Brownie Cupcakes

Little Miss’s dairy allergy means I tend to do more baking than you might expect.  When we head to a birthday party, we need to bring our own cake.  The same goes for any classroom parties – we have a stash of cupcakes in the freezer that she can eat so she never gets left out.  Not shockingly, we go through them on a somewhat regular basis, as I try not to make too big of batches.  Whenever we make them, I allow Little Miss to choose the flavor.  This time around, she asked for brownie cupcakes.

Just like Mister Man and his unique cake requests – witness the apple cake for his birthday this year – Little Miss comes up with some non-standard choices.  I’m always happy to oblige, and brownie cupcakes are definitely not the most challenging ones that I’ve ever tried to make, but boy are they tasty.

Little Miss – upon first tasting them at a birthday party Saturday after I’d made them – announced that they were the best things I’d ever made.  Of course, I had to sample one once we were home after the party to provide my own verdict.  While I might not say these are the best things I’ve ever made, they’re pretty close.

Best of all?  They’re super easy and quick to make, which means that I started these two hours before the birthday party and had them frosted and cooled in plenty of time to head to the shindig.  And yeah, they look pretty cool, too, right?

Brownie Cupcakes

Ingredients:
12 T butter (or coconut oil in our dairy free case)
2 oz chocolate
1/4 c cocoa powder
1/2 t salt
1 c flour
3/4 c sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 t vanilla
1/2 t coffee extract (or strong espresso)

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly grease the Wilton orb mini cake pan, or fill a standard cupcake pan with 12 liners.

In a heavy saucepan, melt together the butter and chocolate.  Stir to combine.  You can remove it from the heat before all the chocolate has melted, as the residual heat will finish the job.  Add the cocoa powder, and stir again.

In a large mixing bowl, add the sugar, and pour in the chocolate mixture.  Mix thoroughly.  You may feel like there is too much fat in here at this point or that it’s too thin, but don’t worry.  Stay with me; it’s worth it.

In the saucepan you used for the chocolate, break the two eggs and whisk them until lightly beaten.  The remaining heat from the saucepan will be a gentle warming of the eggs without cooking them – and it saves you from dirtying another bowl!

Lightly beat the eggs, vanilla, and coffee extract into the chocolate.    Once this is added, it looks “right” again, just like a brownie type batter should.

Add the salt and then the flour, stirring just until combined.

Fill each baking cup about two-thirds full.  Using a scoop helps to ensure they’re all the same size and will bake evenly.

Bake for 18-20 minutes at 350 degrees until your tester comes clean.  Cool on a baking rack for 10 minutes, then remove from the pan.

Once fully cooled, you can frost them.  I used a ganache that I dipped the cupcakes into, which left them with a beautiful smooth sheen, ready to eat and enjoy!

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