Chocolate cupcake with cream cheese and chocolate chip filling

This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Please read my disclosure policy.

This is an old-fashioned recipe for classic Black Bottom Cupcakes! This is my grandmother’s recipe that I’ve been making and enjoying since I was a kid! It has a fudgy chocolate base and a rich cheesecake center loaded with mini chocolate chips! A chocolate-lover’s dream!

A few weekends ago I spent the afternoon at my grandmother’s house rooting through a giant shoebox of old recipes, as well as half a dozen of her favorite old cookbooks.

It. Was. HEAVEN.

Yellowed page after yellowed page of well-loved, butter-stained recipes, some hand-written and some typed. Favorite recipes I grew up enjoying and still love when she has a Sunday dinner from time to time. I left with dozens of recipes that I am so excited to share with you throughout the rest of the year.

First up is these Black Bottom Cupcakes. I don’t know about you, but I lived for Black bottom cupcakes (or “black bottoms”, as we usually called them) as a kid. They’re surprisingly simple to make with an egg-free cupcake base. They’re low-maintenance (no frosting required) and humble in appearance, but so rich, decadent, and packed with flavor. With their fudgy cupcake bottoms and creamy cheesecake tops, they’re one of my favorite simple treats (like a cross between a chocolate cupcake and a mini cheesecake!)

How to Make Black Bottoms

1. Make your cheesecake topping first. Stir the cream cheese and sugar together until well-combined and smooth (if you have softened the cream cheese enough you might be able to do this by hand, otherwise use an electric mixer). Add an egg, salt, and vanilla extract and stir everything together again. Finally, fold in mini chocolate chips.
2. Prepare your cupcake batter! Whisk together dry ingredients, then stir in the remaining wet ingredients.
3. Portion out your batters. Scoop some chocolate cupcake batter into a cupcake tin that’s been lined with paper or foil liners. Fill each liner only ⅓ of the way full. Dollop 1 ½ Tablespoons of cheesecake filling into the top center of each cupcake.
4. Bake until cheesecake is set and cupcakes are cooked through. Don’t over-bake or the cupcake portion will be dry and the cheesecake texture will deteriorate. Allow black bottoms to cool completely before enjoying. Personally I prefer mine when they have cooled completely and have been chilled in the refrigerator.

Be Careful How Much You Fill Your Cupcake Liners

Typically, black bottoms should have black bottoms (shocking, right?) and slightly sunken, decadent cheesecake tops. These were the black bottoms of my childhood and every church potluck.

In order to achieve this, make sure that you do not over-fill your cupcake liners with chocolate cupcake batter. A third of the way full is sufficient, and if you fill the liners any further, the chocolate cupcake batter will swell up over the cheesecake filling and swallow it up completely (Please see example cupcakes below: the top one was filled halfway and the bottom one was filled properly, or ⅓ full).

Also, you want a nice ratio of cupcake to cheesecake. If you have too much cupcake batter it overwhelms the flavor of the cheesecake.

That being said!

Don’t panic if your cupcakes come out looking like the first cupcake! That cheesecake topping is still in there, it’s just a filling now instead of a topping. All is not lost, they just don’t look as traditional as they ought too.

Also, Zach thought that my black bottom “successes” were actually the fails. Since he’s usually allowed to eat as many recipe fails as he wants, I had almost had a heart attack when I caught him chowing down on one of my most perfect successful cupcakes. In his opinion, the fails were the pretty ones!

Pretty easy to see he didn’t grow up eating black bottom cupcakes! 🤦🏼‍♀️

Enjoy!

More Recipes You Might Like:

• Cheesecake Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Double Chocolate Muffins
• Peanut Butter Filled Chocolate Muffins
• Brownie Cookies

Let’s bake together! Be sure to check out my video at the bottom of the recipe where I’ll show you exactly how I make these Black Bottom Cupcakes in my own kitchen! If you enjoy watching, make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel where I’ve already uploaded over 150 recipe videos that you can watch for free!

Cream Cheese Filling:

• ▢ 8 oz cream cheese softened
• ▢ ⅓ cup granulated sugar (66g)
• ▢ 1 large egg
• ▢ ⅛ teaspoon salt
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ 1 cup mini chocolate chips (170g)

Bottoms:

• ▢ 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour (190g)
• ▢ 1 cup granulated sugar (200g)
• ▢ ⅓ cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder (31g)
• ▢ 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ ½ teaspoon salt
• ▢ 1 cup milk¹
• ▢ ⅓ cup canola or vegetable oil (80ml)
• ▢ 1 Tablespoon white vinegar
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• Preheat oven to 350F (175C) and line two 12-count muffin tins with paper liners. Set aside.

• Prepare cream cheese filling first by stirring together cream cheese and sugar until well-combined and not lumpy. Stir in egg, salt, and vanilla extract until completely combined.

• Stir in chocolate chips. Set aside.

To prepare chocolate batter:

• In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.

• Add milk, oil, vinegar, and vanilla extract and stir until batter is smooth and well combined.

• Evenly divide chocolate batter into prepared muffin tins, filling each liner only ⅓ full with batter.

• Dollop 1 ½ Tablespoons of cheesecake batter onto the top of the chocolate batter in the center.

• Transfer to 350F (175C) oven and bake for 16-18 minutes.

• Allow to cool and then enjoy.

¹I mentioned that this is my grandmother's recipe, but I did deviate in one way. Her recipe called for 1 cup water. After a lot of taste testing I decided I liked it best with 1 cup of milk instead.

This recipe can be made into mini black bottom cupcakes. Fill liners of mini cupcake tin less than ½ full of chocolate batter then dollop 1-1 ½ teaspoons of cream cheese filling on top.Bake about 14-16 minutes. Will make 48 mini black bottoms.

Storing

I prefer these black bottoms when they are stored in the refrigerator (something about liking my cheesecake cold!). Make sure you store them in an airtight container so they don’t dry out!

Serving: 1cupcake | Calories: 151kcal | Carbohydrates: 20g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 19mg | Sodium: 152mg | Potassium: 42mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 13g | Vitamin A: 1500IU | Calcium: 110mg | Iron: 1.1mg

Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.

Can you put candy in the middle of a cupcake?

Do cupcakes with cream cheese filling need to be refrigerated?

What is the secret to a moist cupcake?