10 Days of Holiday Baking - Day 8

This is a sacred recipe in my family. My grandma has been making these for as long as I can remember. So long that I'd never even considered making them myself because they were always her thing. But this year she said, "With all you bakers around, I've decided to just sit back and let you do it all." I knew I wanted to add something to the basket I made Zach's family that wasn't a cookie. Regular cupcakes take up too much room and are hard to transport. These are the perfect bite-size little chocolate cheesecakes that could be thrown into a tin and added to the basket easily. When grandma said she wasn't making them, I knew I'd be attempting them for the first time! And to be completely honest with you, these little treats don't look or taste like it, but they are so easy to make! And they make nearly 5 dozen so make sure you have a crowd to feed them to! And if not, they freeze really well and can be taken out when your sweet tooth comes calling after December 31st when you've sworn off all sugar for the year two weeks.

Black Bottom Goodies

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
1 cup water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 8oz package cream cheese, softened
1 egg
1/2 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
6oz semi-sweet mini chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Combine flour, baking soda, salt, sugar, and cocoa in a large bowl. Make a large well in the center of the mixture and set aside.

2. In a small bowl, combine water, oil, vinegar, and vanilla. Add to dry ingredients, stirring well.

3. Spoon batter into paper lined miniature muffin pans, filling 2/3 full. It's important to not overfill these!

4. In another bowl, combine cream cheese, egg, sugar, and salt, stirring well. Stir in the chocolate chips. Spoon about 1 teaspoon of the cream cheese mixture over the chocolate batter

5. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes.

These are the perfect combination. The cream cheese filling offsets the chocolate and they aren't too sweet or rich. Even Zach, who isn't a big fan of chocolate, really liked these. Eat what you want and store the rest in the fridge!