Brownie Cupcakes

Brownies are good. Individual brownies with frosting and sprinkles? As Brian Regan would say, "Can life get better? I submit that it can not!" Of course, he was talking about putting peanut butter and jelly with croutons in a squeeze bottle... if you don't know what I am talking about, look him up! You are missing out : )

My only adaptation to this Martha Stewart recipe was to bake some of the batter in ramekins. They just look a little fancier than the average cupcake, as well as being awesome when you reheat them in the microwave for about 30 seconds before eating. One ramekin equals about 1 1/2 cupcakes. Also in these photos I did not make the cookie-cutout toppers, but I have made them previously and they work great.

Brownie Cupcakes
makes 24

Ingredients

• Vegetable oil cooking spray
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
• 15 ounces (3 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 12 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 3 cups sugar
• 6 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• Basic Buttercream

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners or grease ramekins with cooking spray. Coat an 8-inch square cake pan with cooking spray, line bottom with parchment, then spray parchment.
2. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Place butter and chocolate in a heatproof mixer bowl set over a pot of simmering water, stirring until chocolate melts.
3. Attach bowl to mixer, add sugar, and whisk on medium-high speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, then vanilla. Reduce speed to low, and add flour mixture.
4. Divide batter among muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full. Spread remaining batter in square pan. Bake until set but still soft, about 20 minutes. Let cool in tins and pan on wire racks.
5. Frost cupcakes with buttercream. Cut out 24 hearts from brownie in pan using a 1 1/2-inch heart-shaped cutter. Top each cupcake with a heart.