man, those Mennonites can bake.

So, today I found myself (and still do, to be honest) completely in over my head with projects and problems, not the least of which was that my feeling overwhelmed was helping me to do precisely NOTHING about any of it. Which is how, with just an hour and a half until I had to leave the house, I found myself making 50+ cupcakes for a little girl's bday party. (*Note to self: when you jokingly give someone a gift certificate to your "bakery", do NOT assume they won't cash it!) Yeah... so I had a request for chocolate-chocolate chip cupcakes with pink icing. Which, y'know, should have been easy (it's not like this is new to me) but I REALLY like to try to do things better each time, which is why I was stalking through the 'net looking for a BETTER chocolate cupcake recipe. But, unfortunately, time was ticking away, and all of the "best" recipes all seemed to include foolish things like "melting chocolate", or "using cream"... Yeah. No. Low maintenance = good, in our house. Not to say that I ALWAYS avoid those things, but I do honestly believe that there's usually a supremely tasty, SIMPLE alternative to most things...Which is how I ended up just adapting a recipe I've made a bajillion times, though not lately, with some of my newfound baking prowess ie. I actually kinda sorta learned what I've been during wrong all these years! So, yup, "The Mennonite Treasury of Recipes". Yeah, listen, I don't know. I don't even know where this thing came from. It just sort of has always been there. And this one recipe is COVERED in butter schmears, and cocoa, and whatnot (which is MY general way of judging how useful a recipe is). And let me tell you, a sore gut, and chocolate covered kid later, they were GREAT! VERY moist, and still fluffy, chocolatey, a wee smidge salty (which is perfect, I think, to balance out icing, even the mild kind I prefer). Without further ado, I give you my no-fail chocolate cupcakes:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Kraft Miracle Whip (not regular mayonaise (though you could experiment with the amount of salt and whatnot if you were determined) and NOT the light stuff (too sweet))
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 cups flour
• 2tsp baking soda
• 1/4tsp plus a pinch salt
• 1tsp pure vanilla extract
• 5tbsp cocoa
• 1 bag mini baking M&Ms (optional)
  

Preheat oven to 350F and line mini-muffin tins (or butter/spray). Blend together Miracle Whip, vanilla, and sugar. In a separate bowl sift together remaining dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients and water alternatingly to Miracle Whip mixture until combined. Add mini m&ms. Fill muffin cups approx 2/3rds full and bake for approx 14min. Let cool completely before frosting.

**I made this little S's on top of the cupcakes by simply pouring melted white chocolate wafers (easily melted in the microwave for 30 seconds) into a piping bag and then "writing" the letters onto wax paper. Pop 'em in the freezer for a couple minutes and then pop 'em off and stick them in the icing. Honestly, it's super easy!