Cream Cheese Brownie Cupcakes |Cooking With Amanda

My son hates frosting. It's truly the strangest thing, being a cupcake baker with a child who hates frosting. I often find myself looking back on the last 10 years wondering, where did I go wrong? Did I not feed him enough dessert as an infant? Was I not enthusiastic enough in fostering a healthy appreciation for butter and sugar? Perhaps I didn't give him enough beaters to lick or sticky bowls to scrape from?
But then I realize like most 10 year old boys, he's probably an alien.

What Jon David DOES love, is brownies. That boy can put away a pan of brownies like it's his job. Actually I wish it WAS his job, because then he could pay for his own apps and stop bugging me all the time. Brownies and apps – those are his true loves in life. Good grief, what a tough existence.

Because he's so picky about desserts, I decided to bake up a batch of cupcake brownies to stick in his lunchboxes. Obviously frosting was a no-go – not only because he hates it, but because it makes a mess in a lunchbox. So to add a special something to these, I added a dollop of sweetened cream cheese with chocolate chips to the batter. Super simple, but it adds just enough creamy sweetness to make these brownie cupcakes extra special.

These cream cheese brownie cupcakes travel well, so if you're headed to holiday parties or looking for something to send to school or church, these are pretty perfect. You most likely have the ingredients on hand, which is an added bonus. I love recipes without a bunch of fussy ingredients, don't you?

I went the boxed route with the brownie mix because I was short on time (and patience – a 2 year old was hanging on my leg while I was baking), but you could easily use THIS brownie recipe and just add the cream cheese filling.

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Cream Cheese Brownie Cupcakes Recipe

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Ingredients

1 box family size fudge brownie mix, plus eggs, oil, and water to prepare
8 ounces cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 12 muffin tins with paper liners and set aside.
In a large bowl, mix brownie batter according to box directions. Evenly distribute batter among prepared muffin tins. Each tin should be about 1/2 full of brownie batter.
Beat cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla with a mixer on medium speed until smooth Fold in chocolate chips. Spoon mixture evenly over the brownie batter.
Bake brownie cupcakes for about 25-30 minutes, until puffy and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with fudgy crumbs but no raw batter. Let cool in pan for about 15 minutes, then remove to wire rack to cool completely.