Dark Chocolate Frosting Recipe
I’ve been on the hunt for a great chocolatey frosting. When in doubt, I’ve always just gone with ganache. You can dip cupcakes in ganache for an easy slick cover. Or you can let it thicken up and spread it on with a spatula. But I wanted something I could pipe in pretty swirls on cupcakes.
Now I’ve tried the Hershey’s chocolate frosting and wasn’t a huge fan. I’ve also tried chocolate Swiss meringue buttercream. I love SMBC but that stuff just wasn’t chocolatey enough. That’s where this frosting comes in.
I saw this recipe pop up on My Baking Heart and instantly perked up. It’s a humorous story about her Count Chocula obsession. I wasn’t so much interested in a Count Chocula cupcake, but the frosting on top looked like a great chocolate frosting. And boy, is it great!
When I made this frosting I actually didn’t have any milk in the house. It happens quite often around here. Since I’m lactose intolerant and Hubby isn’t a huge milk drinker, we just don’t keep it in the house. On a side note, when my brother A was here, he went through a half gallon in a day. I’m pretty sure he would have drank more if I had more in the house. But I digress. Back to this frosting. I had no milk, but I had some Baileys. So I subbed that in place of the milk. It was great. Feel free to use whichever you prefer.
Remember how I mentioned I had bought a boat load of pink sprinkles for really cheap. Yea, these are the same sprinkles again. I think I’ll be using them for years!!
Two Years Ago: Pina Colada Cupcakes
Dark Chocolate Frosting
Yield: Makes enough for 24 cupcakes
Ingredients:
6 Tbsp butter
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups powdered sugar
3/4 cup dark cocoa powder
1/3 cup milk (or Baileys)
Directions:
Cream butter and vanilla.
In a separate bowl, combine powdered sugar and cocoa powder. Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture.
Slowly add milk until frosting reaches desired consistency, then beat another 5 minutes creamy.
Recipe adapted from My Baking Heart
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
Aren’t they the best? They’re so addicting. I’ve actually starting using the same ingredients, but mixing them like a more traditional chocolate chip cookie (i.e., softened butter instead of melted), because I like the dough better with softened butter. The baked cookies were just as good. Best of both worlds!
These look gorgeous. Don’t you just love AB??? 🙂
The cookies look great. I love AB too..he’s such a dork (in a good way).
I love the ATK/CI Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies. I will have to try these to see what I think. I remember seeing that the recipes looked similar so I am sure I will love them.
Another AB lover here. My husband gives me a hard time about my DVR list with him but loves it when I give him a fun tidbit or cook him something from AB.
I completely agree CoCo. Hubby does the same thing. I sometimes even watch episodes I’ve seen before! Hubby doesn’t like to admit it, but he loves AB too. Sometimes he’ll be the one saying “AB says to do this…”
They look SO good!! I am a sucker for a chewy chocolate chip cookie. Although, I must side with your hubby – I prefer mine with just a bit of chocolate.
How much is a stick of butter? I’m not in the US and have never come across this measurement before.
Sorry about that Naomi – 1 stick of butter = 8 Tbsp. Does that help?
this is very similar to the ccc recipe i use, but anything that makes it chewier is good in my books! i will have to keep this one in mind 🙂
Yes Jen, thank you!
Yum! I will definitely be trying these. I always chill my cookie dough too usually because I’m too busy with 3 little ones but I also read that article in the NY times awhile ago and I felt like I deserved a nice big pat on the back for always doing the 24hour chill 🙂 Great post and beautiful cookies!
I love Alton Brown because of his scientific approach to cooking and baking. I’ve been baking “The Chewy” for years. One thing I do differently: Before chilling the dough, I scoop it into balls. This makes the process much easier. Sometimes I freeze the balls for baking later. After I place the balls on parchment, I carefully place a few extra chocolate morsels on top, pointy side up. This extra step produces picture-perfect cookies every time.
The Chewy is my go to recipe for cookies. I make a few alterations, occasionally, such as substituting 1/4 of the brown sugar with dark brown sugar. I bake small portions in mini muffin tins; one batch makes 48 cookie bites that are super chewy and the perfect size bite. I’ve made them every year for Christmas gifts for a few years now.