Frosted Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

This month's Secret Recipe Club was a doozie. In a good way.

I knew I was in trouble the minute I saw my assignment.

You see, I was assigned Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks, run by the awesome Heather. And if you've ever been over to her blog, you'll know why this meant trouble.

Everything looks delicious. And I wanted to try everything.  Which left me quite overwhelmed.

So I did what any mom would do... I had little miss pick for me.  I'm not sure if this makes me a genius or a meanie... It was actually a really funny experience. I brought up the blog's recipe index, sat her down at the computer and told her to go through all of the recipes and pick her favorite.  She clicked through SO many of the recipes, ooh-ing and aah-ing the whole entire time. She kept at it for a very, very long time, too!

Her first choice were Peanut Butter Blossom cookies, but, aside from the fact that I've made those before (and always like to use this opportunity to try something new), I didn't want to make something that little man couldn't enjoy, also, and you can't make peanut butter cookies... without... peanut butter.  So I had her pick again.

This time she chose Frosted Chocolate Chip Cupcakes. Now we're talking! Delicious, rich cupcakes with a fudgy chocolate glaze style icing on top? Yum!

I started with the cupcakes (obviously...).  The batter was very thick, so I was curious as to how they would come out, but they rose very nicely and had a nice spring to them when done, so I was pretty pleased.

Next I tackled the icing. Now, the icing recipe is a simple one, but it calls for butter.  Yes, there's butter in the cupcakes, but those get baked. And while the butter in the frosting recipe is melted, it isn't actually cooked.  Why does this matter? Little man's dairy allergy is a finicky one - he can actually consume some dairy products baked into a recipe. So the cupcakes were okay (though I did substitute coconut milk for the milk in that recipe - I never want to push my luck!), the frosting needed a little modification. Easy enough - I used coconut oil!

The only other change I made for the frosting recipe was to use dark chocolate powder rather than regular.  The resulting frosting was crazy dark...

...which worked out perfectly for the theme I was working with for these cupcakes...

Pirates!

I had a very tough time keeping little hands from sneaking early tastes at these...

Some finishing touches and we were ready to bring these to a family dinner!

And boy were they worth waiting for. The cake was very rich, but that thick batter was so worth it, as it held up all of the chocolate chips (rather than them sinking to the bottom, as usually happens). Everyone absolutely loved them and you can bet that I will be making them again.

So Heather, thanks so much for this awesome recipe, along with all of the other awesome recipes on your blog. You can bet I will be back again and again and again!


Chocolate Chip Cupcakes
(slightly adapted from Hezzi-D)

1 stick of butter at room temperature
4 oz. cup of light applesauce (I used a 3.2 ounce packet of natural applesauce)
3/4 c. light brown sugar
4 egg whites (medium eggs)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup chocolate chips

Preheat over to 350 degrees. Line a 12-cupcake pan with paper liners.
In a bowl, mix the butter, applesauce and brown sugar. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy.
Mix in the egg whites, beating well.
In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Stir well. With mixer on low speed, add half of the flour mixture to the butter mixture. Next, add the milk and mix at medium speed. Then stir in the rest of the flour mixture, mixing only until just blended.
Add the vanilla and chocolate chips and stir with a spatula.
Divide the cupcake batter between the 12 cupcake liners, filling the cups about 3/4 of the way full. (I had more batter than needed for this, so I put the remaining batter in a mini-cake pan)
Bake for 20-22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. (Mine took closer to 24 minutes for the cupcakes and an additional 10 minutes for the mini-cake).
Let cupcakes cool in the pan for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.



Chocolate Frosting
(slightly adapted from Hezzi-D, who adapted it from Hershey's)
(I halved the recipe and had more than enough for all 12 cupcakes and the bonus cake)

4 tablespoons coconut oil
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons cup coconut milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a medium pot, melt the coconut oil. Stir in cocoa powder. Stir in powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency.
Adjust the consistency as needed, adding additional milk (a few drops at a time) to thin it out, more powdered sugar (very slowly) if it is too runny. Stir in vanilla.

Carefully spread icing on cooled cupcakes. Allow them to sit for a little bit to set the icing.

Enjoy!