Cookie Dough Filled Chocolate Cupcakes

I love cookie dough and chocolate. Like, a lot. Its not hard to tell, haha. So every time I get the chance to make dessert, it usually involves one of these 2 items. When I saw this recipe, I was a little nervous to try it. It does look difficult! But when they came out of the oven perfectly, I knew that it was one of those recipes I was going to make all the time! I brought them to a BBQ this summer, and they were a big hit! The best part? No need to mess with frosting!!

Cookie Dough Filled Chocolate Cupcakes

Filling:

8 oz. reduced fat cream cheese, softened 
1/3 cup sugar 
1 egg 
1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Cupcake:

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar

2/3 cup cocoa powder

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 cups water

2/3 cups vegetable oil

2 Tbsp white vinegar

2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line muffin tins (24) with cupcake liners.

To prepare filling- Beat all ingredients except chocolate chips together until smooth and creamy. Stir in chocolate chips.

To prepare cupcakes- Stir together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.  Add the water, oil, vinegar and vanilla.  Beat for 3 minutes. 

Fill the muffin cups 2/3 full with muffin batter. In each cup, spoon about 1 T. of filling and drop into middle. Bake for 20-25 min or until toothpick inserted into cupcake comes out clean. Let cool for 5 min in pans. Use a fork to lift out of muffin tin and onto cooling rack. Cool completely before serving.