Black Bottom Cupcakes

Would you like to know what pure joy looks like? Let me show you...

PURE JOY!!!!!

And lucky for you, I'm sharing the recipe.

I have no idea where I got this recipe, other than from my blue recipe box. I made them for all of the hard workers digging potatoes up at my in-law's farm, my hubby being one of them. When he came home from working all day and trying one of these morsels of pure joy, he told me that they were the best cupcakes I'd ever made.

Now, just so you understand the magnitude of this, getting a compliment out of him is like having a meteorite crash in your backyard. It RARELY happens. And for me to not even ask him what he thought of them or try to coax it out of him, it's just so incredible. So, for him to just come right out and tell me something was that good, that means it really is that good.

Black Bottom Cupcakes are like a combination of chocolate cupcake and chocolate chip cheesecake. A winning combination in my book! You really must try them, and as you eat them, bask in pure joy.

Here's what you'll need:

Black:

1 1/2 C. flour

1 C. sugar

1/4 C. cocoa powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 C. water

1/3 C. oil

1 T. white vinegar

White:

8 oz. cream cheese, room temp.

1 egg

1/3 C. sugar

1 C. mini chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 18 muffin pans with paper baking cups. In a large bowl (I used my Bosch), combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. (Give it a few good spins in your mixer.)

Pour in water, oil, and vinegar; mix until blended.

In a small separate bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Beat in egg and sugar, then stir in chocolate chips.

Scoop chocolate batter into prepared muffin pans, dividing evenly.

Spoon a heaping Tablespoon of cream cheese mixture onto center of batter.

Bake 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the chocolate cake part comes out clean. Cool cupcakes for 10 minutes in pans, then remove to a rack to cool completely.

Frost with your favorite chocolate frosting.

Makes 18 of these morsels of pure joy.

If you'd like an easier option, you can just make up any chocolate cake mix and use the same cream cheese recipe for the filling. The one time I've done that, the white part gets nearly completely submerged by the chocolate, which makes for a fun surprise.