Double chocolate bacon cupcakes
Makes about 3 dozen mini cupcakes
Candied bacon
- 5 strips of applewood smoked bacon
- About a cup of packed brown sugar
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
- Line a baking sheet with foil and place a wire rack across the top.
- Spread the brown sugar out on a plate and press each strip of bacon into the sugar to thoroughly coat each side.
- Place each sugared strip of bacon on the wire rack, making sure they aren’t touching one another.
- Bake for 20-30 minutes, until the bacon is crispy, but not burned (My oven is wonky, so it took a few minutes longer for me).
- Remove from oven and let cool. Chop into tiny pieces.
Chocolate cupcakes
- Scant 3/8 cup milk
- Scant ½ tablespoon white distilled vinegar
- 6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cups sugar
- ¾ teaspoons baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon plus 1 dash baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon plus 1 dash teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg
- 6 tablespoons warm water
- 1½ tablespoons canola oil
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Combine the milk and vinegar in a cup and let sit for 10 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Prepare a mini muffin tin by spraying it with Pam.
- Sift together the cocoa powder, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer (or a medium bowl if working by hand).
- Add the egg, water, milk, oil, and vanilla, and stir until just smooth.
- Fill the prepared mini muffin tin 2/3 full.
- Bake about 8-12 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out without any batter and perhaps just a few crumbs.
- Let cool on a wire rack.
- Pour a teaspoon of ganache (recipe below) over each cupcake and sprinkle with a teaspoon of candied bacon bits. Serve with a glass of milk.
Chocolate ganache
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips*
- In a medium saucepan over low heat, bring the cream to boil.
- Pour the cream over the chocolate chips and let sit for 2-3 minutes.
- Stir until thoroughly combined (at first, it’ll look too milky like it won’t combine, but it’ll eventually turn into velvety ganache).
*I made a batch with semisweet chocolate chips and with bittersweet chocolate chips and found the latter too overpowering for my taste.