Nope. I've not finished with all my baking this week. Next up is a batch of chocolate toffee cupcakes that I make in the air fryer, that nifty little item that's really a convection oven. Because I've logged enough time on the StairMaster this week and don't want to have to be on it all weekend, too, I opted for a small batch of cupcakes--six of them, which I really am going to share with my husband. In fact, the air fryer is great for making small batches of baked goods. For the cupcakes, I use small, 3-ounce-sized ramekins and bake the cupcakes in two batches, three at a time. The cupcakes come out deep, dark, moist, and rich with chocolate taste. Because I'm lazy and don't want to frost my cupcakes (and because I don't like super sweet frosting), I sprinkle my cupcakes with chocolate chips and toffee bits before I bake them. The chips and bits sink into the cupcakes a wee bit and make a fantastic topping--rich, slightly crunchy, and sweet, but not cloyingly so. These cupcakes are great warm, with ice cream of course, and coffee or tea. The cupcakes also will remain moist and quite tasty for a couple of days.
Air Fryer Chocolate Toffee Cupcakes -- Makes 6
1/4 cup of canola oil
1 egg
1/2 cup of plain, fat-free yogurt
1/2 cup of sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1/2 cup of all-purpose flour
1/4 cup of cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
2 tablespoons of chocolate chips
2 tablespoons of toffee bits
Coat 6 small, 3-ounce ramekins with non-stick cooking spray and preheat the air fryer to 320 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk together well the oil, egg, yogurt, sugar, and vanilla. In another bowl, stir together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon. Whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ones until you have a smooth batter. Divide the batter evenly among the ramekins. Sprinkle some of the chocolate chips and toffee bits over the top of the batter in each of the ramekins. Bake the ramekins, three-at-a-time, in the air fryer basket for 20-25 minutes or until a pick inserted in the center of one of the cupcakes comes out with only a few crumbs and no moist batter attached. Bake the remaining three cupcakes. Let the cupcakes cool in their ramekins for 5-10 minutes. Run a knife along the sides of the ramekins and flip the cupcakes out to continue their cooling. Or eat them warm! Yum!
