Ice Cream Brownie Cupcakes

Sorry today's recipe is up so late. I hate to use the "sick baby" excuse two days in a row, but yeah: My baby is still sick. That'll teach me to expect the unexpected and draft my posts ahead of time, right?

I can't think of an occasion for which these ice cream brownie cupcakes wouldn't be appropriate, but I made them for a coworker's birthday celebration at work. He loves the Ohio State Buckeyes (as does pretty much everyone where I live, including myself), so I chose a Buckeye ice cream made by a local ice cream company as my flavor. It's my favorite ice cream, by far -- peanut butter ice cream with a chocolate fudge swirl and tiny little Buckeyes. I'm sure you could use any ice cream flavor for these cupcakes and it would be delicious. If you're feeling extra motivated, you could even make your own.

I used my favorite brownie recipe as the brownie base, but you could use the one in Annie's post that I've linked to, or even a boxed mix. It's all about the method with this recipe, really, and no matter what you do, it's going to taste great. I mean, come on, it's brownies and ice cream. That's pretty much the best combination ever.

Ice Cream Brownie Cupcakes
inspired by Annie's Eats

1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup baking cocoa
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Ice cream, any flavor, softened

1. To make the brownie bottoms, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two cupcake pans with foil liners. In a large mixing bowl, beat the sugar, eggs and vanilla. Stir in the butter. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt; add to batter and mix well.

2. Scoop 1 tablespoon of batter into cupcake liner. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs attached, 6 to 8 minutes. Leaving the brownies in the cupcake pans, cool on a wire rack to room temperature, then freeze for at least 30 minutes.

3. Top with ice cream until the cupcake liner is full. Return the cupcake pans to the freezer for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Remove the cupcakes from the freezer 5 to 10 minutes before serving.