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!
Black Bottom Cupcakes
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
- 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.
- Prepare your cupcake batter! Whisk together dry ingredients, then stir in the remaining wet ingredients.
- 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 1/3 of the way full. Dollop 1 1/2 Tablespoons of cheesecake filling into the top center of each cupcake.
- 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 1/3 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!
Black Bottom Cupcakes
Ingredients
Cream Cheese Filling:
- 8 oz cream cheese softened
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar 66g
- 1 large egg
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup mini chocolate chips 170g
Bottoms:
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 190g
- 1 cup granulated sugar 200g
- 1/3 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder 31g
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup milk¹
- 1/3 cup canola or vegetable oil 80ml
- 1 Tablespoon white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- 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.
Tillie says
Made these cupcakes today witth my little brother, my whole family loves them! Great cupcakes.
Sam says
I am so glad everyone enjoyed them so much, Tillie! 🙂
Lori says
Just made these for the first time and OMGGG how can these NOT be delicious!! I recently discovered your website and have made four of the recipes and they have all turned out SO DAMN GOOD!! 🙂
Sugar Spun Run says
Thank you so much for trying so many of my recipes, Lori! I am so glad that you have enjoyed them, including these cupcakes. Thanks for being a fan! 🙂
Natalie E Stalcup says
These are superb! I used coffee extract , instead of vanilla, and they were delicious. That was the only change I made.
Sugar Spun Run says
I am so glad that you enjoyed them, Natalie! Thank you for trying my recipe and for commenting. 🙂
Julie says
The cupcakes came out great!
Sam says
I’m so glad you enjoyed the cupcakes so much, Julie! 🙂
Julie says
I haven’t made these in years and am excited to make them again. I happen to have whey left over from making ricotta cheese. How will this do instead of water? Also, you mentioned that the will stay for a week in the fridge. Try freezing them. I have eaten them frozen with ice cream and chocolate syrup. Very decadent!
Sugar Spun Run says
I am excited for you to try my recipe, Julie! Unfortunately, I am not familiar with using whey so I can not provide you with any personal recommendations. I agree… freezing them works well. I haven’t tried them with ice cream but now I need too. Enjoy! 🙂
Jasmine says
Hi, will olive oil ruin the flavour? I also have coconut oil… but im not sure how much it’ll alter the flavour
Sugar Spun Run says
Hi, Jasmine! Yes, both olive oil and coconut oil will alter the taste and texture of the cupcakes. You want to use a neutral like canola or vegetable for the best results.
Sofia says
Very excited to try this recipe! I’ve seen others use coffee instead of water, and I know it’s often used in chocolate things, so I thought I would try it. Do you think it would be okay to replace all of the milk with coffee, or try more of a half coffee, half milk approach?
Sugar Spun Run says
Hi, Sofia! I have not tried it, however, I do not recommend replacing all of the milk with coffee. If you wish to experiment, I would start with 1/2 coffee and 1/2 milk. Keep me posted on how it turns out. 🙂
Curly says
I did it! Great cupcakes!!!! John
Sugar Spun Run says
I am so glad that you enjoyed the black bottom cupcakes, John. Thanks for commenting. 🙂
Ash says
Hello! I just wanted to say thank you so much for this recipe! I’ve never had black bottoms but my sister requested them for her birthday, since she fondly remembers them from elementary school.
I tried another recipe off a different site, and they were awful and dry. I thought, “who would like these??” Lol! But thankfully I found your site and this recipe completely changed my mind!
You include notes that are super important, and imho make the cupcakes exactly how they should be – fudgy, creamy and delicious, no frosting needed! Like in your notes, they key is:
– Do NOT overbake. 16ish min is more than enough. These are supposed to be dense and creamy not dry.
– You NEED the choc chips! Do NOT omit them! I made a 1st batch with another recipe without them and the choc chips really add to the fudgy-ness. They sink to the bottom and help make the cake moist.
– Definitely use milk instead of water! Water dries it out too much. I used whole milk and they were perfect.
– Don’t overfill your cups! Like the recipe says, you only need a 1/3 full of batter because the cheesecake part takes up a lot of space.
– I only used 1 tbs of cheesecake filling because I kinda over filled mine at first lol.
– They will puff up when cooking and deflate after you take them out, this is normal.
– They are best cold just like the recipe says! Refrigerate after they cool a bit.
Also, I weighed all my ingredients per the recipe. The batter tasted great.
I don’t care for cheesecake, but I LOVED these. Thank you for showing me what all the fuss was about! I’ll definitely make them again!
Sugar Spun Run says
I am so happy you stumbled onto my site, Ash! Thank you for trying my recipe! I am so happy to hear how much you enjoyed the black bottom cupcakes. The notes and tips are there to help and I am so glad that they did! Thanks again! I hope that you try more of my recipes. 🙂
Deborah Way says
How long do black bottoms last if kept in the refrigerator?
Sugar Spun Run says
Hi, Deborah! They should be good for up to one week. I hope that you enjoy them! 🙂
Jeremy says
My grandmother always made these and sent them to me for Christmas. I decided to learn to make my own so I could make them anytime and when I did, I tried a few variations but one that I loved was substituting Caramel chips for the chocolate chips. OMG delicious!!!!! Tried peanut butter chips as well and they were good but the caramel ones were better.
Sam says
Yum! Love the sound of the caramel chips in the black bottoms, going to have to try that myself! Thanks for commenting, Jeremy!
Valerie L. says
I have been making these scrumptious cupcakes for so many years that I have lost count as to just how many I have made. Everyone whom I have ever made them for has always loved them. However, before I put them in the oven, I sprinkle either some finely chopped walnuts or pecans on top, as well as a very light sprinkle of granulated sugar.
Sam says
I love the sound of both of those additions!! Yum! Thank you for commenting, Valerie 🙂
Joanne says
Most of the older Grandma recipes are the best! I did not grow up with these cupcakes so will be trying soon.
Sam says
Aren’t they, though!? I hope you love these black bottom cupcakes, Joanne! 🙂
Hallie says
I love these! My grandmother made them as well- they are the best!
Sam says
Aren’t they though!?
Barbara J Kniefel says
These are great I have made them with half milk and half water. Also I Frost with cream cheese frosting or chocolate fudge frosting. They’re great anyway you make them. But yes refrigerated is Best. Thank you
Sam says
You are very welcome! Thanks for commenting, Barbara! 🙂