Rich and decadent chocolate cupcakes topped with everything but the kitchen sink including pretzels, potato chips, toffee bits, and chocolate chips! FAST and EASY cupcakes to make because they use a chocolate cake mix base to save you time!
To a large mixing bowl, add the cake mix, pudding mix (dry, you're not making pudding), and all remaining ingredients. Beat on high with a handheld electric mixer until well mixed.
Using a medium cookie scoop, add about 3 to 4 tablespoons batter to each cavity in the cupcake pans. Note - You may not make exactly 24 cupcakes and be short a couple which is fine, don't worry about it.
Bake for about 18 to 22 minutes. Tip - Rotate pans once midway through baking for even cooking. Cupcakes are done with the tops are set, springy to the touch, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs but no batter. Allow cupcakes to cool momentarily in the pans before transferring to wire racks to cool completely. While the cool, make the frosting.
Frosting:
To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or handheld electric mixer with whisk attachment), add the heavy cream, confectioners' sugar, dry pudding mix, and beat on high until light and fluffy.
Transfer the frosting into a pastry bag fitted with a round tip OR simply just spoon a bit on top of the cooled cupcakes.
Decorating:
As desired, evenly sprinkle the cupcakes with the pretzels, potato chips, toffee bits, mini chocolate chips, and optionally drizzle with caramel or chocolate sauce. Serve immediately.
Cupcakes needs to be refrigerated after two hours due to the whipped cream in the frosting. Cupcakes will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 1 week. Tip - Because the pretzels and chips can get soggy, it's best to add them (and the other toppings too) right before you plan to serve the cupcakes. Meaning, don't decorate all 24 right away if you're not planning on consuming them all that day.
Notes
*I used whole milk in the cupcake batter. You could probably get away with 2% but don’t use skim. I haven’t tested with nondairy milks such as almond, soy, oat milk and so forth. Generally speaking, pudding mix requires cow's milk to work properly so I don't know what would happen if you don't use whole milk. Not recommended in my opinion.**My recipe here calls for instant espresso powder. It doesn’t make the cupcakes taste like coffee in the least. Rather, it enhances the chocolate flavor. I use it whenever I make scratch chocolate cake or cupcake recipes because it adds lovely depth of flavor. If you absolutely don’t want to use it, then omit it, however I recommend using it.***Mini chocolate chips are my strong preference for the kitchen sink cupcake batter because they distribute much more evenly than regular-sized chocolate chips. Additionally, topping the cupcakes with mini chocolate chips is my recommendation because they are less “clunky” and are a better overall size ratio than regular sized chips.