocoa.
- BUTTER: Be sure to let the butter soften to room temperature. You should be able to dent the butter with your finger.
- SUGAR: Use granulated sugar. No substitutes
- BUTTERMILK OR UNFLAVORED YOGURT: If using yogurt, thin it with milk to the consistency of buttermilk.
- INSTANT ESPRESSO: This is a powdered product you will find in the tea and coffee aisle. Add it to any recipe with a lot of chocolate to intensify the chocolate flavor. You won’t detect the coffee flavor.
- BITTERSWEET CHOCOLATE CHIPS: I use Ghiradelli bittersweet chips, but semi-sweet chips would also work if you like your chocolate sweeter.
- SOUR CREAM: You can substitute lite sour cream for full-fat.
FAQ about Chocolate Cupcake Tops
Yes. Double wrap and store in the freezer for up to 1 month.
These cookies should be cake-like in texture. If they aren’t, the dough may have been overworked or overmixed, which develops the gluten.
More cookie recipes to tempt you:
If you have questions or suggestions, email me privately for a quick answer: Paula at saladinajar.com. Hope to see you again soon!
Chocolate Cupcake Tops Recipe (aka Frosted Chocolate Cookies)
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour - unbleached 210 gr
- 2 tablespoons cocoa - 11 gr
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup butter - softened 113 gr
- 1 cup sugar - 198 gr
- 1 large egg - 50 gr
- 2 squares unsweetened chocolate - melted 56 gr
- ¾ cup buttermilk - or unflavored yogurt (thinned with milk to buttermilk consistency) 180 gr
- ½ teaspoon instant espresso - optional
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Frosting
- 1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips - 170 gr
- ⅓ cup sour cream + another tablespoon - 76 gr + 14 gr
- 1 cup confectioner’s sugar - 113 gr
Instructions
- Whisk or sift together flour, cocoa, soda, and salt in a medium-size bowl.
- Use a stand mixer to beat butter until smooth. Add in sugar and mix for two minutes. Add cooled chocolate and mix. Add egg and mix for another minute.
- Combine buttermilk or yogurt, espresso, and vanilla. Add alternately with dry ingredients and blend to the egg and sugar mixture until mixed.
- Chill the dough in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 400˚F. Drop dough by spoonfuls onto a lightly-greased cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes until no imprint remains when cookie is lightly touched. Frost cookies when cooled.
Frosting
- Melt the chocolate chips in a microwave on MEDIUM for 1-½ to 2 minutes. Stir and let stand for 3-4 minutes till it all melts. Stir in sour cream. Add powdered sugar and beat with a spoon.
- Frosting will be thick and gloppy at first. But as you beat, it will become smooth and shiny. Add another tablespoon or more of sour cream to thin to spreadable consistency. Spread on cooled cookies immediately. Let cookies sit until frosting dries slightly.
Paula Rhodes, author
I’m a retired home economist, wife, mother, grandmother, and creator of Saladinajar.com. I believe you don’t have to be a chef to find joy in creating homemade food worth sharing. Here you’ll find time-saving tips, troubleshooting advice, and confidence-inspiring recipes to make life in the kitchen more fun, appetizing, and satisfying.