Easy Chocolate Valentine Cupcakes

These Valentine Cupcakes are a hit at parties – a simple and moist chocolate cupcake recipe with a fail-proof cream cheese frosting colored pink for a super cute Valentine’s Day dessert.

Click HERE to save this recipe for Valentine’s Cupcakes!

This recipe for Valentine Cupcakes was originally written by former contributor Caroline of Chocolate & Carrots. It has been updated from the archives to include additional information.

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 last minute treat to bake up for this special occasion.

Tools Needed to Make Valentine Cupcakes 

You’ll need a few kitchen tools to prepare these cupcakes for Valentine’s Day. Here’s what I recommend having on hand before getting started:

• Small Bowl – to combine the hot water and cocoa.
• Medium Bowl – to combine the rest of the dry ingredients in.
• Electric Hand Mixer and Large Bowl or a Stand Mixer with Bowl – to beat the butter and sugar together before adding the rest of the ingredients to make the batter.
• Spatula  – to scrape the bottom of the bowl as you mix the cupcake batter
• Cupcake Liners – a Valentine’s Day celebration gives you the perfect opportunity to pick out some cute cupcake liners, plus cupcake liners make it so easy to remove the cupcakes from the pan.
• Cupcake Pans – to bake cupcakes in.
• Wire Rack – to cool the cupcakes at room temperature after baking. 
• Food Coloring – optional, but pink cupcakes are super cute for Valentine’s Day! For white frosting, omit the food coloring.
• Piping Bag – to pipe the fluffy frosting on top of the cupcakes.
• Piping Tip – I like a large round tip or a large start tip. This 5 piece large piping tip set has a great assortment for decorating cupcakes. 
• Sprinkles – there are so many fun pink and red sprinkles mixes available for Valentine’s Day cupcake decorating!

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 to make these Valentine Cupcakes, scroll to the bottom of this post for the FREE printable recipe card.

Click HERE to save this recipe for Valentine’s Cupcakes!

The above is simply a quick summary of this Valentine’s Day Cupcake recipe. Check out the full recipe in the free printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for all the detailed instructions.

Cupcake Toppers for Valentine Cupcakes

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.

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). Select the drop down for File and click on the Print option…
4. 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.
5. Print the printable document on the card stock.
6. Cut out each individual cupcake topper using your circle cutter.
7. Tape the cut out cupcake topper onto the top of your skewers.
8. 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.

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.

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.

Click HERE to save this recipe for Valentine’s Cupcakes!

Valentine Cupcakes FAQs

Got questions about how to make this recipe for Valentine’s Day Cupcakes? Here are the answers to a few commonly asked questions. Feel free to leave any other questions in the comments on this post and I’ll respond with answers.

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.

Try these Valentine Cupcakes!

Next time you’re looking for easy sweet treats to bake for February 14th, give these Chocolate Valentine Cupcakes a try!

Did you think this was a super moist cupcake recipe? Leave a comment below and give it a review for others to see what you thought of this easy recipe.

On Instagram? Share your photo and tag me @goodlifeeats #goodlifeeatsrecipes. I’d love to see your photo of Valentine’s Day Cupcakes!

More Valentine’s Day Cupcake Recipes

Looking for more Valentine’s cupcake ideas? Here are a few favorites:

These Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes feature a sour cream chocolate cupcake base and a bright raspberry buttercream frosting.

These Decadent Dark Chocolate Cupcakes are piped with a salted caramel buttercream and drizzled in homemade bourbon caramel sauce for a delicious sweet and salty dessert.

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.

These cute Cherry Vanilla Cupcakes have bits of real maraschino cherry in the bright pink Cherry Vanilla Buttercream.

Chocolate Nutella Cupcakes made with three flavors of cream cheese frosting! Don’t worry, it’s an easy recipe with just a few extra steps required!

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Happy Valentine’s Day!