Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes!

A chocolate cupcake with cookie dough inside, vanilla 

butter cream on top, mini chocolate chips & a chocolate chip

cookie to top it off!

I've been wanting to try this cupcake for a while but could never find the right recipe so I just sorta combined a bunch to create my own! These cupcakes did take a while but the finished product was so worth it. 

Chocolate Cupcakes 

Ingredients:

2 cups (500 mL) all-purpose flour

2 cups (500mL) sugar

1/2 cup (125mL) cocoa powder

2 teaspoons (10mL) baking soda

1 teaspoon (5mL) baking powder

1/2 teaspoon (2 mL) salt

1 cup (250 mL) vegetable oil

2 unit eggs

2 cups buttermilk

2 teaspoons (10 mL) vanilla

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (180 degrees Celsius). In mixer, on low speed, mix together dry ingredients (flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt).

2. Add oil, eggs, buttermilk and vanilla. Increase speed and beat for 2 minutes, until well combined. I was not completely happy with the consistency, I actually found it a bit watery, so I just threw in some extra flour, sugar & cocoa until it looked and tasted just right! Spoon into 20 paper-lined muffin cups, filling halfway. If you have extra batter just add more muffin cups!

3. Bake for about 25 minutes or until tops are firm and tester comes out clean. Transfer to rack and cool completely. DO NOT COMPLETE THIS LAST STEP UNTIL YOU HAVE MADE THE COOKIE DOUGH AND INSERTED IT INTO THE CUPCAKES!!

Champion Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients: 

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

12-ounce package of semisweet or milk chocolate chips

In a small bowl, combine flour, soda and salt; set aside. In a large bowl, cream butter, sugars and vanilla until smooth and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Blend in flour mixture and chocolate chips. 

Take your cookie dough and roll it into small little balls each about the size of  a quarter. Once you have done this drop one ball into each cupcake and then pop the cupcakes into the oven for about 25 minutes or until tops are firm and tester comes out clean. Transfer to rack and cool completely. 

I then took some cookie dough and rolled out about 20 mini cookies (match to the amount of cupcakes you have) and put them on a cookie sheet to bake for about 15 minutes on 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius). These were great to add on top of the cupcakes!

I had lots of leftover cookie dough so I just made some regular sized chocolate chip cookies for those in my family who don't like cupcakes (aka those who are insane!!!!) 

Vanilla Buttercream

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 6 to 8 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter until smooth and creamy, 2 to 3 minutes. With mixer on low speed, add 6 cups sugar, milk, and vanilla; mix until light and fluffy. If necessary, gradually add remaining 2 cups sugar to reach desired consistency.

I stuck the icing in the fridge to keep it cool while the cupcakes & cookies baked and cooled. 

ONCE THE CUPCAKES WERE COOLED, THE COOKIES WERE BAKED AND THE ICING WAS PUT INTO AN INCING BAG I BEGAN TO DECORATE...

Using a star tip i added just a bit of icing to the center of each cupcakes. I didn't want to add TOO much because the cupcakes were already super sweet! I then added a mini cookie to each one. To really make it stay you need to press it into the cupcake and not just let it rest in the icing. Finally, because there simply wasn't enough chocolate, I added mini chocolate chipits to the top! (When I ran out of those, I finished the rest with butterscotch). 

These cupcakes turned out to look beautiful and I almost didn't wanna eat them because they were so freaking pretty! In the end I gave in and handed them out to all my friends!! According to them they were delicious but you'll just have to try and make these yourself to see if they were telling me the truth! 

Thank you so much to my assistant/taste tester/sister Zoe for helping me out with these grueling cupcakes and to my #1 fan/cousin Sam for eating half the batter!

I'm going away on vacation and it's going to be a little difficult to bake in  Florida. On that note, Happy New Year to everyone and I'll see you all for my next #CupcakeCraving in 2012!!  

The chocolate cupcakes are from The Food Network

The vanilla buttercream is a Martha Stewart recipe

The chocolate chip cookies were from a cookbook called "The Great American Bake Sale"

Campfire Cupcakes (S'MORES!)

After spending countless hours searching through recipe books and online blogs, it was clear what my next cupcake recipe would be. I wasn't baking for a special occasion so it was solely up to me. As I examined all my choices it took me approximately 30 seconds to decide which one to go with. Low and behold the S'MORES CUPCAKE.

...now just imagine what this tastes like

Having gone to sleep away camp for 8 years I have perfected the art of s'more-making. I knew I had to challenge myself and see if could turn this talent of mine into an all-star cupcake. This recipe may be a bit tedious but the finished product is definitely worth it...

My inspiration came from http://www.6bittersweets.com/2010/10/even-more-fun-with-fire-smores-cupcakes.html where I used their recipe but slightly adapted it. 

S'mores Cupcakes

Ingredients: 

1 cup MINUS 2 Tbsp graham cracker crumbs (from 15 to 17 squares)
1 Tbsp sugar
3 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted

1 1/2 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
5 to 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup flour
7 Tbsp cocoa powder (not Dutch-processed)
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 large egg, room temperature
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup boiling water

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 standard muffin pans with 18 cupcake liners; set aside. Place the graham cracker crumbs, 1 tablespoon of sugar, and melted butter in a large bowl; stir until well combined. Place scant (just under 1 tablespoon each) tablespoons of the graham cracker mixture prepared earlier into the bottom of each prepared muffin cup. Use the bottom of a small glass to pack crumbs into the bottom of each cupcake liner. Reserve remaining graham cracker mixture for topping. Place 2 teaspoons of chocolate in each muffin cup. Set pan aside.

