This past week (Tuesday, to be precise) marked my one-year anniversary of working at, well, the company at which I work :). It’s been a really wonderful year- I’m blessed to have some amazing coworkers (incredibly sweet, humours, caring people, and I’m surrounded by nerds, which is wonderful), many of whom have a sweet tooth. I had promised baked goods for my anniversary (my new hobby is finding excuses to bring baked goods in to work, so birthdays, anniversaries, etc) and decided to make it a cupcake extravaganza. I decided upon three (well, actually four, but unfortunately due to a rather untimely migraine I was unable to make the fourth) batches, the first of which was this one. The sister and I had sampled some new nut varieties (they’re always coming up with new coatings and flavourings for them, it seems!) and we really enjoyed these white-chocolate-covered pecans. Mmh. Clearly, it was a sign- they were meant to be mashed into brownies, right? Right. So, herein lies the secret to making your own. NOTE: my brownies do not usually rise, but for some odd reason (I blame the pecans) these did… therefore, underfill your cups (mine were a little over 3/4 of the way up and that was too much) just in case! At the worst, you can just add extra frosting. No one will mind this. Just be wary, because spilled cupcake is usually no big deal, but spilled brownie hardens. I had many coworkers resigning themselves to eating ‘extra fiber’, aka the paper wrapping. Oops. Learned my lesson!
White Chocolate Pecan Fudge Brownie Cupcakes with Vanilla Frosting
Ingredients:
- 2 cups semi-sweet or milk chocolate (chips, baker’s chocolate, you pick!)
- 1/2 cup soy butter, softened
- 2 tablespoons organic canola oil
- 3 teaspoons 2x vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs (cage-free!)
- 1 & 1/4 cups granulated sugar
- 1.5 tsp sea salt
- 1 cup (slightly heaping) AP flour (preferably organic)
- 1 cup white-chocolate covered pecans, chopped chunkily
- 2-3 tablespoons cold water (based on your texture preference)
Process:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Melt chocolate using a double-boiler with salt and soy butter (or, if you’re trying to cheat, go ahead and use the microwave).
- Once smooth, take off the heat, and slowly beat in the eggs one at a time. Then add in the vanilla and sugar and stir quickly- don’t worry about not mixing it perfectly.
- Add in the oil and water and stir again, then pour the flour in and mix until just combined. Lastly, add in the pecans, slowly mixing and do be careful not to overmix, this will ruin the texture of the brownies.
- Gently pour the battle (slightly over 1/2 cup full) into brownie cups lined with papers (I did minis, you can do any size) and place in oven for approximately 15 minutes (or until firm and giving only slightly to the touch).
- For the icing, I did the following: take half a package of betty crocker vanilla rich and creamy frosting (migraine = not enough time to make all my icings = sad), and place in the food processor. Add 1/8 tsp 2x vanilla extract, 1/8 tsp peach fondant gel colour (or none at all, or any colour), and a heaping cup of confectioner’s sugar. Mix until just combined.
- Ice the cupcakes by piping on the frosting (once chilled), then add on fruit and coconut shavings for decoration.
These were the least popular of the three, but then again, it’s all up to choice. They were by far the sister’s favourite- which just goes to show that when it comes to cupcakes, we all have wildly different tastes! This one’s a tried-and-true happy one, easy to make, and oh so delicious.
