Take a look at these Chocolate Surprise Cupcakes…

I mean take a really good look.  Chocolate on the outside, cream cheese and chocolate chips on the inside. Spoiler alert: that’s what makes them surprise cupcakes!

Take another look…

Essentially, this is a chocolate cupcake, but the center is a mixture of cream cheese and chocolate chips. It’s practically like biting into a piece of chocolate cheesecake, but in a cupcake form. I cannot even begin to tell you how many times I’ve made these surprise cupcakes, and for so many different occasions.

You can dress up these Chocolate Surprise Cupcakes with a ganache frosting and they become a decadent dessert for birthdays, Valentine’s Day, and Christmas. Leave them plain and theyses surprise cupcakes become the best seller for fundraising activities, or a simple Sunday dessert. They are so good that everyone will be asking you for the recipe. Yes, these little surprise cupcakes are really that good!

Origins of the recipe for Chocolate Surprise Cupcakes:

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In 1983, General Foods published a collection of recipes called: “Baker’s Chocolate Celebration Cookbook“. And of course you know who had to have it. So I sent away my 2.99$ (or whatever ridiculous amount) for postage and handling and 4-6 weeks later I got the cookbook. Good times!!!!

The recipe for these surprise cupcakes caught my attention right away. I have made a couple of changes to suit my preferences. I decreased the amount of sugar and chocolate chips; and I like to use a mixture of mint and dark chocolate chips. Mint and dark chocolate…no explanation required !

Go ahead and try this recipe for Chocolate Surprise Cupcakes. What changes will you make to call it your own ?

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5 from 3 votes

Chocolate Surprise Cupcakes

You'll be totally speechless when you bite into these chocolate surprise cupcakes. Spoiler alert: The surprise is the cream cheese-chocolate chip center.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword chocolate surprise cupcakes

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 50 minutes

Servings 18 servings

Calories 228kcal

Author Maria Vannelli RD

Ingredients

Cheese mixture:

• 250 grams cream cheese softened
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup chocolate chips 130g

Cupcake:

• 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate melted and cooled
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 1/4 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

To make the cheese mixture:

• Beat together softened cream cheese, egg, and sugar until well blended.
• Stir in chocolate chips.
• Set aside mixture.

To make the cupcake:

• Place cupcake liners in muffin tins.
• In a medium bowl,combine the rest of the ingredients.
• Beat together with a whisk or fork until smooth (2-3 minutes).
• Separate 1/2 of the batter equally among the muffin tins.
• Place 1 tablespoon of the cheese mixture over the batter.
• Top with the remaining cupcake batter.
• Bake at 350 F for 30 - 35 minutes.

Notes

Any kind of chocolate chips can be used.

Once cooled you can sprinkle icing sugar over the top or frost with your favourite icing. I have iced these cupcakes with the ganache frosting recipe found in simple snacking chocolate banana cake.

Please keep in mind that the nutritional information provided below is just a rough estimate and variations can occur depending on the specific ingredients used. 

*recipe lightly adapted from Baker's Chocolate Celebration Cookbook

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 228kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Cholesterol: 34mg | Sodium: 153mg | Potassium: 61mg | Sugar: 19g | Vitamin A: 4.6% | Calcium: 3% | Iron: 6.6%

Thanks for dropping by.

Ciao for now!

Maria 🙂

2016.01.18 This post has been updated.