Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

Chocolate Chip Cupcakes
From Martha Stewart's Cupcakes, also featured on Martha's website

I'm at Boyfriend's stealing his internet (and some of his food*) while he's at work since my laptop is dead, but of course, stupid me left my cookbook at home, so the recipe is still to come! It is also featured on Martha's website, so if you're dying to try it RIGHT NOW, check it out there. I'm not completely sure it's the exact same as the recipe I used, so I'm going to wait to post it here until I have my book with me. Sorry! It should be up soon!

*I tried stealing some cereal, but who the hell buys only Crunchy Raisin Bran**? Really? Where's the good stuff?? Guess I'm going to have to actually put some effort into breakfast and make myself french toast instead.. I hope his half a bottle of syrup is going to be enough. I like my food to float.
**Apparently he ate all the good stuff first.

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What's more fun than a fresh, delicious cupcake? Decorating your own fresh delicious cupcake! Last weekend, the store I work at hosted a "Decorate a Cupcake" event for the 4th of July, with loads of cupcakes and decorations for kids of all ages to create their own masterpieces! It was the third event of its kind, and the brainchild of Kiesha of 52 Weeks of Baking. She's hosted a Valentine's and Easter event, but the 4th of July is the first I was able to help with! I was so excited! Getting paid to play with cupcakes? Best. Day. Ever.

Kiesha was baking Red Velvet and Vanilla cupcakes, which left me slightly struggling to decide what kind I wanted to make. Chocolate was a must, so one flavor down, but what other flavor would be fun, festive, and kid-friendly?

My original idea was a Confetti Vanilla cupcake, with festive red, white, and blue sprinkles melted into the batter. But the sprinkles I was 100% sure I bought were nowhere to be found. (Probably because I'm now 100% sure I never actually bought them.) So time for Plan B-- Chocolate Chip Cupcakes. What kid doesn't like chocolate chips!

As I do with any baking question or recipe, I consulted Martha first, and sure enough, right there at the beginning of the Cupcakes book was a recipe for Chocolate Chip Cupcakes! It's really just a vanilla cupcake with chocolate chips thrown in, so if you've already got a recipe you love, just toss some chocolate chips in a little bit of flour to coat, and fold them into your batter.

They turned out really good! Much better than my chocolate cupcakes, but that's a whole 'nother story for a whole 'nother post. The only thing I would do differently is to add a lot more chocolate chips than I did. I used mini's and put in about a cup, but they definitely could have used a bit more. I don't feel they were really chocolate chip-y enough.

I had to hide them at work until it was time for the event, because my coworkers are ravenous when it comes to baked goods. I've seen entire batches of cookies and cupcakes disappear in less than an hour. (Kiesha left threatening notes on hers.) Between the 2 of us we had about 100 cupcakes for decorating, and by the end, about 2 hours later, we had gone through almost all of them! We had tons of kids stop by! (As well as coworkers, Boyfriend, and even my mom!) It was a great turnout, and everyone seemed to have a lot of fun! It was so cute watching the looks of intense concentration on the kids' faces as they created the perfect cupcake.

This was Boyfriend's creation

I had a great time and can't wait for the next one! With Kiesha moving to New York very soon, the reins and responsibility of the Halloween event have been turned over to me. Ahh! Time to start planning already! I'm really excited about the amount of candy I'll have to choose from! Now I just have to come up with great flavors! Any ideas of some kid-friendly Halloween flavor ideas?

P.S: Sorry for the lack of pictures on this one. I was not having the greatest time baking, as you'll find out if you stay tuned for my Chocolate Cupcake disaster. And sorry for the very mediocre post in general. I feel completely lost without my laptop, and everything (and everyone) is suffering because of it. Hopefully there will be a new one in the near future, because I don't think I can handle this for much longer! I'm going insane!