Dark Chocolate Cupcakes

Trust me on this one. So chocolatey, and soooo good.

16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup (3 ounces) Dutch-processed cocoa powder*
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 ½ cups sugar
1 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 350*F and line muffin tin with baking cups.

Melt butter, chocolate, and cocoa together in a bowl in the microwave, stirring often, and allow to cool slightly. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In another large bowl, whisk eggs and vanilla together by hand until uniform. Slowly whisk in the sugar until combined, and then slowly whisk in cooled chocolate mixture until combined. Sift about 1/3 of the flour mixture over the batter and whisk in. Whisk in sour cream, then sift remaining flour mixture over batter and whisk until completely incorporated. Stir to make sure batter is fully combined.

Place a level ¼ cup of batter into each muffin tin (I actually use a measuring cup for this and level it off; if you don’t, the cupcakes will run over and the edges will bake together.)

Bake at 350* for 15-20 minutes, until a toothpick comes out with just a few crumbs attached. Rotate tins halfway through to ensure even baking. Cool in tins for 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

Yield: 24 cupcakes

NOTE: You can also bake this in a 13”x9” baking pan for 30-35 minutes.

*Heaven knows why, but I have a devil of a time finding Dutch-processed cocoa around here. I substituted Hershey’s Special Dark with good results.