Surprise Filled Cupcakes

How frustrated am I that I have consistently gone to the gym Monday through Friday mornings at 6am for 4 weeks now and only have lost 1 pound?! Well, then I made these cupcakes for the 2nd time in that 4 week period and as I was eating one, hot out of the oven, I realized this could be a good reason why.

The cupcakes are absolutely amazing. They are so unbelievably moist and light and fluffy. And when you get to the middle, there is a yummy surprise that makes the whole thing completely rich and satisfying. Of course, I like to top it off with a huge pile of hot pink butter cream frosting and some white nonpareils. Yum!

Surprise Filled Cupcakes Filling:
8 oz softened cream cheese
1/3 C sugar
1 egg
pinch of salt
1/2 C mini chocolate chips

Cupcakes:
3 C flour
2 C sugar
4 T cocoa powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
3/4 C vegetable oil
2 C water

Mix filling ingredients in small bowl and set aside.

Mix dry ingredients for cupcakes in medium bowl. I've mentioned before that I like to use a whisk to mix my dry ingredients to keep everything light. Add wet ingredients and beat with electric mixer for 2 minutes on medium speed.

Prepare your muffin tin with cupcake liners. To fill them, it works perfectly to use my pampered chef medium and small scoops. Put a medium scoop full of batter in the liners (approx. 2 T), a small scoop of surprise filling (approx, 1 T), and top it off with another medium scoop full of batter.

Bake at 375 for 20 minutes.
Makes 24 yummy cupcakes.


Buttercream Frosting
1 lb powdered sugar
1/3 C melted butter
3-4 tsp cream or whole milk
1 tsp vanilla or other flavoring
food coloring of your choice