While I am usually a vanilla cupcake kind of girl, I have recently been fairly attracted to their delicious opposites- chocolate!  Below is the best chocolate cupcake recipe I have ever made.  The chocolate milk subbed in as the liquid portion makes these cupcakes extremely light and moist- they are so delicious!

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup mayonnaise  (this sounds weird, but trust)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup chocolate milk 

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350°F and Line 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.
2.  In a small bowl, whisk flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.
3.  In a large bowl, with electric mixer on medium speed (or, if you're like me and you don't have a mixer, use your hand and go for as long as you can stand it and everything is blended...but safe your strength for the flour mixture!), beat sugar, mayonnaise, and vanilla extract until combined. Beat in flour mixture in thirds, alternating with chocolate milk, until blended. Beat 1 minute, scraping bowl occasionally. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups.
4.  Bake 22 to 24 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in cupcakes comes out clean. Let cool in pan 5 minutes before removing to wire rack to cool completely. Top with frosting.

A couple of tips:
*  Buy, barter or steal an ice cream scoop and use that to fill your liners!  I have adopted this method and not only is efficient, it allows you to make evenly sized cupcakes!
*  Follow the directions and add the items in the correct order- there is a set order due to the chemical breakdown and reactions produced.
*  Buy, barter or steal a "Shake Weight" if you are going to be doing a lot of baking without a mixer...you'll need to develop your upper arm strength!