Cupcakes or Muffins?

When my sisters and I were growing up, we would always try to have muffins or pastries for breakfast. It was sooo much better than cereal! But whenever we did this, my mom would frown and say “Ugh! Why don’t you just have a slice of cake for breakfast? It’s probably the same amount of calories and fat as those muffins!” Little did mom know how carefully I was listening. The cupcake recipe I have for you today is one of my favorite breakfast foods (thanks, mom)! :)

Cupcakes have become stylish and adorable over the past several years. I truly enjoy going to little cupcake shops when I’m out and about. The assortment of brightly decorated, sweet smelling cupcakes feels almost like Disneyland! I carefully select the prettiest cupcake (or the one with the most chocolate) and admire it for just a moment. Then I unpeel the wrapper, open my mouth, and stop in confusion. How am I supposed to eat this thing? It’s too tall to just take a bite. I can’t start with the frosting because that’s the best part! And if I eat the cake first, I will be left with a big, goopy pile of frosting in my hands!

In response to this most dreadful conundrum, I decided to modify one of my favorite cupcake recipes (Magnolia’s Chocolate Cupcakes) so that the cupcakes would be half the size. Not bite-size, but half-size. With these cupcakes, you can open your mouth and take a bite of the cake AND the frosting at the same time, without making a huge mess. Now that’s my kind of cupcake!

HALF-SIZED CUPCAKES

Ingredients:
½ C. flour
¼ tsp. baking soda
½ stick of unsalted butter (1/4 cup)
¼ C. sugar
¼ C. brown sugar
1 egg
2oz. unsweetened chocolate, melted
¼ C. buttermilk
¼ tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and grease a 12-cup standard size muffin pan.
2. Combine the flour and soda into a small bowl and set aside.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter and sugars. Mix until light and fluffy. Add the egg and mix well. Then add the melted chocolate until completely combined.
4. In a small bowl, mix together the buttermilk and vanilla. Alternate adding the dry mixture and the buttermilk mixture into the batter in three parts.
5. Divide the batter evenly among the 12-cupcake molds, filling each one about half full. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until cupcakes spring back when touched. Let cool completely.
6. Make a chocolate buttercream frosting: In the bowl of an electric mixer with the whip attachment, mix one stick of room-temperature butter with 3 T. cocoa powder and half a teaspoon vanilla. Gradually mix in 2 cups powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons milk, whipping well for a light texture. Add more powdered sugar or milk to create your desired consistency.