Chocolate Overload Cupcakes
By: Emily@the Exper...
Published: Friday, December 4, 2009 - 11:26am

Ingredients




Dark Cocoa Cupcakes

1 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup splenda
1/2 cup Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa Powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup skim milk
2 tbs. oil
3 heaping spoonfuls of unsweetened applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Top-Secret Buttercream Icing

1 stick of butter
1 bag of powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tbs. meringue powder
2 tbs. Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa Powder
1 tbs. regular Hershey's Cocoa Powder

Preparation

1 For Cupcakes: 2 Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir together dry ingredients, then add milk, oil, applesauce, vanilla and the egg. Mix in chocolate chips. Scoop into cupcake liners (makes about 18 cupcakes) or pour into a 9-inch round cake pan. Bake about 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Frost with Top-Secret Buttercream Icing and top with Hershey's Special Dark chocolate chips. 3 For Frosting: 4 Soften butter on the counter top for a few hours, or overnight if you forget about it. Cream butter and vanilla together on low speed until fluffy. Add milk and then powdered sugar gradually, mixing in meringue powder and cocoa about halfway through. Keep adding powdered sugar until desired consistency is reached, or add milk to thin.

About


I concocted these quadruple chocolate cupcakes for my hubby's birthday. He never guessed the cake was low fat, and neither will you--but I think the frosting negates that! :) They were very easy to make and decorate and definitely delicious to eat! 
I used Splenda in this recipe, but I'm sure you can just sub regular sugar instead, but I would recommend adding a little more if you are sensitive to the bitterness of dark chocolate.