Chocolate Rolo Cupcakes

First off - THANKS so much Lynna from Hearts in my Oven for her awesome post that she did here, was a winner. She had no clue - but I am totally in LOVE with anything blueberry. I could eat blueberries with anything if I had the chance, speaking of which this berry butter Ree from The Pioneer Woman made would be the ultimate spread for Lynna's muffins! Wow. I am drooling just thinking about it - just kidding! But almost! You muct stop by at Hearts in my Oven and see her wonderful bakes - like this cookies and cream ice-cream pie!

Ok, so I have not fallen off the edge of the coast of Southern Africa! I am still here! And I am celebrating tonight, having just handed in my FINAL assignment for this year! YEY! Now all I have to worry about is the exams coming up at the end of this month - BUT not tonight. I am taking a break from all that 'brain growing' stuff and am taking a lil time out for some 'belly growing' stuff. And these chocolate rolo cupcakes are so worth the belly growing! They are decadent. I am not sure how else to describe them! They are moist, chocolaty, dense and divine! They deserve all these exclamation points this posts seems to be yielding!

I have a thing for cupcakes. They can be turned into anything your heart desires! For example, you feel like a lemon meringue cupcake- yup, you can do that, you want a mini cheese cake - yup! Um, you want bannoffie pie-ish cupcakes - yup! Cheryl from Tidy Mom has even made ice cream cupcakes (yes they are on my list of things to make)! This is the reason I make cupcakes so often. They are like little blank canvases on which you can paint flavours to your hearts content! These Rolo ones are a total original creation, I have always loved rolos and recently became obsessed with them when my sister, Amy, made a Rolo dessert by using a Pilsbury Chocolate Brownie mix and added Rolos (lots of them). It is amazing. So these were inspired by you A!

I made my usual chocolate cupcake mixture, cept I have now found a really lazy way of making them. My mom would be horrified, but, instead of creaming and folding and la la la, I just dump all the ingredients into the mixer bowl, and mix it on high speed for a minute or two and voila! Done! Like I said, this is my blank canvas. Now its time for the good stuff...

And this gets dumped into this...

I don't know if any of you fellow South Africans have noticed the new Rolo chocolate slabs - aren't they great! In fact there seems to be a whole whack of new slabs that have hit the shelves in the last couple of months. It makes me so excited. I love new stuff! Anyhoo...

For these to be the real deal - they need caramel centres. See what I meant when I said decadent, maybe even sinful. If you are really feeling energetic, you can make your own caramel, but if you like short cuts (don't judge, I was busy! I bought the tinned version for these!) you can just buy some! First I filled the bottom of some prepared liners with some of the cupcake mixture, then I popped a teaspoon of caramel on top of the cupcake mixture. Make sure there is enough mixture covering the liners, or the caramel will sink and stick to the liner when they are baked. Which is ok, just a pain to try and get the cupcake out of its liner!

Then I spooned the rest of the mixture over the caramel, making sure that no caramel was peeking through. Check out those chunks of Rolo chocolate sticking out... *melt*

It was tempting, but no, I didn't lick that right off there. I saved what was left in the tin to add the finishing touches on the frosting.

I made some chocolate fudge frosting for these and used a big round nozzle to pipe these swirls on top. And then I used the left over caramel here to finish them off. And added a whole Rolo just for effect, I mean they were so loaded with chocolate they didn't need any more, but it just looked so awesome!

And, here is the good part...

SO worth baking! Really! Just do it! :)

Here is the recipe:

Chocolate Rolo Cupcakes {printable}

 Makes about 24 cupcakes

Cupcakes

2 cups flour
¾ cup cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup full fat mayonnaise
2 tsp vanilla essence
1 1/3 cups freshly brewed coffee
2 slabs Rolo chocolate (about 100g) - chopped
2 tins caramel treat / Dulce de leche
Rolos for decorating

• Preheat oven to 180' C / 350' F .
• Add all the ingredients in a mixing bowl except for the freshly brewed coffee and mix on high speed until combined
• Add the coffee bit by bit until it is all mixed in
• Add the chopped up rolo chunks and mix
• Fill some prepared cupcakes liners so the bottom is covered
• Spoon a teaspoon of caramel into the cupcake liner so it sits on top of the cake mixture
• Cover the caramel with the remaining cake mixture but be careful not to over-fill (¾ way is perfect!)
• Bake for about 20min. (I usually check after 15 min and take them out at about 18min)
• Let them cool completely before frosting them

Chocolate Fudge Icing
(depending on how you choose to ice these (the method I used took a lot of icing!) you may need to make a double batch)

250g softened butter
560g icing sugar
dash of vanilla essence
dash of cream
2 tablespoon cocoa powder
100g melted dark chocolate - cooled but still runny

• In an electric mixture, mix butter and icing sugar until smooth and fluffy, adding the cream bit by bit until a nice smooth piping consistency is reached.
• Add the vanilla essence and mix a bit more
• While the mixer is running, slowly add the chocolate and beat.
• Ice your cooled cupcakes as you wish!

