a-nit-another cupcake, please

My good friend, Anita, is probably my dessert-eating hero, and she is easily one of my favorite people to eat dessert with. :) A ginormus slab of chocolate cake from the shady Fleetwood Diner? Anita's there. A large brownie sundae topped with Stucchi's ice cream and obscenely dripping with hot fudge? Count her in. And what about one of those giant caramel apples rolled in Snicker's bars from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory? Yes...I can always count on Anita to eat dessert with me any time, any day. And HECK no, we do not care about those things called calories...at least to an extent, we don't. :) Because as my friend Leah would say, "These are the hottest days of our lives!" So if we can eat apple crisp for dinner, consume a 16 oz. Colliderz at midnight, and still be able to fit into our jeans, why not indulge? I'm a strong advocate of fully appreciating my 20-something metabolism while it's still here. Because I know when I'm 40, I'll be missing it desperately.

So these cupcakes are a tribute to Anita, since she was the first to create them. Naturally, she love loves to bake, too, and especially things that are chocolate. I remember visiting her the day she had baked these cupcakes and, of course, being the dessert-fanatic that I am, I just had to try one. And when I bit into its chocolate-y goodness, my taste buds hit a surprise. BEHOLD! Cookie dough in my cupcake! Whoa...that was some good stuff. And I just had to have another one. That's the plus about cupcakes. It's an unwritten rule that two cupcakes equal one serving and are the equivalence of your average cake slice. Well, maybe this is my own unwritten rule, but I feel that it should apply to all cupcake-eaters of the world. :)

I recreated the Anita Cupcake for a Saturday outing to a state park with some friends. The simplicity of this recipe plus my laziness tonight are the reasons behind the vague recipe that follows at the end of this entry. Sure, you could make your own chocolate cupcake batter and frosting from scratch. Sure, you could whip up a batch of creamy dreamy chocolate chip cookie dough. But sometimes drastic times call for drastic measures, so I recommend using the boxed Chemical Stuff (brought to you by your local Meijer) when you want these cupcakes and you want them now.

However you make these little cakes of deliciousness, I can guarantee you'll A-nit-another one. :)


Anita Cupcakes

1 box chocolate cake mix
chocolate chip cookie dough
1 can chocolate frosting
sprinkles

Prepare cake according to package instructions, and pour batter into cupcake pan. Before baking, push a teaspoon-sized ball of cookie dough into the center of each cupcake well. Place in oven, and bake for time indicated on cake package instructions. Remove from oven, and cool.

Frost cupcakes with chocolate frosting. Generously sprinkle with sprinkles.