My mom has a sweet tooth and everyone that knows her, knows that she loves chocolate. So sure enough, while I was at her house she asked me to make her something sweet. She then brought me the cake mixes and frostings she had in the pantry for me, hmmm I don't buy that. Anyways, I gave these a try and she loved them. So much so that she asked me to make them for her birthday instead of buying her a chocolate cake (with chocolate frosting of course). So here they are adapted from Betty Crocker.
Ingredients
1/2 cup whipped topping
1 cup chocolate chips
1 box of devil's food cake mix (or chocolate)
1 cup water
one 4 oz applesauce container (I used the cinnamon one since that's what I had on hand, or you could use 1/3 cup of vegetable oil)
3 eggs
Chocolate frosting (I used vanilla since that's what I had)
Step one: Place chocolate chips in saucepan over medium heat. Add in the cool whip and stir often until chocolate chips are thoroughly melted.* Refrigerate for an hour for best results. **
Step two: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour (or use cocoa powder instead of flour) 2 muffin pans. In a large bowl mix: cake mix, water, eggs and applesauce for about 2 minutes. Spoon batter into each muffin cup, filling 3/4 of the way. Place one tablespoon of chocolate mixture on the center of each muffin cup.
Step three: Bake for 17-19 minutes. Carefully remove cupcakes from pan and frost while still warm. Serve warm and garnish with powdered sugar for a pretty presentation.
** I made this on two separate occasions. The first time I made these I did not refrigerate the chocolate and it came out great but the center was thicker and not as lava-y. The second time I made these I refrigerated the mixture for about 2 hours and they had a true lava center.
*If you'd rather melt the chocolate in the microwave add the chocolate chips to a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 30 seconds on 60% heat. Stir in 1/2 cup of whipped topping and Microwave for another 15 seconds on 50% heat. Chocolate should look smooth, if it is not, microwave in 15 second intervals until smooth. Refrigerate until thick, for about an hour for best results.
