Surprise, surprise, surprise

Oftentimes I get together with all my family on Sunday for dinner, and I always volunteer to make the dessert. No, I’m not a super sweet daughter or fabulous “souper” mom because I offer to do some of the cooking. The truth of the matter is, I LOVE sweets, and dessert is my favorite part of the meal to make. If anyone was to win a prize for the biggest sweet tooth in the whole wide world, it would be me. My sister might argue that and say she would win, but I’m older and bigger so it would be me!

Today’s recipe, Chocolate Surprise Cupcakes, is a long-time favorite of mine. I go way back with this one since it was one of the most requested desserts of my sister and me for our birthdays. Who wanted cake when Mom would make her world famous (well, almost) chocolate surprise cupcakes! We thought they were Mom’s until years later she told the truth and owned up to finding this recipe in one of her cookbooks. But this didn’t burst the bubble about Mom or the cupcakes because we still love both! They might as well have been world famous though, because all the kids in the neighborhood and down the street and around the corner and into the next town begged for them. The neighborhood kids would come running when they smelled that delicious chocolate scent seeping through the doors and windows of our house.

This delicious recipe almost did not make it with me into adulthood. Tear. Sigh. Yes, you probably thought I would have memorized it, but I admit I was too busy eating these mouth-watering treats while studying algebra in homeschool to commit this recipe to memory. As I stated in my About page, I was brought up on a lot of health food (much to my liking), and treats like this one were few and far between. At one point Mom did not make the cupcakes for a while, and I thought the recipe was lost forever. Tear. Sigh. Again. I went searching on the Internet for a similar dessert and found there were many versions of it, so these Chocolate Surprise Cupcakes may not be a real “surprise” for you.  After my tedious searching, I actually found the recipe Mom had in one of her books, and my life was saved! Needless to say, I made a dozen copies of it to ensure it would never get lost again. As I share this wonderful and special treat with you today, I recommend you make lots of copies to save and share too.

I tweaked the recipe just a little bit when it came to the vinegar, and I had an itty-bitty ounce of guilt using regular full-fat cream cheese so I substituted Organic Valley’s Neufchatel, which contains a third less fat than regular cream cheese without sacrificing taste. It is actually a lighter and creamier cream cheese, and I highly recommend you try it. Note: I am not getting any endorsements from Organic Valley. I just like the stuff! You don’t have to use organic either. I believe there are non-organic versions in the grocery store.

So, what recipe of your family’s was almost world famous?

Chocolate Surprise Cupcakes

Cupcakes:

3 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

2/3 cup oil

2 cups water

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

2 teaspoons vanilla

Filling:

1   8 oz. package cream cheese, softened

1 egg

1/3 cup sugar

1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Fill two 12-count cupcake tins with paper cupcake liners.

For the cupcakes, combine flour, sugar, cocoa, and baking soda in a large mixing bowl. In another mixing bowl, combine oil, water, vinegar and vanilla. Mix the wet ingredients with the dry and stir until well combined. Spoon mixture into cupcake tins filling the paper liners only two-thirds full. In another mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, egg and sugar until well combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop heaping teaspoons into the middle of the chocolate cupcakes. Bake for 25 minutes. Allow to cool on a rack before serving. Refrigerate whatever cupcakes are not devoured, though, I doubt you will have to do this even if you are the only one eating them!! Enjoy!

If you looked at this picture and did the math, you would know by now that there obviously aren’t 24 cupcakes presented here. A few were already eaten and a few were shared. See, they couldn’t even last long enough out of the oven for me to get a picture of all of them!