Super-chocolaty cupcakes crowned with chocolate glaze

The recipe doesn't actually call for any chocolate in the cupcake batter, just cocoa powder. Cocoa comes from the seeds of cacao plants.

The seeds are fermented, dried, roasted, ground up, and separated from cocoa butter to make cocoa powder. And while cocoa powder has tons of concentrated chocolate flavor, it has none of the sweetness of chocolate. On its own, cocoa powder is really bitter.

Quick tip: We highly recommend using Dutch-processed cocoa powder in this recipe. If you use natural cocoa powder, the cupcakes will be drier in texture and lighter in color. You can use bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chips here, but we do not recommend milk chocolate chips.