Black-Bottom Cupcakes

My friend recently moved into a new apartment across town. Due to various reasons, I wasn’t able to offer much assistance in the way of helping her move items, but I thought in lieu of physical labor, I could offer to bake her something fabulous to enjoy in her new home.  Anything she wanted. Her only request was that it be chocolate. Lots of chocolate.

Confession: I don’t particularly like chocolate. Therefore, I have never made anything chocolate. So I had to do some serious research.  In my search, I found Black-Bottom Cupcakes. Here’s the trouble though, they aren’t exactly easy on the calories.  I really wanted to try these out before I made them for my friend though, since I planned to modify the recipe to make it a more reduced fat treat than it was. 

I mean come on, I don’t run all those miles just so I can break even with eating dessert. This cupcake though? Worth each and every one of the 11 miles I ran on this past Sunday morning.  I even forgot to add in one of my subs (some sugar free applesauce) which happened to be quite fortuitous because I can’t tell that I ever needed it.  SK’s original recipe is linked above, below is what I made though

Calories 246 / Fat 11.1g / Carbs 39.8g / Fiber 2.0g / Protein 4.3g

Serves 12

For the filling:

8 ounces Philadelphia 1/3 less fat cream cheese

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg white, at room temperature

2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped

For the cupcakes:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

5 tablespoons natural unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup water

1/4 cup Canola oil

1 tablespoon white vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the filling: With a hand mixer, beat together the cream cheese, sugar, and egg white until smooth. Stir in the chopped chocolate pieces. Set aside.

For the cupcakes:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 12-cup muffin tin with Pam or line the tin with paper muffin cups.

2. In a medium bowl sift together the flour, brown sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, mix together the water, oil, vinegar, and vanilla.

3. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and stir in the wet ingredients, stirring until just smooth. Do not over stir.

4. Divide the batter among the muffin cups. Spoon a few tablespoons of the filling into the center of each cupcake, dividing the filling evenly.

5. Bake for 25 minutes, or until the tops are slightly golden brown and the cupcakes feel springy when gently pressed.

P.S. I absolutely run so I eat things like this without feeling guilty.