Hostess Little Debbie Snack Cake Clones

These were super cute and super tasty too. I love how they look like plain old chocolate cupcakes until you bite into them and get a surprise: A delicious mouthful of chocolate filling. These are just like the snack cakes you buy individually cellophane-wrapped at the grocery store, except they I filled them with chocolate marshmallow creme instead of the plain white stuff. I loved how fluffy and foolproof the filling turned out because of the use of marshmallow creme. Don't overfill your muffin cups or else the cupcakes will rise and bleed into each other and your final product won't be perfectly round.



Reminder: Email me or leave a comment with your copycat posts - past or present - to be linked and included in the upcoming December Copycat Club round-up, posted the 7th of every month. See the round-ups in November and October for inspiration.

Hostess Snack Cake Clone
Makes 18 | Martha Stewart's Cupcakes

CUPCAKES 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature, plus more for muffin tins
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, plus more for muffin tins
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup sour cream, room temperature

FILLING
1 1/2 cups marshmallow creme (7.5-ounce jar)
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
[I added 1-2 tbsp cocoa powder to make a chocolate-creme filling]

1. Preheat oven to 350. Butter two 6-cup (each with a 1-cup capacity) jumbo muffin pans; dust with cocoa powder to coat, tapping out excess. In a medium bowl, whisk together cocoa, flour, baking powder, soda, and salt. Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. On low speed, add half the flour mixture, followed by sour cream, ending with remaining flour mixture; mix just until incorporated (do not overmix).

2. Divide batter among prepared muffin cups. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a cupcake comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes, rotating pans halfway through baking. Cool in pans, 5 minutes; remove cupcakes and cool, right side up, on a wire rack.

3. Meanwhile, prepare filling: In a medium bowl, whisk marshmallow creme and butter [and cocoa powder, if using] until smooth. Chill until slightly firm, 15 to 30 minutes. Transfer mixture to a heavy-duty resealable plastic bag, and seal; cut off one corner of the bag to make a 1/8-inch opening.

4. Using a small melon baller, scoop out center of each cupcake from the bottom, and reserve (you will use this to plug cupcake after filling). Hollow out each cupcake a bit more, discarding crumbs. Insert tip of plastic bag into each cavity, and squeeze to fill; replace plugs. Using remaining filling in plastic bag, decorate top of cupcakes.