Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

 

Ready for a monster of a dessert?  All right.  Hold on to your seats…because here it is.

You may have seen these floating around the blogosphere.  I experienced them firsthand when Annie brought in a batch for a birthday at work…and let me just say…I was waiting, (just waiting) for another opportunity to experience these again.  Now, a caveat:  these are not for those of you who have a hard time with sweets.  Because this is an in-your-face over-the-top cupcake.

This is a chocolate chip cupcake….with a surprise cookie dough center..topped with a brown sugary buttercream…and then (to make it completely offensive) a mini chocolate chip cookie is what tops the whole thing off.  But, before you make these, there are a few things you should know.  This isn’t a dessert you should attempt the night before.  These cupcakes are a little bit of a time investment (but totally worth it, in my humble opinion), so stagger out your baking process.  Make your mini chocolate chip cookies one or two days in advance.  The filling can also be made in advance and refrigerated.  And, while we’re talking about the filling, one of the reasons why I like this recipe in particular is the fact that the filling is egg-free…meaning if you are a bit skittish about eating raw eggs in cookie dough, you are in the clear with these cupcakes.  The brown sugar buttercream frosting?  It’s made with a lot of brown sugar, so it retains a bit of that grainy brown sugary texture, so if you want a super creamy and smooth frosting, you could substitute in a simple vanilla buttercream.  Because there is a lot of butter in this recipe, the cupcake liners may bleed through a little (hence the extra liner), so if you have cheap liners you want to get rid of…use those and then use your pretty liners for the outer layer.  Either way, if you are looking for a piece of pure cupcake extravagance, I would advise making these as soon as possible.

But make sure you have a glass of milk nearby.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

Servings: 24 cupcakes

 

Ingredients

For the cupcakes:

24 tablespoons (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 and 1/2 cups light brown sugar

4 large eggs, at room temperature

2 and 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk**I used skim because that’s what I had on hand.

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips**regular or mini size

 

For the cookie dough filling:

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

6 tablespoons light brown sugar

1 cup plus an additional 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

7 ounces sweetened condensed milk**I could only find a 14-ounce can at the store.  I just eyeballed it and used about half.

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup semisweet (or bittersweet) chocolate chips**You can use either mini or chopped chocolate pieces. I ran out of mini chocolate chips, so I just chopped up some bittersweet chocolate.

 

For the brown sugar frosting:

24 tablespoons (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup light brown sugar

3 and 1/2 cups confectioners’ (powdered) sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons milk

2 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

 

For garnish:

Mini chocolate chip cookies***I baked mine for about 12 minutes total, but I checked them frequently to ensure that I didn’t overbake them.

Additional mini chocolate chips

Instructions

 

1. For the cupcakes:  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Line your cupcake pans with the liners of your choice.

3. In the bowl of your standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and brown sugar at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.

4. Reduce the speed to low and add the eggs, one at a time, and mixing well after each addition.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary.

5. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

6. With the mixer still on low speed, add the flour mixture to the butter/brown sugar, alternating with the milk in thirds…beginning with and ending with the flour mixture.

7. Add the vanilla to the cupcake batter and mix until combined.

8. Add the chocolate chips to the mixture and gently stir them in with a spatula.

9. Divide the batter evenly among your cupcake pans and bake until a tester inserted into the centers comes out clean, about 18-20 minutes total, rotating and switching the pans halfway during the baking time.

10. Remove the cupcakes from the oven and let cool completely.

11. For the cookie dough filling: In the bowl of your standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.

12. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour, sweetened condensed milk, and vanilla, mixing thoroughly.

13. Gently stir in the chocolate chips until completely mixed.  Cover the filling with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm. **If you make this ahead of time, be sure to pull the filling out of the fridge about an hour before using so it can be easily scooped into the cupcakes.

14. For the brown sugar frosting:  In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.

15. Reduce the mixer speed to low, and slowly add the confectioners’ sugar until completely combined.

16. Add the flour and salt.

17.  Add the milk and vanilla extract, mixing until well combined and smooth.

18.  For the assembly (my favorite part!):  Using a sharp paring knife, very carefully cut a cone-shaped portion out of the top of each cupcake.  ***You can discard these or snack on them relentlessly like I did.

19. Using a melon baller or your hands, gently scoop or roll about a tablespoon of the cookie dough filling (just eyeball it) and place it in the coned out portion of the cupcake.

20. Pipe the frosting over the top of each cupcake, using your desired pastry tip (I used my personal favorite, my Wilton 1M).

21.  Top each cupcake with a cookie and some chocolate chips!

Source:  Recipe directly from Annie’s Eats.  Original recipe inspired by Hello, Baker!.  Original cake recipe adapted from Cupcake Bakeshop, frosting from The Cupcake Review and How to Eat a Cupcake.