Red Velvet Cupcakes

If you are still unsure of what to make for Thanksgiving dessert, here is my go to recipe for every occasion!! All of my friends and family love it when I bring these cupcakes around. I add a small surprise in the center of each of my cupcakes.....mini chocolate chips! Nobody ever expects it, but I've never had anyone complain about it either! I use Paula Deen's recipe, and have tweeked it to my liking after baking these yummy babies several times. The biggest change I made with my cupcakes is that I cut the frosting portion in half. The first time I made the frosting with the measurements in the original recipe I had a ridiculous amount of frosting left over. I don't like too much frosting on my cupcakes so its just a personal decision. If you like a lot of frosting on your cupcakes just follow Paula Deen's recipe to a T. When adding chocolate chips to your cupcakes a small tip is to dust the chips in a little bit of flour (about 1/2 tsp). This prevents the chocolate chips from sinking to the bottom and burning. You can either fold chocolate chips into the batter or......if you are a bit of a perfectionist like me you can add the chocolate chips into the baking cups after you have divided the batter. This is to ensure each cupcake has the same amount of chocolate chips. I often find that when you fold chocolate chips into the batter, some cupcakes end up with little to no chocolate chips! We wouldn't want to upset anyone now would we!! 

Red Velvet Cupcakes
recipe adapted from Paula Deen

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/2 teaspoons cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
• 1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 2 tablespoons red food coloring
• 1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 1 block cream cheese, softened
• 1 sticks butter, softened
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 (12-cup) muffin pans with cupcake papers.

In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder. In a large bowl gently beat together the oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla with a handheld electric mixer. Add the sifted dry ingredients to the wet and mix until smooth and thoroughly combined.

Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake tins about 2/3 filled. Bake in oven for about 20 to 22 minutes, turning the pans once, half way through. Test the cupcakes with a toothpick for doneness. Remove from oven and cool completely before frosting.

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla together until smooth. Add the sugar and on low speed, beat until incorporated. Increase the speed to high and mix until very light and fluffy.