Mini Rolo Chocolate Cupcakes

I’m so excited by these cupcakes. And I think you are, too, judging by how your pulse quickened a bit after reading the title of this post. Look at the picture. See that gooey Rolo tucked into the best chocolate cake batter ever? See it in all its tempting glory? Yes, I know. It’s almost too much to handle.

Top reasons why these cupcakes kick ass and need to be made immediately:
1. Rolo. (Duh.)
2. The cake. It’s my tried and true Old-Fashioned Chocolate Cake, which is good on its own, folks. The cake doesn’t even need a freaking Rolo to make it world-class, but the Rolo doesn’t hurt either.
3. Mini. Any time you make a cupcake in the mini size, you’ll Win Friends and Influence People. Especially small people (children) who are less likely to make a mess of mini cupcakes instead of large ones.
4. Etc. There are other reasons why this recipe needs to be made immediately by you, but I’m too lazy to type them up right now. They include words like “not that hard”, “freezes well for serving later”, and “great to binge on”. Oh, and also “fairly fast”, since mini things bake for way less time than non-mini cupcakes.
Who doesn’t like a Rolo every now and then?

CUPCAKES:

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoons salt

2 cups hot water

3/4 cups vegetable oil

1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar

1 1/2 teaspoons instant coffee granules (or 3/4 teaspoon instant espresso granules)

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

4o – 48 Rolos

FROSTING:

3 cups confectioners’ sugar

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup salted butter (1 stick), at room temperature

3 – 4 tablespoons heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla
1. Preheat oven to 350° and spray 40 – 48 mini-cupcake liners (or 20 – 24 full-size cupcake liners) with non-stick spray.
2. MAKE CUPCAKES:
  1. In a large bowl, whisk flour through salt (first six ingredients) together.
  2. In a measuring cup, stir hot water with oil, vinegar, instant coffee/espresso and vanilla together. Pour into bowl with dry ingredients and whisk until just combined.
  3. Scoop enough batter into each cupcake liner to cover the bottom, then place a frozen Rolo overtop, then scoop a small amount of batter over Rolo to completely cover. Cupcake liners should be about ¾ full. (Stuff 2 Rolos into full-size cupcakes if using.)
  4. Bake for 9 – 12 minutes for mini-cupcakes, or about 20 minutes for full-size cupcakes (until cake tester/wooden skewer comes out clean). Cool cupcake tins on a rack for 15 minutes then remove cupcakes to finish cooling.
3. FROSTING: in a large bowl, sift confectioners’ sugar and cocoa powder together. In a separate large bowl, cream butter with 1 cup of sugar-cocoa mixture until well combined. Add another cup of sugar-cocoa and a tablespoon of cream, beating until well combined. Add remaining sugar-cocoa and cream, beating until smooth. Beat in vanilla until fluffy. (Add more cream or confectioners’ sugar until proper spreading consistency is achieved.) Spread onto cooled cupcakes with a small offset spatula, or use a piping bag with a small star tip and pipe frosting in small dots on the top of the cupcake (like picture shown).
Tips:
- Freeze the Rolos before adding to your cupcakes. They’ll be less likely to bake into hollow holes of chocolate in the inferno of your oven. (Freeze any kind of filled chocolate treat before baking into a dessert, FYI. I learned this one the hard way. Sorry, no Disasters to share that I actually had a photo of, but picture biting into a brownie with rock-hard Junior Mints. Kind of chips away [pun intended] at the whole fudgy theme in a brownie, you know?)
- Want to get creative? Switch the chocolate treat you use in the cupcake. Use Caramilk pieces, Junior Mint, chopped up Snickers, Whoppers, Mint Chocolate Truffles, you name it. Just make sure they are frozen before adding in.
- Feeling lazy? Use store bought frosting, or skip if altogether. (You could always dust the tops of the cupcakes with confectioners’ sugar right before serving if you want them to look somewhat fancy. (If you’re feeling really lazy, use cake mix from a box. Sheesh.)
- Freeze these for when you need them (like tomorrow night for your midnight snack). Just make sure to put in a container that won’t squash the frosting.
- Enjoy!
Click Here to PRINT This Recipe Now!
Related Recipes & Posts:
October 16th, 2013 | More Sweets Please | 2 Comments | Tags: Cakes, Candies, Chocolate

2 Responses and Counting...

Lulu 10.16.2013

Could this be made as a cake rather than cupcakes?
More Sweets Please

Absolutely! What a great idea. A Rolo cake would be divine, because you could decorate the top of it with Rolo pieces. You could make the cake in layers and put Rolo pieces in between, and/or bake the frozen Rolo pieces right into the cake. Bake according to the original cake post timing- about 25-30 minutes should do. Enjoy!