Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting


Today is my sister-in-law’s birthday, and since she loves the color pink, I decided I had to make something with bright pink icing. For some reason, the miniature chocolate chips I had in the cupboard popped into my head, and that is how the recipe below came to be. The batter is really thick, so it works well with the chocolate chips mixed in, because it keeps them from all falling to the bottom of the cupcake.

I adapted the Martha Stewart recipe for Yellow Buttermilk Cupcakes I had used previously by adding chocolate chips and used the Easy Vanilla Buttercream frosting recipe from The Way the Cookie Crumbles, which is also featured on Annie’s Eats. Today’s baking made me love this cupcake recipe even more than I did before, as I committed a classic “Jaimeism”. I have a habit of starting to bake without fully reading the recipe and/or checking to ensure I have all of the ingredients. So, when I got to the point of adding the eggs, I discovered that I didn’t have the 8 that the recipe called for, . . . I had only 4. I started to panic, and then figured I would keep going and see what happened. Well, they still turned out great only using half the eggs the original recipe called for. How great is that? Pretty awesome if you ask me!

 

Ingredients:

Cupcakes:

  • 3 cups cake flour (not self-rising)
  • 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
  • ¾ teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 ½ teaspoons coarse salt
  • 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (2 ¼ sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 2 ¼ cups sugar
  • 5 large whole eggs plus 3 egg yolks, room temperature
  • 2 cups buttermilk, room temperature, (no buttermilk, try this substitute)
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 1 cup miniature chocolate chips

Frosting:

  • 20 tablespoons (2½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
  • 4 cups Confectioners’ sugar
  • 1/8 tablespoons table salt
  • 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons heavy cream

     

Directions:

Cupcakes:

  1. Preheat oven to 350⁰. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners.
  2. Sift together both flours, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
  3. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Reduce speed to medium. Add whole eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add yolks, and beat until thoroughly combined. Reduce speed to low.
  4. Add flour mixture in three batches, reserving about ¼ cup, alternating with two additions of buttermilk, and beating until combined after each. Beat in vanilla.
  5. Add chocolate chips to remaining flour mixture and mix well so that all chips are coated in flour. Fold into batter.
  6. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until cupcakes spring back when lightly touched and a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes.
  7. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool 10 minutes; turn out cupcakes onto racks and let cool completely. Cupcakes can be stored overnight at room temperature, or frozen up to 2 months, in airtight containers.

Frosting:

  1. In standing mixer fitted with whisk attachment, beat butter at medium-high speed until smooth, about 20 seconds.
  2. Add confectioners’ sugar and salt; beat at medium-low speed until most of the sugar is moistened, about 45 seconds.
  3. Scrape down bowl and beat at medium speed until mixture is fully combined, about 15 seconds; scrape bowl, add vanilla and heavy cream, and beat at medium speed until incorporated, about 10 seconds, then increase speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes, scraping down bowl once or twice.