Sophie Turns One & Mini Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes

They sure do grow up so fast…don’t they? Soon Sophie will be asking for the car keys and $20 to go to the movies with her friends. Our fluffy ball of fur recently celebrated her first birthday, and I couldn’t help but celebrate with a little touch of whimsy. If you only knew how many pictures it took to capture the hat on her head. She clearly knew it shouldn’t be there and tried every way possible to get it off. In the end, it was humorous to watch her bounce around the yard with her new birthday soccer ball.

Sophie’s birthday was the perfect excuse to bake up a batch of these bite-sized delights for the adults. So while she bounced around the yard with the ball in her mouth, we dove into these perfect two-bite treats. They were inspired by a fellow food blogger I follow. If you think my photos are pretty, then you definitely should visit Lisa at DandySugar. Her writing style is fun and her photos scream flavor.

Check out more photos of Sophie here

Mini Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes
Inspired by DandySugar

½ cup butter, room temperature
½ cup vegetable oil
1 ¾ cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs, room temperature
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
2 ½ cup flour
¾ cup cocoa
¼ tsp. ground coffee, optional
½ cup Greek yogurt
2 cup shredded zucchini, liquid squeezed

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Toss the baking soda, baking powder, salt, flour, cocoa and coffee in a medium mixing bowl. Set aside. Cream the butter, vegetable oil, sugar until well combined using an electric mixer. Add the vanilla and one egg at a time. Slowly alternate adding the Greek yogurt and dry ingredients to the mixture. Make sure to start with dry and end with dry. Turn off the mixer and fold the zucchini in by hand.

Line the mini muffin pans with paper liners. Lightly spray the liners with cooking spray to help release the paper form the cupcakes when baked. Fill each liner with a tablespoon full of the chocolate batter. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 – 10 minutes or until the tops spring back when touched. Allow to cool slightly and remove from the pan. Cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.

Mascarpone Cheese Frosting
Adapted from DandySugar

8 oz mascarpone cheese, chilled
¾ – 1 cup powdered sugar
½ tsp. vanilla

Whip together until well combined. Pipe on top of the mini cupcakes.

Authors Note: This cupcake recipe is really rich and full of chocolate flavor. The mascarpone cheese frosting is a nice touch but not required. I also found these to be wonderful with a light dusting of powdered sugar.

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