If you’re looking for a short answer, then yes, not necessarily, and no. Chocolate naturally contains caffeine, so adding cocoa powder to the batter means that caffeine is part of the mix. That said, it’s not a ton! Each cupcake will have about the same amount of caffeine as a decaf cup of coffee. As for dairy, I do use buttermilk in this super moist chocolate cupcakes recipe. However, you can easily use non-dairy buttermilk if needed. If you’re aiming to make your cupcakes completely dairy-free, make sure your frosting is, as well. In terms of nuts, unless you add some chopped ones to the batter or use nut-based milk to make your buttermilk, this basic chocolate cupcake recipe is totally nut-free.