Heath Bar Cupcakes

If you've followed my blog for very long at all you know about my extreme love affair with chocolate - dark chocolate in particular.  I'm a purist when it comes to chocolate too - I prefer straight chocolate -- without anything added to it. 

I have been know to slice the chocolate off of a Snickers bar and throw the rest of the candy away.   I've also been known to peel the chocolate off of a Klondike bar, eat it, rewrap the naked ice cream and put it back in the freezer.  (By the way, I wouldn't recommend this - my family FREAKS OUT when they find naked Klondike bars in the freezer.  They all know who to blame though.)  :)

The only candy bars that I really ever crave are chocolate bars with English toffee.  (Heath Bars, Scor Bars) I still eat the chocolate off first and then savor the toffee but I really do like the toffee/chocolate combination.  

When they first came out with the bags of Heath Bar bits, I was adding them to everything that I baked.

If you haven't tried these - you really should.  They are great in chocolate chip cookies and brownies so it was time for me to try them in a batch of chocolate cupcakes.  Heath bar cupcakes?  Why not?

Heath Bar Cupcakes
1 cup flour
1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons sugar
1/3 cup plus 2 Tablespoons cocoa
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup hot coffee
1 cup Heath Bar Bits

Chocolate Ganache
1/3 cup dark chocolate
2 Tablespoons heavy cream
4 Tablespoons powdered sugar

Vanilla Buttercream
6 egg whites
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

7 Miniature Heath Bars

Combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt in bowl of standing mixer.

Melt butter in microwave safe bowl.

Whisk in eggs and vanilla.

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients in mixer and beat for 1 minute on medium speed.

Add hot coffee and beat until just combined.

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Stir in Heath Bar Bits.

Scoop batter into 14 paper lined jumbo cupcake tins.

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Bake 23 minutes at 350.

Prepare a batch of vanilla buttercream.  Pipe a small amount of buttercream on top of each cooled cupcake.

Refrigerate cupcakes at least 10 minutes to set buttercream slightly.
Make ganache and drizzle a small amount on each cupcake. 
Top with another dollop of buttercream and garnish with a miniature Heath Bar.

A Heath Bar cupcake that passes the test of even the most critical chocolate purist.  Give these a try and let me know what you think. 

Ciao!