Chocolate Cream Cheese Surprise Cupcakes

One of my best friends from undergrad sent me an email a while back with the subject line:

My absolute favorite

The body of the email proceeded to read:

You will LOVE these.  Also, I would run through traffic for these cupcakes. (the mini chocolate chips are really essential, don't use the big ones)

 

I was sold.  I made these cupcakes this past weekend and they brought a giant big smile to my face.  I could tell why my friend loves these so much.  The chocolate cake is rich and moist; and the cream cheese adds a nice bit of tangy smoothness.  These cupcakes were truly delicious.

These cupcakes were a great way to celebrate my 100th blog post!  Thank you to my readers and everyone else who has encouraged and supported me since the launch of The Capitol Baker almost two years ago.

Chocolate Cream Cheese Surprise Cupcakes

adapted from Hershey's

(6 PointsPlus per serving)

Ingedients

for the filling:

8 oz. reduced fat cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1/8 tsp salt
1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

for the cupcake:

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar

2/3 cup cocoa powder

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 cups water

2/3 cups vegetable oil

2 Tbsp white vinegar

2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions 

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Line muffin cups with paper liners. 

Prepare the filling- beat the cream cheese, sugar, egg and salt in a bowl until smooth and creamy.  Stir in the chocolate chips.

Stir together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.  Add the water, oil, vinegar and vanilla.  Beat for 3 minutes.  Fill muffin cups 2/3 full with batter. Spoon 1 level Tbsp of the filling into the center of each cupcake. 

Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the cake portion comes out clean.  Let cool for 5 minutes in the pans.  Remove from pans to wire rack.  Cool completely.

This recipe makes about 30 cupcakes.  (1 serving = 1 cupcake, 6 PointsPlus per serving)

 

Biscoff and White Chocolate Chip Cookies

I bet you're thinking to yourself right now why does Biscoff sound so familiar.  You've probably had the cookie several times on an airplane, but never realized it had an actual name.

There isn't too much to say about this cookie concoction other than it is just hands down delicious.  The flavor of the Biscoff cookie combined with the white chocolate does wonders together.  You must try this recipe ASAP!

Biscoff and White Chocolate Chip Cookies

adapted from Picky Palate

roughly 7 PointsPlus per serving

Ingredients

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup packed light brown sugar

2 eggs

1/2 Tbsp vanilla extract

3 cups all purpose flour

20 finely ground Biscoff Cookies

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

20 coarsely chopped Biscoff Cookies

2 cups white chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

In a stand or electric mixer, cream the butter and sugars until light and creamy.  Add the eggs and then vanilla, mix until well combined.

In a large bowl add the flour, ground Biscoff Cookies, baking soda and salt.  Mix to combine and then slowly add into wet ingredients until just combined.  Add the coarsely chopped Biscoff cookies and white chocolate chips until just combined.

With a medium cookie scoop, scoop dough onto prepared baking sheet about 1 inch apart and press down.  Bake for 12-15 minutes until edges start to turn golden brown. Remove and let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack. 

If you're feeling adventurous like I was when working on this recipe then you can use a portion of the dough to make a cookie cake.  I made 44 cookies and then used the leftover dough for the cake.  I sprayed a 9-inch round baking pan with cooking spray, patted the dough into the pan, and baked for about 15-17 minutes.

(1 serving = 1 cookie (or slice of cake), because I made 44 cookies plus the cake I estimated one serving to be 7 PointsPlus)

Dulce de Leche and Cashew Blondies

A little while back I made these Dulce de Leche and Cashew Bars which were absolutely fabulous.  I found it a bit difficult to spread the Dulce de Leche over each layer, so I wanted to experiment with mixing the Dulce de Leche into the batter.

While the end product tasted different from the original recipe, it was still a success.  This recipe tasted more like a typical blondie, sweet, soft and less chewy than the original.  Overall, both versions were delicious and you will have to make both to see which one you prefer!

Dulce de Leche and Cashew Blondies

adapted from Lucie Madeleine

(6 PointsPlus per serving)

Ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup flour
1/2 cup Dulce de Leche (store-bought or homemade)
1 1/4 cups roasted salted cashews (halves and pieces)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line an 8 x 8 pan with tin foil and make sure the foil reaches up the sides.  Butter the foil. 

Melt the butter over low heat in a medium saucepan.  Remove from the heat and let cool for a few minutes.

Add the brown sugar to the saucepan of melted butter and whisk until mixture starts to pull away from the sides of the pan, 1-2 minutes.  Mix in the egg then add the salt and flour and whisk for 1 minute.  Now add in the Dulce de Leche and cashews and mix until combined.  Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until set in the center and golden brown at the edges (it may seem a little underdone because of the Dulce de Leche in the middle, so just make sure it’s firm).  Cool completely in the pan and then remove bars by lifting up the tinfoil.  

Because the edges of blondies tend to get a little tough, first slice off about ¼ inch from each edge and save for someone who likes edges!  Then slice into 16 squares. (1 serving = 1 piece, 6 PointsPlus per serving)