24 2-Kiss Cupcakes

There's always baking to be done around here. After making the choice to bake earlier this week, I had a day off before undertaking in a baking marathon. I volunteered to make cupcakes for church this Sunday, so I had to pick cupcakes that were quick (since I had to help make a monster sized cake, in addition to these), and that made a decent number of treats. Conveniently enough, I just got a little book with some recipes. After much deliberation over a few different choices, I picked these.

If you have a "cupcake ready" pantry, like we do, you'll have everything, except for the Hugs. When you're adding the ingredients, pay attention to the amount that you need to add. A lot of the ingredients have their measurements divided. By some kind of miracle, considering that I was rushing to get these done before midnight, there weren't any fiascoes. These cupcakes were so easy! The recipe said that it would make 30 cupcakes. I overfilled mine a little bit. I pushed the Hugs down in the batter most of the way so only the tops were showing. They were baked perfectly after 20 minutes and none of them baked over. Only one thing to remember: when you check your cupcakes with a toothpick or cake tester to see if they're done, don't poke them right in the middle. It'll come out a little gooey if you do, because the kiss will be melty on the inside of the cupcake.

I love how these cupcakes turned out. They look really fun to begin with. They're great to have with a big glass of milk. My first impression was "Holy Chocolate!" The icing alone tastes exactly like a plain Hershey kiss. The white chocolate in the middle of the dark chocolate cupcake not only surprises your tongue, but the white against the dark cake is visually, a surprise. I couldn't get enough of the one that I let myself have. I caught myself picking crumbs off of the plate.

Don't forget to scrape down the sides of your
mixing bowl after you add the dry ingredients

Ingredients
1 c butter, softened and divided
1 2/3 c sugar
3 egg, beaten
2 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, divided
2 c all purpose flour
2/3 c + 1/2 c baking cocoa, divided
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 1/3 c water
60 Hershey's Hugs
1/3 c milk
3 1/2 c powdered sugar

Cupcake How to
1. Beat 3/4 c butter, sugar, eggs, and 1 1/2 tsp vanilla in a large bowl.
2. Combine flour, 2/3 c cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; add alternately with water to butter mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture.
3. Fill paper lined muffin cups half full; place a Hug in the center of each. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean; let cool.

Surprise!!

Icing How to
1. Melt remaining 1/4 c of butter in a medium bowl. Add remain 1/4 c cocoa, milk, remaining 1 tsp vanilla, and powdered sugar; beat until smooth.
2. Spread frosting on cupcakes.
3. Top each with a Hug.

It's a candy wrapper mountain!

from Cupcakes and More Fun Treats. recipe by Athena Colegrove