Brown Butter Double Blueberry Streusel Muffins - Hearts in My Oven

Hey guys, I have a REAL treat for you today! I have a very special guest blogger - Lynna from Hearts in My Oven! If you a regular reader (and thank you very much for being that!) you will see Lynna's name in the comment section for almost every post! She is super sweet and has such a wonderful blog FILLED with amazing treats and bakes. I wish I was her neighbor! *SIGH* I especially love her tag line - it says "cooking for those you love" - DON'T YOU JUST ADORE THAT?! That is exactly why I bake and cook! Thank you SO much Lynna - this post is totally amazing - and I can't wait to try these myself!

                                                              

Hello Bits of Sunshine readers! I`m Lynna from Hearts In My Oven and I am going to guest post today for Heidi. :)

I love reading this blog, so I was super happy when Heidi asked me to guest post. Hehe~ Isn`t this blog just too adorable?!

Anyways, today I have for you all one of my favorite blueberry muffins recipe. One of my FAVORITES. With browned butter, the batter will smell so good, you`ll be so excited once these muffins are done baking and you can just nomnom all you want!

I am also addicted to adding streusel on any baked goods, so of course I added some to these. Bonus points, am I right?

Right.

Summer is ending and all those colorful berries will be gone. However, you can find blueberries throughout the year and this muffin recipe is delicious with either fresh or frozen blueberries!

Please, I`m begging you all to try these muffins~ I`ve tried many blueberry muffins throughout my life (I`m not that old...) but, this recipe is one for the books! Haha~

Brown Butter Double Blueberry Streusel Muffins

Adapted from: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/gale-gand/double-blueberry-muffins-recipe/index.html

Yields: 12 regular + 6 mini muffins

Level: Easy-Medium (More steps compared to an "easy" recipe)

Total Time: ~1 hour

Materials Needed:

-          Muffin pan (size is your preference)

-          Muffin liners or cooking spray/oil

-          1 Small saucepan

-          2 Small bowls

-          1 Large bowl with mixer attachment

-          2 Medium bowls

-          2 Rubber spatulas

-          cooling wrap

-          plastic wrap (if you choose to freeze them)

Ingredients:

For the Muffins:

§  1/2 cup (1 stick/8 tablespoons) unsalted butter

§  1 cup granulated sugar

§  2 large eggs

§  1 teaspoons baking powder

§  1/4 teaspoon salt

§  2 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries, thawed and dried (Divide: 3/4 cup + 1 3/4 cup)

§  2 cups all purpose flour

§  1/2 cup whole milk

For the Streusel:

§  2 tablespoons all purpose flour

§  5 tablespoons granulated sugar

§  1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

§  1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

§  3 tablespoon cold butter, diced

Directions:

For the Muffins:

1. In the saucepan, over medium heat, brown your butter: Let the butter melt and when crackling has slowed down and butter is browned, transfer to a small bowl to cool. (*I sometimes cheat and put in the fridge for awhile.)
2. Prepare your muffin pan while you wait for butter to cool: either use liners or spray it with cooking spray.
3. Still waiting: In a medium bowl, using the back of a fork, mash 3/4 cup of the blueberries and set aside.
4. When the butter is cooled, preheat your oven to 375°F.
5. In a large bowl with mixer attachment, combine the sugar and browned butter.
6. Add the eggs, vanilla extract, baking powder, and salt. Mix until just combined.
7. Add the mashed blueberries from earlier, mix until just combined.
8. While letting the mixer run at a low speed, add half of the flour (1 cup) and half of the milk (1/4 cup). Mix and repeat with the remaining half of the flour and milk.
9. Using a rubber spatula, fold into the batter the remaining 1 3/4 cup of blueberries.
10. Using an ice cream scoop, or spoon, spoon the butter into muffin pan 2/3 full.

For the Streusel:

11. In a small bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
12. Then, using a pastry cutter or two knives/forks, cut in the cold butter until coarse crumbs form.
13. Divide the streusel evenly between the tops of the muffins. Lightly pat the streusel down.
14. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown.
15. Allow muffins to cool in pan for 30 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
16. Enjoy muffins warm, or individually wrap them in plastic wrap once muffins are completely cooled and freeze for up to 3 months. (To reheat: bake until muffins are warmed at 350°F, or microwave for 25-30 seconds.)