Chocolate Chip Red Velvet Cupcakes with Nutella Cream Cheese Frosting

I've got a yummy one for you all today! Despite the fact that I eat dessert pretty much every single night, I noticed that this blog has a definite lack of recipes to satiate your sweet tooth. So we will just have to fix that, won't we?! 

These cupcakes are delicious and easy! I made them for my friend's birthday, so I made a few big ones for her and a bunch of little ones for people to snack on at the party. And of course, brightly colored sprinkles were necessary! 

I used a cake mix for this, which some might call cheating. I, on the other hand, call it time management :) While I'm certainly capable of baking from scratch, it's also nice to have some quicker recipe options. However, I did use some swaps in place of the oil and eggs to make it a little healthier... and then proceeded to essentially cancel that out by icing them with nutella cream cheese frosting, mmmm! But this was a celebration, and special occasions call for special desserts! 

To make, combine red velvet cake mix -- I used Duncan Hines Signature Red Velvet -- with plain greek yogurt, egg whites, and water. Then mix in some chocolate chips (optional, but suggested!). Pour into cupcake liners and bake in a 350 degree pre-heated oven until a toothpick comes out clean. For my full-sized cupcakes, which I filled quite generously, this was 27 minutes. For the baby ones made in the mini-muffin tin, it was 15 minutes. 





For the icing, beat together 6 oz of room temperature cream cheese (reduced fat or regular; not fat free), powdered sugar, milk, and nutella. Make sure your cupcakes are completely cooled before you ice or you'll end up with a mess. Be sure to top with something fun: rainbow sprinkles, mini chocolate chips, crushed oreos, chocolate shavings... whatever your fancy!

Chocolate Chip Red Velvet Cupcakes with Nutella Cream Cheese Frosting 

(makes 16 large and 24 little cupcakes)

Cake: 
1 box of red velvet cake mix (18.25 oz)
6 oz plain greek yogurt
1 1/3 c. water
2 egg whites
1/2 c. chocolate chips

Icing: 
6 oz cream cheese, room temp
1 1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 tbsp milk
2 tbsp nutella

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together cake mix, greek yogurt, water, and egg whites. Mix in chocolate chips. Pour into cupcake liners or a sprayed cupcake tin. Bake until toothpick comes out clean (use instructions on the back of the box as a guide for how long this will take). Cool completely. 

Whip together cream cheese, powdered sugar, milk, and nutella. Spread atop cupcakes.