“Chocolate runs through my veins.” This statement, uttered by my mother many years ago, landed her a guest spot on a local morning television talk show in the Boston area. It’s true, my mother loves chocolate and at the time,the go-to dessert for family gatherings was a dessert aptly named “death by chocolate, ” but her dietary and lifestyle habits have always been normal.. The other women who appeared with her were a little crazy: one consumed several Oreos and chocolate milk for breakfast daily, while another ate 1 Snickers bar per day and had even ended up in the hospital with a terrible migraine after consuming a very large chocolate Easter bunny all in one sitting. As a child, watching a live tv broadcast from behind the cameras was quite interesting, and it certainly makes for a good story.
One of these brownie cupcakes just might make chocolate flow through your veins. As if 8 ounces of chopped chocolate (for 12 cupcakes) wasn’t enough, they contain an additional quarter cup of cocoa powder and York peppermint patties! They’re deliciously dense, with a texture that splits the difference between a fudge brownie and a typical cupcake. As an unabashed chocolate and cupcake lover, I often help myself to two cupcakes for dessert, but one of these brownie cupcakes is more than enough. They’re a rich, chocolate-packed confection sure to please the discerning chocolate lovers in your life!
Peppermint Filled Brownie Cupcakes
From Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes
Yields 12 cupcakes
8 oz. bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
3/4 tsp salt
3 large eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cocoa
12 small (1.5 inch) peppermint patties
1. Pre-heat oven to 350 and line a muffin tin with paper liners.
2. Place butter in a microwave-safe bowl and melt in the microwave. Once butter is melted, add chocolate pieces and stir to melt. You may need to microwave the chocolate – do so at 20-second increments and stir well.
3. Add sugar and salt, whisking until smooth.
4. Whisk in eggs.
5. Gently whisk in flour and cocoa just until smooth – do not over-mix.
6. Spoon 1 heaping tablespoon of batter into each lined cup. Place 1 peppermint patty on top of batter, pressing gently into the batter. Top with two tablespoons of batter, covering patty completely.
7. Bake for 35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached (insert above the peppermint patty).
8. Place muffin tin on a wire rack and cool completely before removing cupcakes.
[...] Chocolate Peppermint Brownie Cupcakes would be absolutely wonderful this time of year. They are minty and moist and fabulously rich [...]