Guinness Cupcakes

Incredibly soft and moist these Guinness Cupcakes will be your favorite chocolate cupcake all year round. The perfectly rich chocolate cupcake for your St. Patrick's Day dessert!

Years ago I used to manage two British Pubs, you can imagine that St. Patrick's Day was always a busy time for us. I loved the buzz and rush you got of working extra busy shifts, loads of people, everyone in a good mood, while it was extra hard work it was extra fun work at the same time.

I used to always bake for the crew so in between crazy rushes we could stuff our face with a little sweet something to keep us going. The first few boozy baked goods I made over the years were my Guinness Brownies with a Baileys Frosting, Magners Blondies, and Baileys Tres Leches Cake.

I also made a Guinness Chocolate Cake but never got around to posting on the blog, until now. The life of a restaurant manager doesn't leave much time for blogging. Thank goodness I left at life behind 😉

These cupcakes are incredibly light and fluffy. I bet you won't eat just one!

Let's get to the recipe.

Jump to:

• 🧁 Ingredients
• 📖 Instructions
• 🍴Storage
• 📝Freezing Guinness Cupcakes
• 🍻 More Boozy Recipes
• Recipe Card
• Recipe Ratings & Comments

🧁 Ingredients

I bet you have most of these ingredients on hand, I happen to usually have Guinness on hand as well because well I enjoy a pint of Guinness!

• Guinness. I used an 11.2oz bottle and reduced it to 5oz. You could use a larger can and have a few sips or reduce it further, or throw a few splashes out. You could also use another stout beer, but Guinness is my preference.
• All-Purpose/ Plain Flour. We don't need a ton of flour 
• Dutch-process Cocoa Powder. I love Bensdorp Dutch Cocoa Powder but feel free to use your favorite brand. Dutch-processed baking powder has had the acidity stripped from it, so it's important that the recipe calls for other acidic ingredients to activate the baking soda. Sour cream and brown sugar both help the baking soda react creating the lift and rise in the cupcakes.
• Baking Soda. This leavening agent will create the lift and rise we are looking for in a light, spongy cupcake.
• Salt. Just a little bit helps balance everything out.
• Sugar. Because we are using dutch process cocoa we need to use both granulated sugar and light brown sugar. The brown sugar provides the acid we need for the baking soda and brown sugar creates extra moisture and slight chew, for a perfect crumb!
• Eggs. Make sure they are large ones at room temperature.
• Vanilla Extract. Make sure its pure vanilla, don't bother with the imitation stuff.
• Sour Cream. I know this is a pain but take it out of the fridge for an hour or so before baking. Having the sour cream at room temperature ensures it will fully be combined with the oil and eggs.
• Vegetable Oil. For chocolate-based cakes, I usually prefer oil over butter. In a butter cake, you are looking for the butter flavor but in a chocolate cake, any butter flavor is masked by the chocolate. For a butter cake, I would use a combo of butter and oil because oil ensures moisture but for a chocolate cake I don't use butter at all.
• Frosting. There are countless ways you could top these cupcakes. I prefer my Baileys Swiss Meringue Buttercream  or Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting, or Coffee Frosting

📖 Instructions

The first thing we are going to do is reduce the Guinness, you will add the warm Guinness to the cake batter so no need to do this ahead of time.

Over low-medium heat simmer the Guinness beer in a medium-sized pot. Too small and the Guinness might bubble over. Reduce the liquid for 10-15 minutes. You want to reduce the mixture by roughly half, 5oz. Set aside and begin the cupcake batter.

Make sure to preheat the oven to 350F/180C and line a muffin tray with cupcake liners. Ensuring your oven is properly heated will help you have a successful bake.

In a large bowl sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, and sugars.

You can see the large lumps of brown sugar and cocoa powder, this is why it is crucial to sieve the ingredients to ensure a smooth, lump-free batter.

Now it's time for the wet ingredients. Whisk together the eggs, vanilla, sour cream, and oil. If the sour cream is ice cold from the fridge it won't combine evenly. You could mix it in an electric stand mixer too.

Gently whisk the liquid into the dry ingredients until just combined. Don't over mix!! Over mixing overdevelops the gluten which can create a tough cake.

Finally pour in the hot Guinness. This batter will be very liquidy, it's supposed to be!

Fill each cupcake liner ½-2/3rds full. Over filling the cupcakes can ruin the cakes, so bake another tray before overfilling! The Guinness cupcakes need to bake for 14-18 minutes, or until when gently touched in the center the cake bounces back or a toothpick inserted in comes out clean with no wet batter.

Let the cupcakes cool in the pan on a wire rack until cooled to room temperature.

Now add whichever frosting your heart desires!

🍴Storage

Depending on which frosting you use and the temperature of the environment you live in the cupcakes can be stored at room temperature or in the fridge.

If storing the cupcakes in the fridge, let them sit at room temperature for 30 minutes to take the chill off.

📝Freezing Guinness Cupcakes

The cupcakes can be cooled completely, stored in an air-tight container and frozen for up to three months. When ready to thaw take them out of the freezer and let thaw overnight in the fridge or on the counter for a few hours.

You can freeze the cupcakes with or without frosting. Swiss meringue buttercream and American buttercream both freeze great.

🍻 More Boozy Recipes

• Tiramisu
• Guinness Cheesecake
• Baileys Cupcakes
• Guinness Stew

★★★★★ Please let me know if you make this recipe by leaving a star rating and comment below!

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This post was originally published on October 3, 2012 as of March 7 2020 the recipe has been updated.