Sift the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together into a large bowl. Mix these together until evenly combined. In a separate large bowl, mix together the egg, milk, oil, vanilla and room temperature butter. Add the liquid mixture into the flour mixture and beat on medium speed for 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and continue mixing on medium speed for 1 to 2 minutes. Add boiling water and stir to combine; set cake batter aside.

Transfer the muffin pans prepared earlier to oven and bake until the edges of the graham cracker mixture is golden, about 5 minutes. Remove from oven and fill each cupcake liner 3/4 full with cake batter. Sprinkle each with the remaining chocolate and graham cracker mixture. Return to oven and bake until tops are firm and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer cupcakes to a plate and let cool for 20 minutes before icing. 

PRE-ICING 

Marshmallow Frosting

Ingredients:4 large egg whites
1 cup sugar
1/3 tsp cream of tartar
3/4 tsp pure vanilla extract

Directions:
Place egg whites, sugar, and cream of tartar in the heatproof bowl of an electric mixer. Set over a saucepan with simmering water, making sure the water is not high enough to touch the bowl. Whisk constantly until sugar is dissolved and whites are warm to the touch, 3 to 4 minutes.

Transfer bowl to electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, and beat, starting on low speed, gradually increasing to high, until stiff, glossy peaks form, 5 to 7 minutes. Add vanilla, and mix until combined. Use immediately.

Sooo I ran into a SLIGHT problem with the marshmallow frosting. I didn't exactly have the whisk attachment to go with the electric mixture  so I kinda had to wing it. My frosting was a bit messy but that actually seemed fitting for this cupcake. Have you EVER eaten a perfectly neat s'more? Its quite likely that the answer will be no. 

I decided to add only a small "blob" of frosting because the sweet taste of the cupcake was already so overwhelming. To finish it off I sprinkled some graham cracker crumbs & squares on top along with a small piece hershey of chocolate to each, I really needed to achieve maximum s'more effect! 

I brought a cupcake over to a friends house for her to try. I guess you could say she enjoyed it...

              STEP 1                                                         STEP 2                                                      STEP 3

This campfire cupcake was definitely worth the work. 

Party Time!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZOE !!

Today was my little sisters birthday party. Seeing as how she has finally become a teenager I decided to go all out with the desserts. (Lets be real...I would have gone into a baking frenzy regardless of how old she was turning...)

                                              

                COOKIE CAKE       RED VELVET CUPCAKES

With the help of some icing writers, cute candles and chocolate molds I turned this plain (but insanely yummy) chocolate chip cookie cake into something fun, eye catching and colorful!

Cookie Cake/Giant Cookie Recipe
Ingredients:
1-1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 oz chocolate chips
4 oz butterscotch chips (trust me, these make the cake 10x more delicious)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease and flour a 12" pizza pan. Blend ingredients together. Bake for 15 minutes. EAT AND ENJOY!!

- If you do not like butterscotch chips you can always substitute it with 4 more oz of chocolate but i STRONGLY recommend you give them a try...

This giant cookie (or cookie cake as I like to call it) is a super easy and fast dessert to whip up. The surface is nice and flat making it easy to add writing or decorations like I did. This dessert is always a crowd pleaser and a favorite amongst my friends and family!

On another note... the Red Velvet cupcakes were a huge hit! You can find that recipe by scrolling down to my previous post.

BROWNIES

 For the brownies I used my absolute favorite recipe...The one inside the Betty Crocker box! For decoration I added some chocolate hearts. 

I swear to you they taste better than anything you attempt to make at home...

To make these chocolate heart molds you need 2 things: 

1) A heart mold set (you can find this at your local Walmart)

2) Colorful chocolate melts!! 

Stick a large handful of chocolate melts into a bowl and pop it in the microwave. Set the timer for 1 minute and then take them out and stir. The chocolate will not be fully melted but its important to mix it midway to avoid burning. Put the bowl back in the microwave and heat them for another minute. Be careful when you take the bowl out-it'll be super hot! Your chocolate will now be ready to poor into the molds. Once this task is complete pop them in the freezer and check on them until they're frozen! Their super easy to work with and slide right out of the molding container-sheet-thingy. They make for a great way to add some color to your plain desserts! 

BEWARE: THE LEFTOVERS CONTAINER

So I guess its safe to say I completely over estimated the eating abilities of 13 year old girls. Apparently among the 25 or so of them they were not able to eat the 48 cupcakes, giant cookie cake, batch of brownies, 3 containers of Ben & Jerrys ice cream (I was too lazy to take them out of the freezer for a picture...forgive me?) and platter of fruit I had prepared. In a normal household I would have enough leftover dessert for 2 months. In my house, I give it 2 days. 

All in all the party was a huge success and the desserts really were a hit! I am afraid to see what sort of savages will attack this leftovers container tomorrow. I wonder if any of the dessert will survive... 

Stay tuned. My next posting will be about my adventures through the journey of baking the seemingly delicious but difficult Cupcake S'mores. My mouth is salivating at the thought...