4th of July Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting

We had two big cookouts to go to this holiday weekend. I wanted to use my star sprinkles and my flag cupcake liners so I needed a light colored cake and a dark frosting. I decided to take a vanilla cupcake and add chocolate chips to it. These cupcakes were really good. The cake was perfectly dense but still moist and crumbly.

The frosting really is to die for. By adding the hot cocoa mix, there is an extra creaminess to this frosting. Multiple people commented that it tasted like mousse. I couldn’t agree more. I even used some to dip my strawberries in to. WOW was that good. The frosting recipe did make a large batch. It frosted 24 cupcakes plus I have about 2 cups of frosting leftover.

Chocolate Chip cupcakes – adapted from Vanilla cupcakes from Crazy Delicious – original recipe from Martha Stewart – makes 24
1 3/4 cups cake flour, not self-rising
1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes
4 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips + 1 Tbsp flour (toss to coat chocolate chips)

Mix the dry ingredients

Add butter

Whisk eggs, milk and vanilla

Add wet ingredients 1/3 at a time to the dry ingredients

Stir in chocolate chips – be sure to coat the chips with flour so they don’t all sink to the bottom while baking

Bake for 17-22 minutes at 325 degrees or until a toothpick comes out clean

Chocolate Frosting – from Joy The Baker
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
4 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/3 cup milk
1 cup heavy cream
2/3 cup Ovaltine – I used Ghirardelli hot cocoa

Cream together butter, cocoa powder and salt. Butter mixture will be very thick.
Turn off the mixer, scrape down the sides of the bowl and add powdered sugar. Turn mixer on low and mix in powdered sugar while adding milk and vanilla extract. As the sugar incorporates, raise the speed of the mixer to beat the frosting. Beat until smooth.
In a 2 cup measuring glass, stir together heavy cream and Ovaltine. Turn mixer speed to medium and pour cream mixture into frosting in a slow, steady stream. Mix until incorporated.

If youโ€™d like a thinner consistency, add heavy cream a tablespoon at a time until youโ€™re happy with the frosting.

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19 Responses to “Chocolate Bacon Cupcakes with Caramel Frosting”

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    Megan — January 13, 2011 at 5:06 pm

    I’ll take any leftovers! They sound amazing. I keep saying dessert recipes with bacon and bookmarking them, but I haven’t tried any yet. Adding this one to the list now too. ๐Ÿ™‚

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    ann — January 13, 2011 at 5:07 pm

    These look so terrific. I love the flavor combinations!

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    Blog is the New Black — January 13, 2011 at 5:08 pm

    I’m intrigued!

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    KV — January 13, 2011 at 5:46 pm

    interesting! I have a recipe for chocolate bacon fudge or maybe pb bacon fudge but I’m afraid to try it

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    Rachel @ Baked by Rachel — January 13, 2011 at 6:01 pm

    The frosting sounds amazing. I honestly still can’t bring myself to get behind bacon in desserts. Maybe someday I’ll try a bacon cupcake if I’m given one though. ๐Ÿ™‚ I can only resist so long.

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    Jennifer — January 13, 2011 at 6:08 pm

    YUM! These look so good! I haven’t tried the bacon / sweet combo yet, but I’m sure I would love it!

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    Fun and Fearless in Beantown — January 13, 2011 at 6:13 pm

    This looks delicious but I’ve got to ask….what is a pirate party?

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    Jen — January 13, 2011 at 6:21 pm

    Fun and Fearless – It’s exactly like it sounds… Everyone dresses up as a pirate (or something related – Hubby and I went as Treasure maps last year). They even hire this guy who looks like Captain Jack Sparrow to come and there’s a prize for best costume. One of the best parties of the year!

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    Cupcake Activist — January 13, 2011 at 8:48 pm

    Sounds great! The problem I’ve seen with bacon is that sometimes it is chewy in cupcakes. That’s not good. I like that this recipe says to cook until crispy. Extra crispy for me!

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    Laura and Alex — January 13, 2011 at 9:11 pm

    My favorite candy bar is bacon chocolate!!! I can’t wait to try this ๐Ÿ™‚

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    Carrie — January 13, 2011 at 9:13 pm

    Wow, those look and sound amazing!

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    Shannon — January 13, 2011 at 9:42 pm

    oh yum. after putting bacon in last years cookies this might need to be next ๐Ÿ™‚

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    Corrine — January 13, 2011 at 9:56 pm

    I’m so curious to try bacon in baked goods, but do you think turkey bacon would work?

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    Jen — January 13, 2011 at 10:08 pm

    Corrine – I’m sure turkey bacon would work if you could get it nice and crispy. I’ve heard that if the bacon isn’t super crispy, it has a really weird chewy texture in baked goods.

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    Corrine — January 14, 2011 at 2:11 am

    Thanks Jen! I’m going to give it a try!

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    Evan Thomas — January 14, 2011 at 2:28 pm

    This has just about everything that I would want to go together. Awesome recipe!

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    Medifast Coupons — January 14, 2011 at 4:10 pm

    This is certianly a unqiue mixture of tastes and textures, but it comes together nicely. Definatly a must try!

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    darcyeats — January 14, 2011 at 6:22 pm

    Chocolate..caramel…bacon…PERFECTION.
    I am infatuated with the perfect smoky/salty addition of bacon into sweet baked goods. So delicious. Of course, I’m kind of a fan of adding bacon into just about anything.
    Great pics, def wanna try these out!

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    kitchenmisfit — January 16, 2011 at 1:01 am

    Sorry the cupcakes didn’t turn out like you wanted. Have you ever tried the bacon/chocolate cupcake at Cherry Bomb Bakery in Brighton? They are fantastic!

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