Quick question here: How many people own at least one church/school/organization fundraiser cookbook?
If I had to guess, I would say that most people have at least one of these hanging out in the their cupboards. They’re a great resource when you’re looking for that recipe that you remember always being at the family reunion or church potluck. I’m lucky enough to have two of these cookbooks – one from the Grafton Village Volunteer Fire Department (where I found my go-to lemon bar recipe) and one from the Amsden/Rehoboth UMC (which, lucky for me, has LOTS of my Grandma’s recipes).
This particular recipe is from my Grandma’s friend, Marlyn. It’s one of the first things I made from this cookbook, which means it was one of the first “new” dessert recipes I tried after we got married. It was a hit then, and it’s still a hit now. They’re easy to mix up, and I almost always have the ingredients on hand. Plus, it’s cheesecake and chocolate! What’s not to love? 🙂
Black Bottom Cupcakes
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 egg
1 1/3 cups sugar, divided
1/2 and 1/8 teaspoon salt, divided
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cocoa powder
1/3 cup canola oil
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla
sanding sugar, for sprinkling
Preheat oven to 350, and line a muffin tin with cupcake liners. Set pans aside.
In a large bowl, cream together the cream cheese, egg, 1/3 cup sugar and 1/8 teaspoon salt. Stir in the chocolate chips, and set the mixture aside.
In another large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 cup sugar and baking soda. Make a well in the center and add the vinegar, water, oil and vanilla. Stir until combined.
Pour chocolate batter into the prepared muffin tins, filling them until they’re between half and two-thirds of the way full. Top each cupcake with a scoop of the cheesecake batter. (I use my large cookie scoop for this, which is about 1 1/2 tablespoons.) Sprinkle with sanding sugar.
Bake until cake is done and cheesecake batter is set, around 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool on wire racks. Store in the refrigerator.
Yield: approximately 14-16 cupcakes
From the Amsden / Rehoboth United Methodist Church Cookbook
Click here for a printable version.
Beth's Blue Plate Special 
Hi Beth, I will have to tell Mar that her recipe made facebook. Ha! She doesn’t have a computer. How is your weather ours is terrible. Grandpa and I worked 4 hours this morn. to put in and cover up things we don’t want to freeze. We have a hay wagon filled with all the planters and hanging baskets we have planted for the wedding .Love you.
Haha, thanks Grandma! 🙂 It’s cool here too, but thankfully we haven’t planted anything yet, so we didn’t worry about covering things. Hopefully all of our plants that came up on their own did OK. Love you too!
Beth,
I love those types of cookbooks! I have my own stash, and have started getting my mom’s stash handed down to me too. This looks delicious, and I love how it can be made with what are staples in my kitchen.
Thanks!
You’re welcome! I hope you like them as much as we do! 🙂