gluten-free, dairy-free dark chocolate cherry chip cupcakes

bake some of these scrumptious cupcakes for your sweetheart, you'd never know there's no gluten or dairy involved! {even the guys at work loved them}

for the cupcakes you need:

• dark chocolate chips
• 16 oz maraschino cherries
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 c (1 stick) margarine
• devil's food gluten free cake mix

step 1: mix the dark chocolate chips in with the dry mix. according to my grammy, this will help keep the chips from sinking to the bottom. then mix in the eggs and margarine according to the directions on the box, and pour into your cups.

step 2: pull the stems off of your cherries and add them to your cups.  i'm sure the yield on this box is for more than a dozen, but i used giant liners and may have eaten raw batter too..... :/ so i had enough cherries to add 2 inside and 1 on the top.

step 3: bake according to the box, and cool on a wire rack.

for the frosting you need:

• 1/8 c of the cherry juice
• 2 c powdered sugar
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 1/2 c (1 stick) margarine softened

step 1: cream 1/4 c powdered sugar, margarine, almond extract, and cherry juice together on medium.

step 2: slowly mix in remaining powdered sugar, 1/4 c at a time. keep mixing until it's nice and fluffy.

step 3: frost and add a cherry to the top.

step 4: peel the wrapper off, tear off the bottom of the cake, put it on the top of the frosting, and enjoy your cuppie cake sandwich! yummmmm