Pumpkin Black Bottoms

Ingredients:
for the filling:
8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
6 oz miniature semisweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1/3 cup pumpkin puree
1 egg, at room temperature

for the batter:
2 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 cup canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.
for the filling:
Cream together the pumpkin, cream cheese and sugar. Beat in egg until well mixed. Fold in chocolate chips. Set aside.

for the batter:
Whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa and baking soda in a large bowl. Add water, oil, vanilla and vinegar. Beat VERY thoroughly. Line mini muffin pans. Fill pans less then 2/3 full with chocolate batter. Do not overfill. Drop approximately 1/2 teaspoon of the filling on top. Bake on the center rack for 20 minutes or until toothpick stuck in the center of a center cupcake comes out clean. Cool briefly in the pans on a wire rack. Remove from pan and cool completely.

Yield: 6 dozen

My thoughts:

Black bottoms are a major holiday tradition in my family. My mom has been making pretty much the same recipe since I was born. She even makes a double or triple batch (216 black bottoms!) and freezes and gives them away. I generally stick to the six dozen which is still a lot. They do freeze so I just stash whatever we don't eat in the freezer. Having a pan that makes two dozen at a time helps too. Anyway, I realized I hadn't made a treat for Halloween yet so I thought I'd try making a fall version of our usual black bottom. It turned out so well! Sort of a cross between the pumpkin cheesecake brownie I created a few years ago and our traditional black bottom. Delicious and seasonal.