Recipe adapted from Food Network Magazine, March 2014 issue, pg. 132
Tip: Before you start anything, take the cream cheese out of the fridge so it can come to room temperature, and preheat the oven so it will be ready to cook the candied bacon. THEN you should get all the ingredients and bowls and
For the candied bacon:
6 slices of raw bacon
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1. Preheat the oven to 350.
2. Combine the dry ingredients.
3. Coat the raw bacon with the dry mixture.
4. Bake 20 minutes. Let cool.
5. Chop into small pieces.
For the cupcakes themselves:
5 tbsp flavorless oil such as vegetable or canola
1/4 cup strong coffee - we used Pete's brand for the Keurig
1/3 cup cocoa powder
4 oz milk chocolate (each oz is about a heaping 1/8 cup, in my experience)
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup milk (The original recipe calls for buttermilk. We used lactaid milk.)
1 serving of Mott's original apple sauce from the single serving lunch box size containers (The original recipe calls for 2 eggs, and this is what we substituted to preserve the great texture of the cupcakes.)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1. Melt the chocolate.
2. Add to the chocolate: the coffee, vegetable oil, brown sugar, and cocoa powder. Whisk or stir well until smooth. Set aside to cool while making the rest of the batter.
3. Add the following to a large bowl - this will be the bowl that all of the batter is ultimately combined into - the flour, granulated sugar, baking soda, and salt. Whisk to combine.
4. Add the milk, apple sauce, and vanilla. Combine thoroughly.
5. Add the cooled chocolate to the rest of the ingredients.
6. Line your cupcake tin with paper or foil liners. Fill most of the way full, but NOT all of the way, as these will rise a fair amount. This will make 12 generously medium-sized cupcakes.
7. Add a couple pieces of chopped bacon to the center of each cupcake.
8. Bake at 350 for 20 to 25 minutes.
9. Let cool in the cupcake tin.
For the frosting:
1 cup caramel sauce or dulce de leche - Anne Burrell has an amazing caramel sauce recipe in her new cookbook, but since we were also making dinner in a limited amount of time, we used an ice cream topping type of dulce de leche that was pre-made.
8 oz cream cheese at room temperature - open the package and leave it out for a while.
1 tsp vanilla extract
Beat the ingredients with a mixer of medium if you have access to an electric mixer, or do your best with a whisk.
Assembling it all:
Unmold the cupcakes from the tin. Frost each with a small amount of frosting. If desired, top with more of the candied bacon. Depending on how bacon-y you want your cupcakes, you can make twice the amount of candied bacon than we did.
Enjoy!!
Tip: Before you start anything, take the cream cheese out of the fridge so it can come to room temperature, and preheat the oven so it will be ready to cook the candied bacon. THEN you should get all the ingredients and bowls and
For the candied bacon:
6 slices of raw bacon
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1. Preheat the oven to 350.
2. Combine the dry ingredients.
3. Coat the raw bacon with the dry mixture.
4. Bake 20 minutes. Let cool.
5. Chop into small pieces.
For the cupcakes themselves:
5 tbsp flavorless oil such as vegetable or canola
1/4 cup strong coffee - we used Pete's brand for the Keurig
1/3 cup cocoa powder
4 oz milk chocolate (each oz is about a heaping 1/8 cup, in my experience)
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup milk (The original recipe calls for buttermilk. We used lactaid milk.)
1 serving of Mott's original apple sauce from the single serving lunch box size containers (The original recipe calls for 2 eggs, and this is what we substituted to preserve the great texture of the cupcakes.)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1. Melt the chocolate.
2. Add to the chocolate: the coffee, vegetable oil, brown sugar, and cocoa powder. Whisk or stir well until smooth. Set aside to cool while making the rest of the batter.
3. Add the following to a large bowl - this will be the bowl that all of the batter is ultimately combined into - the flour, granulated sugar, baking soda, and salt. Whisk to combine.
4. Add the milk, apple sauce, and vanilla. Combine thoroughly.
5. Add the cooled chocolate to the rest of the ingredients.
6. Line your cupcake tin with paper or foil liners. Fill most of the way full, but NOT all of the way, as these will rise a fair amount. This will make 12 generously medium-sized cupcakes.
7. Add a couple pieces of chopped bacon to the center of each cupcake.
8. Bake at 350 for 20 to 25 minutes.
9. Let cool in the cupcake tin.
For the frosting:
1 cup caramel sauce or dulce de leche - Anne Burrell has an amazing caramel sauce recipe in her new cookbook, but since we were also making dinner in a limited amount of time, we used an ice cream topping type of dulce de leche that was pre-made.
8 oz cream cheese at room temperature - open the package and leave it out for a while.
1 tsp vanilla extract
Beat the ingredients with a mixer of medium if you have access to an electric mixer, or do your best with a whisk.
Assembling it all:
Unmold the cupcakes from the tin. Frost each with a small amount of frosting. If desired, top with more of the candied bacon. Depending on how bacon-y you want your cupcakes, you can make twice the amount of candied bacon than we did.
Enjoy!!