Cream Cheese Chocolate Cupcakes

Surprisingly I'm growing tired of baking cupcakes. Not sure if I lost my inspiration or what. Maybe it is because I've baked cupcakes for the past three Saturdays. Either way I wanted to make cupcakes for the Alpha Gam alumni game night I hosted at my house tonight. I first was thinking I would make a cupcake out of inspiration from my favorite childhood game - Candyland. But then I decided ice cream cone cupcakes are a little childish. I think I was fascinated with baking a cupcake inside an ice cream cone. I remembered I saved a simple yet delicious recipe from the How About Orange blog.

This is my first time baking cupcakes without frosting. With the gooey cream cheese and chocolate chip center, I really did not miss the frosting. Shocking, I know.The recipe was simple but the chocolate batter was runny which was challenging when filling the muffin wells. I was unaware that Reese's makes peanut butter chips and oh man they are yummy. So glad I decided to use chocolate and peanut butter chips instead of just chocolate. Now I need to find another purpose for the rest of the Reese's chips...hmm.

All of the girls enjoyed the cupcake and one said it was moist which I have to agree. And if you are not a frosting fan then you will love these cupcakes.

Cream Cheese Chocolate Cupcakes
Filling:1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1/3 c. sugar
1 egg
1/8 tsp. salt
1 c. chocolate chips
1 c. peanut butter chips (or just use more chocolate if you want)

Cupcakes:
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. sugar
1/4 c. baking cocoa
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. water
1/3 c. vegetable oil
1 Tbs. white vinegar
1 tsp. vanilla

In a bowl, beat cream cheese. Add sugar, egg, salt. Mix well. Fold in chips. Set aside. For cupcakes, combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Add water, oil, vinegar, and vanilla. Mix well. Fill paper-lined muffin cups half full with batter. Top each with 2 Tbs. of cream cheese mixture. Bake at 350º for 25-30 minutes. Cool 10 minutes and remove from pan. Makes 18.