Best Cupcakes from Cake Mix

Rich, moist, chocolate cupcakes are the perfect indulgence for any chocolate lover. Though they are made from a mix, they don’t taste like one at all.

How to Make Cupcakes with Cake Mix

While I use cake mixes often enough for them to be a staple in my pantry, I rarely use them as directed on the box packaging. Cake mix cupcakes are a treat that pretty much everyone enjoys, and they’re also a great way to handle a last-minute, “Mom, I forgot I need a treat for school” request.

So, grab a cake mix, along with a few bonus ingredients, and you will have a warm batch of cupcakes cooling on the counter in very little time.

Experimenting with different ways to doctor up box cake mixes can be fun. My go-to additions for many years have been sour cream, extra eggs, and a box of instant pudding mix. (This is a classic “doctored cake mix” combination.)

Out of sour cream? Greek yogurt will work too. In the mood for something other than chocolate? Try vanilla cake with vanilla pudding. If you can pair the cake mix with a pudding mix and it sounds good to you, it will likely work nicely.

My kids are always happy to taste-test and I get such a kick out of telling people “it’s a cake mix” when they compliment the cupcakes. It’s really cool the way those extra ingredients transform a basic cake mix cupcake.

Cakes made from box mixes often have a reputation for being dry. However, with an extra egg or two and a scoop of sour cream, you can forget the days of dry cake.

Interestingly enough, it isn’t water or liquid that contributes to a cake’s moisture level. It is actually fat. Eggs and sour cream = fat. Voila, the dry cake problem is solved.

Chocolate Cupcakes from Cake Mix

To amp up the flavor in these cake mix chocolate cupcakes, we’re adding a box of instant chocolate pudding and replacing the water with a cup of coffee. Instant pudding gives the cupcakes both a bit more moisture and an extra layer of chocolate flavor.

Coffee is a bit of a magic ingredient when paired with chocolate in baked goods. It serves to enhance the chocolate flavor and provide depth to the overall taste without adding any coffee flavor to most recipes.

Espresso powder, instant coffee, and brewed coffee have long been the baker’s secret to the rich chocolate that we all love.

There are just a couple more tips for perfect cake mix cupcakes. First, use room-temperature ingredients whenever possible.

Allowing the refrigerated ingredients to sit out on the counter for just 30 minutes can be a game changer. If the ingredients are too cold, they might result in a dense dry cake.

Second, don’t overmix the batter. When combining the wet and dry ingredients, stir or whisk only until the ingredients are combined, a few small lumps are okay.

When mixing a cake, the goal is to incorporate air in the process. This helps create a light and fluffy texture. Overmixing can cause the air to escape, resulting in a dense, heavy cake.

Cake Mix Cupcakes

You’ll need these ingredients to make this recipe:

• Devil’s Food Cake Mix
• instant chocolate pudding mix
• eggs
• canola oil
• warm coffee or water
• sour cream
• semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Line a cupcake pan with paper liners. In a large mixing bowl, combine the cake mix, instant pudding, eggs, oil, coffee or water, and sour cream.
2. Beat with an electric mixer for about 30 seconds to combine. Add the chocolate chips and mix throughout.
3. Scoop the batter into the liners in the pan, filling each cup about ⅔ full. Bake for 20-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove from the oven and cool completely before frosting.

Cake mixes can be used to make delicious cupcakes and cookies with the addition of a few extra ingredients you likely have on hand.

The secret to these soft and fluffy vanilla cupcakes is the creamy combination of cake mix, sour cream, and instant vanilla pudding. They are topped with a thick, easy, 3-ingredient vanilla frosting that makes them taste like they are straight from the bakery.

Easy Cake Mix Cookies are made with only three ingredients! These cookies turn out soft and moist every time. If you use a funfetti or sprinkles cake mix, you can dress them up for any holiday by simply changing the color of the sprinkles.

Cake Mix Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies are a fun cookie recipe that is perfect for Valentine’s Day or Christmas with its bright color and crinkly top.

Brown sugar is the star of the show in this homemade Brown Sugar Icing with notes of caramel and molasses mingling in this pourable, dreamy frosting.