The first time I made this, all of my eggs, sour cream, etc. were straight out of the fridge (don't worry, butter was softened). I also didn't sift anything, really - just kinda mashed it with a fork a little. The batter was crazy thick and sort of lumpy, but the flavor was REALLY good and they kept for a while. A few weeks later, I made a second batch, but this time I brought all of my ingredients to room temperature first and used a whisk to "sift" the dry ingredients (as our wire strainer, my weapon of choice for this, is currently trapped behind the oven after an unfortunate moving incident). Those were the only changes I made, and that time, the batter was one of the smoothest I have ever seen. And the flavor was insane! I put cream cheese frosting on them, which was fantastic. Absolutely great. I plan on making these this week, this time armed with an actual wire-mesh strainer and some ultra-dark cocoa powder. I'll keep you posted. P.S.: For all of you saying the batter is too thick and that this is junk, I can't promise that these will magically fix everything, but still, here are a few tips: -LET YOUR INGREDIENTS WARM UP! This is obvious for butter and such, but the sour cream and eggs being warm seemed to make a difference for me. -MORE CHOCOLATE! I also threw some chocolate chips into the second batch - just a few semisweets - and that was lovely. -IF YOU DON'T LIKE DENSE THINGS, THEN THIS IS NOT FOR YOU! Yes, these cupcakes are rich! That doesn't mean they're bad. I actually hate cupcakes that are too light - at that point you can't taste anything and you're left with the frosting (which is rarely a delight). Yes, these are brownie-like. Brownies are dense. What's wrong with this? It's just a larger brownie - shouldn't that be better? With that being said, if you like fluffy supports for five-inch piles of sugar and butter, leave this place. You will find no answers on this page; seek out Betty Crocker instead.

the batter was AWESOME! and, for a kid like me, i know how to rate my batter. (a pox on salmonella.) it took an infinite amount of time to make, because we had no butter in the house at the time. for an improvement, i would say that the batter could be creamier, and less thick, and less of it. there was too much in the bowl .

I really liked how they turned out! Definitely a dense cupcake, but they turned out awesome!! The batter was so rich and creamy, and the cupcakes looked like something out of a cartoon with how nice they rose! I paired it with pumpkin spice butter cream frosting for the fall time, and it was PERFECTION. I don't understand some of the reviews tbh, if it turned out too dense, or it didn't rise, that's not the recipe's fault, it's the baker's. Like, I'm 14 guys, it's not that hard.

I was looking quickly for a cupcake recipe, I came across these and immediately trusted because Martha Stewart’s name was attached. I followed the recipe word for word, did not change a thing. The batter was very, very thick; almost like a buttercream icing. I needed to finish the recipe as I had no time to make anything else. I had to use two spoons, one to scoop the thick batter, another to push the thick batter off the first spoon into cupcake liner, the batter was so think it didn’t even settle into the liners, it stayed a solid blob. They barely rose, and upon cooling they collapsed. They didn’t taste bad, a little too sweet maybe, but the end result was a sad brownie. If left out for a couple hours they already started to get too hard. I’m not a new baker, so I can’t blame it on not knowing how to properly cream butter, and sugar, or using old ingredients. Just a bad recipe. If you need a delicious, fluffy, chocolate cupcake recipe, look further. Sorry Martha.

I love Martha and have many of her cookbooks and I'm always happy. These were terrible. At first I thought I did something wrong but read the reviews and am relieved to see it wasn't just me. I have made many cakes and cupcakes over the years and never had anything turn out like this. I like a dense cake, but these were way too sweet and didn't rise properly. I like to taste the chocolate, not just a sugar bomb in my mouth. I threw them out in the yard to the deer.

Great recipe! They just just got out of the oven, they have a good rich chocolate taste! Thank you!

Best recipe I've tried

Loved them! Dense, rich chocolate cupcake. Great with simple vanilla frosting. Yum!

I just made these and they came out awesome!!! Super fluffy and not too dry at all. I really dont understand all the negative reviews on this recipe...They are just fluffy chocolate heaven! My boyfriend loves them and my family does so too, they are already gone even though I just made them! Amazing recipe!!

Wish I had read the reviews before making these. These are brownies, not cupcakes. Once a realized how heavy the batter was it was too late to do anything to fix it. Very dense and heavy end result. I get that people say play with the recipe... But when you get them from well known bakers you don't expect to have to alter the recipe to make them edible....